Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

Yesterday marked the official first day of Summer on the calendar, but you wouldn’t know it by looking outside. Cool, rainy weather has dominated the calendar during May and June. June, 2010 is already the wettest on record with a rainfall total of 4.28″ to date, surpassing the old record of 4.06″ and there’s still over a week left to go. Coast and Valley streams were all blown out for over a week at the beginning of the month. The rain swollen rivers looked similar to a strong storm in January or February, certainly not June.

While the high water has made for some less than typical fishing conditions and some frustrating days of cancelled trips, the rain does have a few upsides. Sections of water that usually too low for drift boats this time of year are flowing nicely, allowing access to fishing grounds usually reserved for Winter. Fish of all species including Spring Chinook and Summer Steelhead have had free passage up river under moderate to heavy flows and dirty water. That has kept the fish far less spooky than normal and allowed us to fish bigger presentations and heavier leaders.

But perhaps the biggest upside is still to come… All this rain late in the season means increased river flows in July, August and September when rivers typically get low, warm and have decreased dissolved oxygen content. That’s good news for fish and fishermen who should enjoy good mid-summer/early-fall conditions for Summer steelhead, sea-run cutthroat, Coho and Fall Chinook. Fish should be less spooky, more aggressive and spread themselves out through river systems instead of stacking up in big dark pools with bad cases of lock-jaw. Only time will tell, but with the rivers now on the slow drop and approaching the magic 50 degree mark we are looking forward to a great Summer and Fall of fishing.

We are currently fishing Summer Steelhead/Spring Chinook on the Clackamas as well as the Nestucca. We are also guiding cutthroat and rainbow trout on the Clackamas, McKenzie and Coastal Rivers. To inquire about a guided fishing adventure email Info@SmallStreamOutfitters.com or call 503.515.3533

Tight Lines,
The Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

Winter Steelheading in March on the Oregon Coast provides a month of varied steelhead action. One just never knows what’s going to grab the end of that line. We caught some hatchery kelts, right along side chrome natives and fresh broodstock hatchery fish. Numbers of native fish seemed about averge. We caught good numbers of wild fish but not the crazy ridiculous fishing for hatchery brats we had in February. However, we would gladly trade a handful of hatchery fish for a shot at big natives over 15lbs. We hooked a few and landed one monster that made the month worthwhile. We finished up with a month-long average of 6-7 hookups for the boat in a day, nymphing most of the time and swinging some too when conditions were good. Sure beats working for a living. God bless Oregon, we love our State.

Thank you to all who joined us this 2009-2010 season, making it one for the memory books!

March Fly Fishing Photo Gallery

We’ll be fishing the Sandy and Nestucca for the rest of April and then start thinking about Summer Steelhead on the Clackamas and trout on the McKenzie. To arrange a guide trip for Spring and early Summer action, give us a call at 503-515-3533 or email us!

Sorry we haven’t posted in a couple weeks, we’ve been busy on the water. We’re catching up a bit this week after guiding steelhead non-stop in February. What a February it’s been! It’s not often one can speak of catching winter steelhead by the dozens or rarer yet hundreds, but we’ve been having that conversation with some of the other area guides.

After a rainy January, the weather pattern finally broke and we were into a warm February with moderate rainfall. Great conditions for coastal steelhead fishing. We were rarely blown out and the water level never really got too low. When it would threaten to drop too far and the fishing would just begin to slow down, here came another small storm to bring it right back up. We got pretty wet a few days, but boy was it worth it. 10 fish days became common place instead of a rarity and everyone’s confidence soared. We had a high day of 21 hookups between 2 anglers after a good storm at the end of the month that brought a huge surprise push of late hatchery steelhead and it was game on!

As the Alsea hatchery stock winds down for the year, Nestucca broodstock steelhead have begun to fish well, although the river has been a bit crowded for our tastes. A lot of quality magazine press has sure increased the fishing pressure in that river. However, at times it’s worth it. There are occasions that river fishes better than anywhere on the Oregon Coast.

The native steelhead are showing well and we’re now catching more wild steelhead than hatchery. A normal pattern this time of year. We haven’t caught any 20plus pound fish yet, but we’ve seen a few pictures and hope our turn is next. The next 6 weeks will tell…

We have a few late season steelhead guide days still available. If you’re interested in fishing big wild steelhead on flies or bobber fishing, give us a call at 503-515-3533.

Tight Lines,
Jesse

Chrome winter steelhead taken on the the swing (purple/fuschia string leech).

Sea-Lice bright winter steelhead taken on a salmon river MVP.

Early Winter Steelhead Fishing Highlights
December, 2009 and January 2010 Steelheading Photographs
Nestucca (Hebo, OR), Siletz (Lincoln City, OR) and Sandy Rivers (Sandy, OR)

Early Winter brought with it a LOT of rain and mild temperatures. Over a 4-5 week period in December and January the Oregon Coast Rivers were only in shape a handful of days. If you were lucky enough to be on the water, there were plenty of early Winter Steelhead to be caught. The weather finally settled down the last week of January and we went to work, making up for lost time of the water. Steelheading was as good as the Oregon Coast gets. Guests hooked 40 fish in 5 days of fishing that week including lots of hatchery fish and a few incredible native fish.

Luckily, the season doesn’t end January 31. As we enter February we’re beginning to see less hatchery fish and more angry native fish, which is just fine with us. We look forward to the challenge of doing battle with this big, wild fish through the end of April. Give us a call and come experience these incredible fisheries. To book an upcoming Winter steelhead trip, call us at 503.515.3533 or email us!

See Photographs

Ahhh the life of a steelheader… wait for good water, then wait for some good water and wait some more. And when the good water comes and it’s fish, fish, fish until you can’t stand up. Thus has been the story this past week as we made up some lost days due to weather.

Fishing on the coast has been great. Guests have hooked 25 steelhead in 3 days this week, including the high day of the season (15). We’re taking a quick break to re-pack and re-stock today and then we’re at it again. I’ve got tons of great pics to post, but haven’t had the time. I promise to get them up soon.

The time to hit the water is here. To inquire about a guided fishing trip call Small Stream Outfitters or Oregon River Guides at 503.515.3533

Tight Lines,
Jesse