Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

A customer just sent me this photo and it bears sharing. Steve caught this massive red sled buck coho in Mid-November, 2011 on a North Coast stream. He caught on a 6-10 lb. rod with 8lb tippet. The fished stayed deep and drug the boat around for 15 minutes before laying over. I didn’t weigh the fish as it was released immediately after the photo, but I’ve handled thousands of coho from Alaska, South to Oregon and never saw one quite this heavy. It wasn’t 25 pounds, but it was certainly well over 20. Awesome to see big coho like this in Oregon. I anxiously await their return next year.

Greetings anglers,

It seems as though the rivers are either really high or really low anytime I get a chance to post. Funny how that works. And so we sit, staring at some pretty darn impressive current CFS numbers. The Sandy hit darn near 30,000 while the Siletz crested at almost 40,000 and reached moderate flooding. That’s some big water. Rivers will all be out at least through the weekend. The extended forecast looks wet, so it could be even longer before rivers are green again.

On the flip side, the last couple weeks fished great and there were lots of fish to be caught. Our anglers tangled with at least a hundred fish in the first couple weeks of January, including a day of 24 hookups and several other double-digit days. We found mostly hatchery fish, with an occasional native here and there. Natives have yet to arrive in any numbers and the hatchery run is still going strong. There will be another fresh batch of hatchery fish around once the flood waters recede.

Based on the moderate returns we’ve seen so far, this year’s run is average or better than average and fish are just a little late in arriving. We’re hoping for the latter, but either way fishing is good as long as those pesky streams come into shape. Drop fast little rivers….

Tight lines,
Jesse
Inquire About Booking a Guided Trip with Small Stream Outfitters

They don’t get much brighter than this fat 10-11 lb. hatchery hen. Nice job Mike!

Releasing a center-pin caught buck. The center pin was really fun until the actual center pin fell in the river. Good thing for back-ups.

Greeetings Anglers,

Oregon Coast Winter steelhead season kicked off in typical fashion with a huge late November rain followed by a week of great fishing on dropping river conditions. However, since that rain event we’ve gone cold and dry with no moisture to speak of in three weeks. It’s a rare to have a conversation discussing the lack of rain on the Oregon Coast in December, yet here we are, staring at unseasonably low water levels. There are still Winter steelhead to be caught, but most of those are in the lower sections of bigger coastal systems. Fish are waiting patiently for the next freshet and fishing is certain to catch fire after the next good rain.

If the early December push of steelhead is any indicator of run strength we are looking at another great season on the Oregon Coast. We are now booking hatchery and wild Winter steelhead through mid-April, 2012. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us to inquire about booking a guided fly fishing trip.

Sean displays a reallly nice early Winter steelhead

Justin shows off a nice late season North Oregon Coast Chinook

Hi Anglers,

Check out our New September-October Photo Gallery. This gallery includes images from our October Grand Slam trips. It’s a rare chance to chase Steelhead, Sea-Run Cutthroat, Chinook and Coho Salmon in the same day all on a fly! View the Gallery

Stay tuned for our November Big Chinook Gallery coming next month!

Interested in a Guided trip? Our Booking Update is below:
We are currently booked through the end of November. We are now booking hatchery Winter Steelhead for Dec/Jan and Native Steelhead for Feb/Mid-April. There will be a rate increase beginning Jan 1, 2012. Any trip booked before Dec. 31 will honor 2011 pricing. Book now and save yourself some $.

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters

It’s almost September and that means Fall fisheries are beginning to heat-up. The cooler coastal waters get going first with Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout (Blueback) arriving in Mid August and early Fall Chinook showing up slightly later. We spent the last few days poking around Oregon Coast tidewater areas chasing Sea-Run Cutthroats and keeping our eye open for Chinook. We found great numbers of Cutthroat and especially encouraging was their average size. Last year, a majority of the fish we caught were under 12″ and we believed that this year those fish would be return this year in the 12″-16″ range. That appears to the case so far as we are catching more fish over 13″ than under. Encouraging results for early season!

Also encouraging are a few early Fall Chinook present as high as upper tidewater. More fish are showing near the mouths each day and we expect the best Salmon season we’ve had in years. We have just a few openings left in the Fall Season. Now is the time to book a trip if you’re thinking of chasing Sea-Run Cutthroat, Coho or Chinook in September, October or November. Give us a call at 503-515-3533 or email us

Sandy with a nice Oregon Tidewater Sea-Run Cutthroat Trout. Caught August 23, 2011