Oregon Fly Fishing Report - Small Stream Outfitters & Guides » Oregon

Archive Photo of the Week

Jesse — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:14:08 +0000

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.

January Steelhead Fun

Jesse — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:45:43 +0000

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.

A December to Rembember

Jesse — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:52:35 +0000

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

View the New Fall Grand Slam Fishing Gallery

Jesse — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:07:03 +0000

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

The 2011 Sea-Run Cutthroat Season is Here!

Jesse — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:31:40 +0000

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

Coastal Cutthroat and Summer Steelhead Report

Jesse — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:45:54 +0000

A great snow year generally equals a longer, higher Cascade run-off and this year is no exception. With the Willamette Valley streams like the McKenzie, Clackamas and Sandy on the high side for fishing flies, we’ve opted to hit the coast where run-off is over and rivers are holding nice flows and cool temperatures for this time of year.

We’ve had bursts of decent steelheading here and there, but numbers have generally been low. However, both Steelhead and Spring Chinook numbers have been getting steadily better over the last couple weeks. With the good flows I would expect fishing to improve in late June and early July.

Although Steelheading has been slow, Coastal Cutthroat fishing has been very good with anglers averaging a couple dozen fish per rod in the 8″-17″ range. It feels as if some of the sea-runs may be hanging in the river longer this year because water temperatures and water levels are still prime and food is abundant. On cloudy days, hatches last all day long and are a great mix of small stoneflies, green drakes and caddis.

As the valley streams drop into shape throughout late June and July we’ll be transitioning over to WV Summer Steelhead and trout. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us to inquire about a guided fly fishing trip this Summer!

Tight lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

December Winter Steelhead Photo Gallery

Jesse — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:24:08 +0000

The weather on the Oregon Coast in December is well… crappy. It rains a lot, snows a little, blows some and can get pretty cold. However, the rewards for braving these conditons can be tremendous. On days we caught the river on the drop, fishing was lights out for hatchery steelhead. The fish weren’t huge, about 6-8 lbs, but numbers of fish were excellent. Double digit hookups between two anglers was normal. We also landed a few nice natives here and there. Again, no giant fish but we’ll take chrome steelhead in the 6-10 lb range any day of the week.

The river we fished stayed in shape more days than it was blown out and for December, we consider that a success. We had to move a few trips around early in the month due to high water, but during the second half of December, the river stayed fishable. It even got a little on the low side after Christmas, but it kept kicking out coastal chrome.

We are just getting started with the Winter Steelhead season of 2010/2011 and as you can see it looks to be a good one! The big native fish will soon be on their way!!! To arrange a guide trip for Winter 2010-2011 steelhead action, give us a call at 503-515-3533 or email us! We’ll be fishing these agressive, acrobatic fish through April.

View the photo gallery here

Winter Steelhead.. Game On.

Jesse — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:19:44 +0000

We’re not talking Turkey anymore, it’s Winter Steelhead time!

With leftover Thanksgiving day bird in the lunch cooler, we set out on Nov. 29 to find out if there were any fresh chrome hatchery winter steelhead along the North/Central Oregon Coast. Mission accomplished. We found great numbers of fish for this time of year. Our catch consisted mostly of chrome hatchery winter steelhead, plus a bonus native steelhead and a bright Fall Chinook. Water conditions were excellent. Angling pressure was fairly high, with lots of guys looking for early chrome. It didn’t seem to matter much though, as we were able to find plenty of good water and catch a few fish behind other anglers. Hatchery steelhead aren’t exactly know for being the pickiest of eaters and it was nice to find good numbers of very willing biters.

It looks to be an excellent run this year and we’re excited to get everyone out on the water. We only have a couple days left in December for those anglers looking for early hatchery fish, but we still have availability during the bulk of the run (Jan-mid. April). Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us for more information.

Tight Lines,
Jesse
Small Stream, LLC.

Oregon Fall Salmon and Trout Fishing Photo Gallery

Jesse — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:33:31 +0000

Check out our new fall chinook salmon, coho salmon and sea-run cutthroat photo gallery. View great catches from our guests throughout the Fall of 2010.

To arrange a guide trip for Winter 2010-2011 steelhead action, give us a call at 503-515-3533 or email us!

Oregon Coast Fall Salmon and Sea-Run Cutthroat Report

Jesse — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:18:26 +0000

Each Fall day as we dump the boat in the water, just before first light, a day of promise, opportunity and surprise awaits us. Armed with light fly rods for sea-run cutthroat, six and seven weight rods for coho and steelhead and big sticks for the mighty king salmon we set off to see what the day may bring. Each fishing day brings with it a unique fishing experience that varies greatly from day to day, even in the same section of river. The diversity of the Oregon Coastal fishery is what makes it so fun, challenging and rewarding at the same time.

So far the Coast has had two significant periods of rain, one in September and one in mid-October, each of which has been followed by long periods of high pressure and sunny skies. The first rain in September flushed a lot of the sea-run trout from tidewater into the river while the second rain brought with it an excellent push of salmon into the lower and middle reaches of most systems. As we write this post we’re staring at enormous weather system that looks like it will dump rain for the next few days and push the rivers to their highest points to date this Fall. We expect that this rain will essentially end the lower tidewater fishery and push most anglers into the main rivers for the balance of the season.

Fishing has been generally good. We’ve had a couple slow days, lots of decent days and a few exceptional days. Highlights include a day of upriver sea-run cutthroat fishing where it seemed every fish in the river wanted to eat our dries flies. Giddy anglers landed scores and scores of beautiful trout. Overall sea-run cutthroat numbers have been good, but we haven’t seen as many really large fish as last year. Perhaps they are still to come, but with just over a week left in the season, we’re running out of time.

The coho salmon run is good this year, but appears to be a fraction of the epic returns we had last year. There are still plenty of fish to target but the native coho quota on the Siletz did not fill as quickly as biologists thought.

The biggest surprise of the year has been a better than expected Fall chinook return. After several years of poor runs it’s really nice to see these fish coming back. Chinook fishing was fair during September and early October but since the last rain it’s been red hot both in tidewater and the lower river. Fly anglers have been doing really well fishing Comets and Clouser Minnows in orange/black and white/chartreuse combinations.

We’re excited for the last week of “Come prepared to catch whatever swims” before the sea-run cutthroat season closes Oct 31. We’ll continue to fish salmon through mid-November before switching over to hatchery Winter Steelhead. We still have a couple days available for November salmon and plenty of days for winter steelhead.

To book a late Fall or Winter trip, please call 503.515.3533 or email us.

Justin hooked up to a 40 lb. Chrome Chinook on a 4wt and 3x. We didn’t really stand a chance with this fish, but he fought it bravely for 20 minutes and survived 3 jumps. We won’t forget the one that got away.

One of the nicer sea-run Cutthroat landed this Fall, a beautiful Fall specimen.