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!
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.
As the days get noticeably shorter, mornings get a little crisper and a few raindrops begin to fall from the sky, it can only mean one thing… Fall… and the arrival of our finned friends, the sea-run cutthroat trout. We guided our first sea run cutt trip at the end of last week and found numbers of fish similar to this time last year. Lots of fish around a foot in length with a few big ones sprinkled in. Typically, the smaller schooling fish enter the rivers first and the bigger ones will enter in a couple weeks as the water cools and a bit of rain raises the river. Still action was steady most of the day and we had some incredibly explosive top water streamer takes. We live for those short seconds as a sea-run cutthroat rockets off the bottom of a deep pool and recklessly smashes a stripped hair wing streamer. It doesn’t get much better than that.
It looks to be another good season and we’re excited to be back chasing these fish. We still have a few open dates towards the end of September and throughout the month of October for those anglers looking for a unique trout experience. For booking information call 503.515.3533 or Email Us
Each Summer, when the days are long, the grasses are tall and the creeks gurgle low and clear I am tugged by the childhood memory of fly fishing Coastal Cutthroats. These wiry, stunningly beautiful native trout were the object of my budding passion for fly fishing nearly 30 years ago. Since then, my desire to catch fish on a fly has taken me all over world to chase dozens of finned species. Yet, each Summer fishing season is not complete without of few days of chasing colorful, acrobatic cutts on small creeks and streams deep within the Oregon Coast Range.
Although the traditional coastal trout opener was memorial day weekend we delayed our pursuit of cutthroats until late June, due to the high river levels throughout Western Oregon. It was worth the wait. In our first few Cutthroat trips we’ve found overly eager (borderline kamikaze) fish that are a full 1″-2″ bigger on average than past seasons. Water temperatures are still cool for July (in the low 50’s) + good flows = great conditions. We’ve fished dries almost exclusively and have tempted even the biggest fish to rocket off the bottom of pools, runs and riffles to attack our flies.
Cutthroats are currently averaging 8″-15″ and anglers can expect to hook 20-40 fish in a day. With properly matched light gear (3-4 wt.) these fish are pure fun that will leave you smiling and wanting more. To book a guided fly fishing trip this Summer or Fall contact Small Stream Outfitters at 503.515.3533 or Email Us.
PS. Don’t forget, Less than 2 months before the first Sea-Run Cutts return! Book early for this outstanding fishery!
This nice 13″ Coastal Cuttroat trout fell to a #8 Royal Stimulator.
A true cutthroat classic, this solid cutthroat took a #10 Royal Wulff.
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