Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

My guide trip yesterday was a combo day of summer steelhead fishing and dry fly fishing for rainbow trout. Steelhead fishing was slightly tougher than it has been the last week or so, probably due mostly in part to the high pressure and warm weather. We hooked two beautiful fish and brought one to hand. A chrome bright 30.5″ hatchery fish. It was Jim’s largest fish of his life and I was pleased to be a part of it. His excitement made my day!

We switched over to an assortment of size 14 brown and black caddis dry flies around 10:00 and had a blast catching rainbows on 4 weights. The trout were extremely aggressive yesterday and we literally caught dozens of trout between 10″ and 13″. We even caught a 15″ whitefish on a dry. Now that’s looking up!

It was another great day on the water! To book a Summer Steelhead or Summer Steelhead/Rainbow Trout trip on the Clackamas River call 503.515.3533 or email info@smallstreamoutfitters.com

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The 2009 steelhead season was marked with an unusually long period of low water during February and Early March that made for some tough fishing conditions. We moved a few trips around and waited for rain… The rains finally came in Early March and the fish came with it! The first couple weeks after the rain we saw quite a few darker fish that had been waiting in the lower river for some time. Then in Mid-March after another set of storms rolled through and the rivers caught fire. A big push of heavy-bodied, chrome native steelhead made their way into the coastal systems. Fly-fishing was simply fantastic. We had several great days on extremely chrome fish during the last couple weeks of March, right up to the close of the smaller coastal streams on March 31, 2009.

For us the 2009 Winter Steelhead Season, despite it’s ups and downs finished right on par or slightly better than the last couple seasons. We averaged over two fish per trip on flies, the mark we set for ourselves as the gold standard for fly fishing Winter steelhead. All in all it was a great season! Thanks to all the friendly anglers who came fishing with us. We enjoyed your company and hope to see you on the water in the future! Tight lines and best wishes from Jesse and the rest of the Small Stream Outfitters team.

We are now booking Clackamas Summer Steelhead/Trout, McKenzie River Trout and Summer Sea-Run Cutthroat. Call 503.515.3533 or email us to book a trip. We look forward to hearing from you!

VIEW STEELHEAD PHOTOS FROM FEBRUARY AND MARCH

As we approach the end of September and get closer to the peak of the local salmon runs, a few things are becoming clear. There are a lot of coho (silvers) this year. A lot. Every stream (including the Siletz and Nestucca) on the coast is seeing increased numbers of coho from years past and the Sandy has been its’ usual stellar self. I wonder why that it? Could it be that there was no commercial fishing off the Oregon coast this year? Funny how that works.

Angling pressure for these coastal coho has remained light, due mostly to the fact that it is a catch and release fishery. For fly fishing guides that live on catch and release, this is great news. We love to strip flies for these silver bullets in tidewater. It’s tremendous sport. For those that like to take a couple fish home the limit on the Sandy river has been increased to 3 hatchery fish and will remain that way in future seasons. We haven’t had trouble garnering limits and on many days have released lots of fish just to continue enjoying the amazing action. Photos of these beautiful fish can be viewed at this Coho (Silver) Salmon Gallery

The chinook run on the Oregon Coast run got a nice shot of chromers early in September, but the action has slowed throughout the month with low and warm water. There are certain to be additional shots of fish throughout October and November, but overall expectations are for a fair season with average to slightly below average numbers. We’re seeing increased numbers of jack chinook which should translate to better returns in 2009 and 2010.

Coastal Sea-run cutthroat fishing continues to be good, although in certain areas the smaller cutthroat have been pushed to different holding areas by the chinook and coho. Good numbers of fish can still be found and on cloudy days the fishing has been excellent.

To book a fly fishing trip for Chinook, Coho or Sea-run cutthroat call 503.515.3533 or Email Us

Adventure scouting trips are all about trying a new river, or a new stretch of water, or perhaps an familiar stretch of water at a new time of year. The latter was the case yesterday as two us set out to find the Portland Metro area rivers coho (silver salmon) scouts. Those chrome bright early fish that can sneak in unnoticed under light angling pressure, often for a couple weeks before the word is out.

We went fully expecting to catch nothing and to enjoy a nice float down the river. Still an enjoyable day on the water with the sun shining, shirt sleeves and 80 degree afternoons. There are worse ways to spend a day. The water was low, so we took the white water raft, some extra rope and a handful of fly rods. The raft was a good choice as we both agreed the driftboat would have gotten us into some serious trouble.

We got an unusually late start, perhaps around 8, but the sun was still low and off the water in most of the river canyon. Four deer crossed the river in front of us as we shoved off. Always a good omen. We fished two nice looking holes in the first half mile of the drift and came up empty. Not surprising. The next run we came to was long and wide with a nice choppy riffle at the head and smooth steelhead looking tailout. We pulled the boat over, hopped out and made a couple casts. Seconds later my angling partner’s rod surged and dove as a chrome silver came up tail walking. Fish On!!! Eventually the hook pulled out after several minutes, but the fish left us excited for the day’s prospects. We were not to be disappointed. We hooked four more fish in that hole alone including a Fall chinook and a couple chrome coho jacks.

Once the sun hit the water, the action slowed. However, we did manage to hook one more pig chinook late in the day that swam off with a hook in his mouth. 20-25lb fish are hard to land on 8lb. On a day we expected nothing, we were more than pleasantly surprised. It’s game on for these buggers and it’s only September 6. What is it going to be like in two or three weeks?

To take a crack at these hatchery and wild salmon give us a call at 503.515.3533 or Email Us.

Tight lines and good fishing,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff