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

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.

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

Oregon Coast Fishing Update

Jesse — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 04:25:54 +0000

Hi Anglers,

We had our first really good shot of rain early last week and is definitely spurred some activity in local Oregon Coast streams. We saw a good number of coho leave tidewater and bolt upriver. Most openings for native coho are now closed, but it’s still great to see them in such numbers. The chinook were a little slower to move but we did see the best activity above tidewater so far this year. Tidewater emptied out a bit throughout the middle of last week, but it will most certainly build up again over the next week as mostly dry weather is expected.

The season thus far is better than we expected mostly due to larger than average sea-runs and the best Chinook numbers we have witnessed in 5 years. We’re out of openings in October, but do have a couple left in November for big late season chinook. Call 503.515.3533 to book a trip or EMAIL US

Yes folks, that’s a coho hen. One of the biggest South of Alaska we’ve caught in recent years. A magnificent fish, released to spawn.

Coastal Fall Fishing Report

Jesse — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:03:28 +0000

Hi Anglers,

Just a quick Mid-Season Fall Oregon Coast fishing report before we head back out to the rivers. We’ve had 3 or 4 small to moderate rains so far this season. Each of which bumped area rivers like the Wilson, Nestucca and Siletz a couple inches. It’s certainly been enough rain to move the Sea-Run Cutthroat upriver. Sea-Runs are now spread out through all the coastal systems from tide water to 30 miles upriver, offering some great fly rod action. Our biggest to date this season is 18″, but we’ve had a lot of fish in the 15-16″ range . Numbers of fish have been excellent.

The early Fall rains also cooled the water down and put those upriver Summer Steelhead on the bite again. Steelheading has really picked up for us in the last couple weeks.

The Chinook are still mostly in tidewater although a fair number of jacks and a few adults have made it in to the river offering great sport on the fly rod. The adult Chinook will surely start to enter the systems in bigger numbers on the next big rain. The Coho are just now turning on in tidewater and numbers look to be good, but don’t expect the same giant numbers as 2009.

We’re booked up through October, but do have a few November Salmon dates left. We are also beginning to book Steelhead season, please give us a call (5036.515.3533) or EMAIL US to reserve your guided fishing trip. We’ll be fishing Winter Steelhead from Thanksgiving, 2011 to April 15, 2012.

Below are few pics from the last week of fishing.

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

It’s Summer Steelhead Time

Jesse — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:49:50 +0000

Summer Steelhead are now showing in fishable numbers on the Central/North Oregon Coast as well as in the Clackamas and Sandy. We took our first Summer fish on April 30 and look forward to good fishing throughout May and June.

We are currently fishing the Nestucca, Siletz, McKenzie, Sandy and Clackamas. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or Email us to book a Summer Steelhead and/or trout fishing trip.

Holiday Gift Certificates Available – Free Hat Offer

Jesse — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:16:12 +0000

Greetings Anglers,

The holiday season is nearly upon us! What could be a better gift to your favorite angler than a gift certificate for a day of guided fly fishing, complete with rods/reels, flies, lunch/beverages, 9 hour fishing day and a FREE Small Stream Outfitters embroidered logo ball cap! Offer good, November 26 – December 21, 2010. Certificates are good for 1 year from date of purchase and are good anywhere we fish including the Sandy, Clackamas, McKenzie, Siletz, Nestucca and Nehalem.

EMAIL US to order your gift certificate. Just type “Holiday Gift Certificate” in the subject line.

Per Boat Rates:
Single Angler: $350.00
2 anglers: $395.00

Happy holidays and tight lines,
Small Stream Outfitters

It’s Sea-Run Cutthroat Time!

Jesse — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:26:33 +0000

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

It’s time to think Winter Steelhead

Jesse — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:34:07 +0000

The big November rains passed through last week, blowing out all the coastal streams for about a week. They are all coming into shape now and several rivers to the South including the Alsea and Siletz were fishable today.

Before the rains hit good numbers of hatchery Winter Steelhead were already beginning to show in the Nestucca and Alsea Rivers. Once these rivers drop in to prime shape over the next couple days, look out for chrome. Expect good Thanksgiving weekend steelheading, the traditional opener of the season.

We will be concentrating on the Nestucca and Nehalem drainages in December and January this year. To get in on some great hatchery and early native steelhead fishing give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us

Tight lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

We’re loving the Coho return… are you?

Jesse — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:23:25 +0000

Not since my days guiding in Alaska have I seen Coho fishing this consistently good. It’s only the first week of October, not quite halfway through the run, and we’re seeing and catching more fish than we did all of last year. To give you some perspective, last year wasn’t half bad! Double-digit days between a pair of anglers has been the norm, not the exception this year. That’s great Salmon fishing anywhere, and now we have it in our back yard!

We’ll be chasing these units around the rivers and tributaries at least through Thanksgiving so if you want to get in on the action, give us a call or drop us an Email. We have just a few dates left available for this Fall.

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff