Heavy rains following a snowy period have produced isolated flooding and general floodwatch conditions in Western Oregon.  Many rivers approached flood stage in the last couple days, but most are now on the drop.  The Elk River got up above 14 feet at one point and the Lower Coquille hit a whopping 45!  As of today, the Elk has subsided to 8.8'.  As the rivers drop into fishable conditions, focus will now concentrate on Winter Steelhead as we wave goodbye to the Fall Chinook.  Rivers that can often play in the early innings include the Alsea, Siuslaw, and the Umpqua.  The mainstem Umpqua takes many more days before it's condusive to drift fishing and is traditionally a plunkers paradise while still in high and murky conditions.  Unless we return to droughtlike conditins again, the high water also signals the end to some great crabbing we had this Fall.  Estuaries that produced consitently good recreational crabbing included Winchester Bay, the Alsea at Waldport, the Coquille at Bandon and the blue ribbon went to Coos Bay.  The commercial crabbers are not experiencing bumper catches at sea, so we should be grateful for the great days we had.