Fishing Report:

We have entered the final stretch for winter steelhead fishing on many of our coastal streams. A few select rivers offer prolonged opportunity for some continued steelhead fishing beyond the general March 31st cutoff. Numerous rivers and sections of some rivers remain open to steelhead fishing year-round. The Rogue, the Umpqua, and the Siletz, the Trask, Wilson, & Nestucca all fall into this category. The Whitaker Run on the Siuslaw remains open through April 15, while the South Fork of the Coquille stays open through April 30. When river levels cooperated, so did the fish in most systems.

There are still just a few nice Chinook coming in on each freshet, but beautiful feisty Winter Steelhead are increasingly making their presence known with each passing day.

Fising Report - October 24, 2010

As of today, February 15th 2010, most of Oregon's coastal rivers are currently at ideal water levels for both drift boat and bank fishing. While a few of the north coast streams have reported some stellar days, rivers in the south west region continue to produce the most consistent results for winter steelhead. Reports of good catches on the Chetco, Elk & Sixes, and on the Coos and Coquille systems continue to come in. We are now entering the latter part of the winter steelhead season when the big native fish comprise a higher component of the total catch.

I recently observed ODFW personnel and volunteers seining adult salmon down on the Chetco River as hatchery broodstock. Fish will be spawned and then raised at Elk River Hachery and then released next fall to produce the next generation of "Chetco Clippers." After 3-5 years in the ocean, the survivors should return to the Chetco as adults, some to prvide sport and others to repeat the cycle.