Oregon Coast Report

[Benjo]

Well ya'll, I've been fishing for 7 days straight now and I haven't landed a steelhead yet. I broke one off on a swung prawn type pattern today. I am not yet giving up hope and plan to fish until I catch a wild coastal fish, which I have done before but never under such difficult conditions. I'm keeping the faith. B

I feel your pain. I fished for winter steelhead in the mid 90's in N. CA while I was in college and only landed 6 fish over a 4-year preiod that I fished 20 or 30 days a year (I only fished rivers with predominately wild runs though). Winter steelhead fishing in the Pacific Northwest is tough. Hang in there!

[DG]

There are no fish in northern California either. Nope, none at all. Honest.

Dennis

[Benjo]

Castwell, That depends on if it rains here by the weekend. If it rains a significant amount, I'll stay here and fish for the freshies that are bound to come in with the rising rivers. If it doesn't rain I'll be at the show and we'll have to meet up if just for a minute. If it doesn't rain I'll most likely be going to the Olympic Penninsula after the show to fish some rivers and this is an open invitation: I've always wanted to fish the Salmon River and the last time I tried it I got food poisioning and only saw it while puking over a guardrail off the road. I'm going to hire a guide as you have to, and I'm going to fish it, anyone who wants to join me for a day is welcome. PS- I hope the Seattle show is better than the Portland show where I was today and it was not that cool. B

[Jayatwork]

Gee Benjo why don't you post your true feelings here too?

Jay

[Benjo]

Jay, I don't see how this is much different other than there's not a bunch of hyper-sensitive pepople here to blow things out of proportion. The fishing on the Oregon coast sucks right now. If you really want me to get into it, why does this state cut down most of it's beautiful trees and then people put "no trespassing" or "private property" signs on the ones that remain. I've never seen such poor public access in my life. I don't usually consider a boat launch something that requires a 150foot rope, but that seems to be the standard out here. It's like your stream access law, Japanese commercial fishermen, landowners and the state have conspired to make fishing difficult. In Montana when two cars meet on a logging road waves are always exchanged, not the case here. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that I'm just frustrated with the lack of fish.

[DShock]

Benjo,
I'm truly sorry that your having trouble finding some fish to catch. This is one of the driest winters I have ever seen in Oregon. The clackamas river near here is very low and there will be little steelhead activity until we get some rain.
The weather has been so nice that it seems like it is SPRING already.
Good Luck!
Doug WL OR

[ELKHUNTER]

Benjo what part of Oregon are you fishing?If you are fishing near the Portland area i can agree that not many people will wave or give you the time of day.I live on the south Oregon coast and i can tell you that most people i meet on the road always return a wave or stop to chat about the fishing.And the same goes for the central and eastern part of the state.I have met and made good friends on almost every river i have fished.This is not to say that i have not run into some rude people,but the majority are nice folks.

As far as the lack of fish goes,I have to agree with DShock,this has been a very dry winter for us.Until it rains and the rivers rise there will not be many steelhead around.When the water is low they tend to stay in the tide water areas until we get a couple days of good rain to bring the rivers up.Once that water starts to drop back down the rivers will be full of fish.I myself have not hooked one steelhead yet this year.One river that i fish here i could count on getting at least five or six hook ups a day.This year it has gone to zero because of the low water conditions.

I hope your luck changes for the better Benjo, and i hope you meet up with some of the nicer fisherpeople.

Tight Lines
Rocky

[Benjo]

I'm fishing the Sandy tomorrow and to date I've fished the Trask, Wilson, Nehalem, Necanicum, Salmonberry, N. Fork Nehalem, Nehalem Bay Tidewater on outgoing, and some other places. It's safe to say that I've been fishing hard and that the fihing is tough. I have seen a few old hatchery fish that I didn't bother fihsing to and I also waw three wild fish in crystal clear water, I had a legitamite shot at one who seemed to shy away from my cast that was as good a cast as I could have made given the situation. Portland has been great fun, the parts of it I have been sober enough to remember anyway. Food is great here. Hopefully the Sandy will give me my first of the year.

[ELKHUNTER]

I have a friend who's family owns property along the N. Fork Nehalem and he has not had any luck there this year.He fishes mostly with,God forgive him,bait and small spinners.The low clear water is hurting the bait fishers also.I belive some of the best flyfishing in Oregon for steelhead is on the lower Deschutes River,and also the North Umpqua River.The problem with the North Umpqua is most of the fishing seems to be done from Steamboat creek down.And when the fish are there it is a race at first light to see who is going to get to the best holes.I normally do not like to fish around people who have to be the first at every hole,but this river is so beautiful i tolerate it and find my own rock to fish from just to be on the water.

If you go south of Portland and out towards the coast the Nestucca and Little Nestucca Rivers have been good rivers in the past but you can run into access problems there unless you are in a drift boat.

HOPE YOU CATCH ONE
ROCKY