Winter run timing and other questions

[coastalcutty]

I'm new to steelhead, I fished for them this summer in various rivers and recently bought a spey rod. I fished last winter a bit with gear but no success. I have been having actual dreams about steelhead fishing and spey casting the last few weeks! I'm so ready to get after it!

Questions.. When can I expect fish to come in to the northern coastal rivers? Both forks of the Nehalem, Wilson, Trask, etc? I've heard Thanksgiving, how often does that hold up?

How long will the Deshutes be fishable for fall fish? I'm happy to make the drive to get my fix.

Not looking for spots, but in general on these coastal rivers, how do you find swing water that isn't crowded with gear guys? I suspect if it's been fished by a competent gear guy, my chances dwindle quickly. I'll have to fish from the bank, no boat access. Thinking back to last winter, the Wilson can get so damn crowded.

 

[Rob Allen]

I'm new to steelhead, I fished for them this summer in various rivers and recently bought a spey rod. I fished last winter a bit with gear but no success. I have been having actual dreams about steelhead fishing and spey casting the last few weeks! I'm so ready to get after it!

Questions.. When can I expect fish to come in to the northern coastal rivers? Both forks of the Nehalem, Wilson, Trask, etc? I've heard Thanksgiving, how often does that hold up?

How long will the Deshutes be fishable for fall fish? I'm happy to make the drive to get my fix.

Not looking for spots, but I'm general on these coastal rivers, how do you find swing water that isn't crowded with gear guys? I suspect if it's been fished by a competent gear guy, my chances dwindle quickly. I'll have to fish from the bank, no boat access. Thinking back to last winter, the Wilson can get so damn crowded.

Fish the Deschutes till Christmas. Then leave summer fish alone.

Winter steelhead traditionally starts at Thanksgiving but more reliable date would be mid-December. Peak of hatchery runs being Christmas-New years but lasting til mid February. Chambers creek winter steelhead lose their conditioning very quickly and quickly become smoker fish after Jan 15.
Wild fish are available November-April and can be in excellent condition at any time during that period and are much better quarry for fly fisherman.

My advice would be to pick a smaller stream that has both hatchery and wild fish.
Gear fish until mid January then switch to swinging flies. Hopefully during that early part of the season you'll catch a couple hatchery fish and develop some ideas as to what kind of water is holding fish.

In my opinion the Trask, and Wilson are far to well known and heavily fished to be a good option. As with everything good these days look for places where distance or topography weed out the crowds

 

[coastalcutty]

Thanks for your info and advice. I'm not opposed to hiking and exploring. I can definitely see your point with smaller water having less people and I'll have to put in the time to find some places

 

[Rob Allen]

Thanks for your info and advice. I'm not opposed to hiking and exploring. I can definitely see your point with smaller water having less people and I'll have to put in the time to find some places

Portland just has a huge population of pretty adventurous anglers, both fly and conventional so the north coast gets hammered.

 

[Hoofer]

Solid advice from Rob Allen, as usual. My steelhead fishing is ‘topography’ driven, with some huffing involved. I don't want to see footprints, ideally. March is a lot better than December, for me, but I don’t target hatchery fish much after the stream I knew lost its hatchery program. I’m basically still working on switching back to flies from gear after maybe ~100 fish. If I was serious about catching a few steelhead on a swung fly this year I’d pay for guiding or plan to fish very hard in prime spring conditions — or maybe both.

 

[skyriver]

PM sent. Rob has good info. Deschutes from Warm Springs to Maupin should have fish until end of the year.
There are other rivers farther east that will have fish even later if you have the time & the gas $$. And if decent weather.

 

[coastalcutty]

Solid advice from Rob Allen, as usual. My steelhead fishing is ‘topography’ driven, with some huffing involved. I don't want to see footprints, ideally. March is a lot better than December, for me, but I don’t target hatchery fish much after the stream I knew lost its hatchery program. I’m basically still working on switching back to flies from gear after maybe ~100 fish. If I was serious about catching a few steelhead on a swung fly this year I’d pay for guiding or plan to fish very hard in prime spring conditions — or maybe both.

100 fish, so, you haven't fished a fly in 25 years?

I've thought about getting a guide and I do plan to fish hard this year. What could I expect a guide to cost for a day on one of these coastal rivers, or Sandy/Clack?

 

[Hoofer]

About 15 years since I’ve swung flies in the winter, after few years of effort before that with very limited success. I hate to be negative, and I’m sure lots of people do well in the winter with spey gear if they get dialed in. My experience is just that east side summer fish are a lot easier on swung flies. Although I can certainly think of some coastal fish that would have taken a fly — the really hot ones will charge. Not much experience with guides but maybe $400/day?

 

[Hoofer]

This has me nostalgic. One of the last winter fish I caught on a fly was on the Applegate, in front of my then-pregnant, now-ex wife. We were down there for Shakespeare, and just goofing off for a few hours. Nice fish took a heavy nymph while she sat at a picnic table. She decided winter steelhead looked more fun than she’d realized. So I bought a cheap bobber rig, and she caught a fish her first try the next weekend, on a BC-style blade, below Lee’s Camp. I decided bobbers looked more fun than I’d realized. I’m not sure she ever fished in winter again, and I’m not sure I’ve caught a winter fish on a fly since. I haven't seen good Shakespeare again either. The kid is moderately fishy. Anyway: it’s a journey.

 

[coastalcutty]

About 15 years since I’ve swung flies in the winter, after few years of effort before that with very limited success. I hate to be negative, and I’m sure lots of people do well in the winter with spey gear if they get dialed in. My experience is just that east side summer fish are a lot easier on swung flies. Although I can certainly think of some coastal fish that would have taken a fly — the really hot ones will charge. Not much experience with guides but maybe $400/day?

I've fished basically once a week or more for something or other since March. Last year I took the winter off for a good part. Others have told me the same, that summer fish are more willing, but it's getting cold and more fish are coming and I'll be out there somewhere. I find fly fishing more enjoyable than gear so I might be in for the struggle bus but that's ok for now.

 

[coastalcutty]

This has me nostalgic. One of the last winter fish I caught on a fly was on the Applegate, in front of my then-pregnant, now-ex wife. We were down there for Shakespeare, and just goofing off for a few hours. Nice fish took a heavy nymph while she sat at a picnic table. She decided winter steelhead looked more fun than she’d realized. So I bought a cheap bobber rig, and she caught a fish her first try the next weekend, on a BC-style blade, below Lee’s Camp. I decided bobbers looked more fun than I’d realized. I’m not sure she ever fished in winter again, and I’m not sure I’ve caught a winter fish on a fly since. I haven't seen good Shakespeare again either. The kid is moderately fishy. Anyway: it’s a journey.

You wrote that in a perfectly entertaining way

 

[bobduck]

I had an unforgettable trip on the D on a November day years ago. When the sun dropped behind the ridge the temp plummeted and soon the edges of the river were icing up around my boots. My friend and I called it quits as we were cold and neither had moved a fish. So we went into Maupin and into the Rainbow and learned that they'd just gotten in a shipment of fresh oysters so we drank good ale and whiskey and filled up on panfried oysters (excellent) and watched the Ducks beat the crap out of Stanford. It's always been my belief that summer ends on Oct 15 and winter starts on Oct 16 and that's when I quit going there.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

I had an unforgettable trip on the D on a November day years ago. When the sun dropped behind the ridge the temp plummeted and soon the edges of the river were icing up around my boots. My friend and I called it quits as we were cold and neither had moved a fish. So we went into Maupin and into the Rainbow and learned that they'd just gotten in a shipment of fresh oysters so we drank good ale and whiskey and filled up on panfried oysters (excellent) and watched the Ducks beat the crap out of Stanford. It's always been my belief that summer ends on Oct 15 and winter starts on Oct 16 and that's when I quit going there.

Great story! Thank you for sharing! I love fishing reports like this.

 

[DerekWhipple]

As far as I am aware, there are three North coast rivers that still get the traditional early return hatchery stock (late Nov-January), and I think one is switching to brood stock, or already has. I believe the remaining North coast rivers that still get hatchery fish have switched to brood stock, which return more in line with the wild fish (Feb-early April). Those early return hatchery rivers aren't very big and can get absolutely hammered, and you also have to contend with rafts floating through a rods-length away.

The crowds follow the hatchery fish though, and if you are after wild fish, it's much easier to find less pressured water by either fishing wild-only waters, or waiting for the hatchery crowds to leave those hatchery rivers later in winter. Although, you might have to compete with an occasional spey angler.

All that being said, there are always a few fish that don't like to follow the rules and show up whenever they feel like it. If you fish the coast or the Portland rivers in November or December, there is a possibility that you can catch a late summer fish, or an early winter. Odds are low, but they aren't zero.