Winter Steelhead Fishing on North Oregon Coast
Best Clatsop and Tillamook County Searun Rainbow Trout Angling
Jul 18, 2009
The early runs of hatchery-born winter steelhead start returning to their home rivers on the northern coast of Oregon around Thanksgiving, but they sometimes don't peak until well into winter.
Most native winter steelhead arrive after the first of the year, typically peaking in late February through March. Several Oregon rivers have brood-stock programs that spawn harvestable hatchery fish using wild parents, resulting in later hatchery runs.
On many Oregon rivers, only steelhead with adipose fins clipped at the hatchery before being released as smolts (young salmon or steelhead) can be harvested as adults.
Steelhead have a reputation for being hard to fool and harder to land. But they also can be aggressive biters that fall to a variety of fishing methods.
As with larger steelhead rivers on the central coast or in southwestern Oregon, heavy rains can render these rivers virtually unfishable, but many of the region’s smaller streams drop into shape more quickly.
When conditions are right, the following rivers are tops on the northern coast.
Nestucca River and Three Rivers Combination is Hard to Beat
The Big Nestucca, as it is known, is an all-around gem with runs of salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout available all year long in southern Tillamook County.
“If a person wants to land a steelhead over 20 pounds, this is one of the best places to do it on the north coast,” said Tim Barnett of Barnett’s Guide Service said of his home river, where he takes most of his steelhead clients. “There’s really no need for me to go anywhere. I’ve got everything I need right here.”
For winter steelhead, the big river is great for drift boaters like Barnett, with many launches and takeouts including Rock Hole, Farmer Creek wayside, mouth of Three Rivers and Cloverdale. Farther up, better ramp sites include the first and fourth bridges above Beaver.
Barnett prefers side-drifting and standard drift fishing techniques. Running plugs and fishing with bobbers and jigs are also productive techniques, he added.
Bank anglers will find less access on the lower river along U.S. 101 but can reach the river at ramp sites. Farther upstream, above Blaine on Nestucca River Road, bank access is good but anglers are restricted to artificial lures and flies and catch mostly wild fish that must be released.
The Nestucca and Three Rivers, a popular tributary stream, have early returning and later returning runs of hatchery steelhead, extending the season from late fall until early spring. In good years, the Nestucca and Three Rivers together churn out more than 2,000 winter steelhead, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife catch records. Often, Three Rivers outperforms its big sister and is a great high-water option.
Wilson River has Great Angling Access Closer to Portland
This region of the coast is rich with steelhead streams, but it’s tough to name one that’s as easy to get to – with numerous pullouts and along the Wilson River Highway (Oregon 6), the route linking Tillamook to the Portland metropolitan area.
As with the Nestucca, anglers fishing the Wilson harvest more than 2,000 steelhead during better winter seasons, which also run long due to both early and late hatchery runs.
The Wilson doesn’t have its own hatchery, but more than 100,000 fin-clipped smolts are released there yearly. Most are put in below the Siskeyville launch, about 11 miles upstream from the bay. Among places to get to the lower river, try below Mills Bridge (behind the former Guide Shop) for a generous stretch of easily reached bank that also is a popular boat access. A few other boat launches are well-marked on the lower river.
The upper river also gets modest hatchery releases and lower catches, but those go along with excellent access, smaller crowds and almost no boat traffic.
North Fork Nehalem Has Early Winter Steelhead Run
If you want a steelhead for Christmas, the North Fork is a good bet. It joins the mainstem Nehalem River at tidewater and produces most of the system’s harvestable steelhead. For a relatively small stream with limited bank access and sometimes dangerous boating conditions, the North Fork still manages to put out almost as many steelhead as the Nestucca and Wilson.
Most bank anglers find access at the hatchery on Highway 53 or on nearby private timberland reached from a sometimes-rough road that curves around below and across the hatchery hole.
Disabled anglers with the proper permit also may access an expanded barrier-free fishing platform at the hatchery. It might just rank as the state’s best steelhead hole for qualified anglers.
Many Choices in Northwest Zone
There are plenty of rivers and creeks with winter steelhead runs on the rainy northern coast of Oregon. But for highest numbers of hatchery fish and good access a short drive from the city, the Nestucca, Wilson and North Fork Nehalem rivers are tough to beat.
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