Outdoor Report 1/4

Winter steelhead fishing is now officially in full swing! There has been a decent mix of wild and hatchery steelhead for anglers to target on all local and coastal rivers. Reports say there has also been some very big fish around! Locally hatchery fish are entering the Sandy and Clackamas Rivers daily and reports have been good. Folks are targeting them with jigs, pink worms, sand shrimp and eggs. Now that the rivers have dropped into shape after the rain, anglers are choosing to cover a lot of water quickly by bobberdoggin’ or side drifting yarnies, eggs, beads and pink worms. It has been paying off for them. Fish have been caught on a multitude of techniques, so pick your favorite technique and hit the water! There has already been a good push of wild and hatchery steelhead at the coast. Some very nice sized fish have already been caught, there are reports of several 20 lb class steelhead caught in the Tillamook area. These big fish tend to like larger more obtrusive presentations. This includes spoons, spinners, large pink worms and plugs, that’s not to say that big steelhead won’t eat small yarnies or beads, but big fish like larger presentations. The broodstock hatchery steelhead are entering the rivers daily as well. With the rivers being in prime shape most anglers have been focusing their efforts in the lower sections for that is where the newest fish will be caught. These aggressive hatchery fish love to eat yarnies, eggs, worms and beads but as the water starts to get lower these fish will start to focus more on jigs, beads and eggs. With the inevitable aluminum and fiberglass hatch that follows a high-water event, a great option is to backtroll plugs. When there is a lot of pressure on the river and fish are seeing lots of the same baits backtrolling a small plug into a promising looking run can be extremely effective. Mag Lips, Tadpollys, K11’s and Wiggle Warts are all great options when it comes to plugging for steelhead. As always, be sure to check current regulations at ODFW and WDFW before heading into the field. Find reports and information on the Fisherman's Community page.