The Clackamas River has been due for a big dose of rain as many rivers in Oregon and California have so far this winter experienced near drought conditions; that changed this past week with a week full of snow, rain and ice! Winter weather returned with a venegance to the Clackamas valley and the nearby city of Portland, Oregon. Both wild and hatchery steelhead swim the waters of the Clackamas and February is usually a get started month for the Clack. This month more numbers of wild and hatchery broodstock fish enter the system building into March and April. Here is a recent graph of the water level and forecast for the rest of the week.
Once the Clackamas hits 14' it is often unfishable. As it rises towards flood level it reaches the "action phase" this is where things start moving. For the Clack the action phase is at 18.0' it is forecast to hit that on friday. We may see some new gravel bars and new spots to fish!
