Nothing But Chrome- NF Nehalem Report

The NF Nehalem continues to produce chrome bright hatchery fish like this one caught on Jan 27th.  Water levels and clarity have been good.  The hatchery reports good numbers of fish continuing to return back to the hatchery.  Wild fish have been caught as well. 

Enjoy the thrill of steelhead fly fishing on the NF Nehalem; as they say, "The Tug is the Drug! " Our favorite way to catch steelhead is on the swung fly.  A few specific spots on the NF are custom made for this.  However, most fly fishing is done with floating lines and strike indicators.  Fly patterns are often simple egg patterns.  Pink, cerise, white, orange, salmon egg, peach are all productive colors on the NF.

Only hatchery steelhead can be kept on the NF.  Most years the limit is 2 fish per person.  Here the successful anglers of the day show off their catch as well as the camera man's.

Come join us for a fun float on the NF Nehalem river!  Click here for more info.  www.watertimeoutfitters.com

North Fork Nehalem Winter Steelhead Report

The last 8 days has been very busy for Water Time Outfitters.  Each day we've been working the emerald green waters of the NF Nehalem River. We fished our hearts out, enjoyed exciting whitewater rafting and then relaxed in the warm cabin each night right on the water.  This week the stars have aligned, prayers have been answered and a few lucky anglers have been winning the "steelhead lotto".  In other words fishing has been epic!

The river started out being muddy and high- 83" the week before.  By Sunday the water was down around 56" and dropping.  It was high but a nice green color.  Monday the river was very busy with the New Years holiday crowd.  Water level was around 50".  Through the week we had levels from 44-50" with showers, clouds and rain.  The sun even made an appearance on Sunday a week later when the water temp was at 44 degrees. 

With the water high, dropping, clearing and warm combined with a lack of rain earlier in the month of December we had a pile of fish swimming by each day.  The hatchery trap was full and you could see hundreds of steelhead which came into the trap the first few days of the year. 

Fighting a chrome bright steelhead is a great way to start the year and this trip some of our begining anglers even got to tire their arms wrestling fish.  A highlight for us was our group from Arizona with 7 year old Xeng landing 2 chrome steelhead.  This kid was a "black belt" steelhead angler under 4' tall!  The other fantastic thing we saw this week was a lot of wild fish being caught.  That bodes well for our wild run which is strongest in Feb/Mar. 

Here are a few pics of our fishing from the week.  Special thanks to all our great customers who joined us on the NF.

If you'd like to see your face in a picture similar to the ones below call Rob or Gil at Water Time Outfitters.  www.watertimeoutfitters.com  503-704-6449

John Huntsman with a dandy swung fly Steelhead he caught on his #5 weight spey rod with a 10' sink tip.

John Huntsman Pics

                                                                 More Misc Pics

                            Warm and by the fire each night, great especially on those rainy days!