February 2016 Fishing Report

It's mid February and winter steelhead season is full on!  Our nw rivers are getting a lot of rain this year and that has translated into good fishing conditions on many nw waters.  Right now we have a mix of both hatchery and wild steelhead on many top Oregon rivers like the Wilson, Nestucca, Clackamas and Sandy Rivers.  Smaller waters with decent runs of wild steelhead are showing fish on the Kilches, Trask, Salmonberry, Nehalem among others.

Top producing strategies are sinking tips with spey rods and big flies.  Getting your fly down is key this time of year.  Look for big patterns that have profile and movement for best results.  10' T-11 sink tip is an important tool for the winter fly rodder.  Combine this with a skagit fly line and you are in business.

Water levels have been high but that doesn't mean un-fishable.  Look for softer edges out of the fast water flow.  Sometimes lighter tips and unweighted flies swung into the willows are the recipe for success.

The Clackamas River has produced good results with Barton to Carver being a top section.  On the Sandy the bite was hot lower in the last month but recent surges of high water have fish spread throughout the system.  Coastal waters have seen fish spread through the system for most rivers.  Look for best results lower in the river with low water and anglers tend to do better higher up with high flows.

Expect continued quality fish to arrive in the next 6 weeks.  Prime time is on- don't miss it!

Oregon's North Coast Fishing Report

Fishing should improve at water levels recede from this current weather front that is hammering the Oregon Coast rivers right now.  Forecast call for a sharp rise in the next few days but dropping trend next week.  That should spell good fishing for most north coast rivers.  Most top names are producing well this year: Wilson, Nestucca, Kilches, Alsea and NF Alsea, NF Nehalem, Necanicum and Siletz rivers are booting out their fair share of chrome this winter.

Some of the first to drop and clear will be the Kilches and Necanicum rivers.  Try bright colored patterns that are visible in green waters.  One of our favorite fly patterns is the GUIDES CHOICE. 

Watch for water levels to drop this week and be ready to hit it!

Good luck on the water!

Fall Salmon Fishing and Busted Rods

If there ever was a more feirce battle of dogged determination and deep throbbing- rod wrenching fun it is from the standoff between the fly angler and an angry fall salmon.  Fall chinook or the notorious Chum salmon both are known for their tackle testing brute power and are a blast to go after with the fly rod.

This season WTO guide Todd Rettmann is offering trips for catch & release chum salmon and trophy chinook fishing in the Tillamook area that is sure to test your tackle.  Come join Todd on Oregon's Tillamook area rivers.  Todd will be floating some of Oregon's best salmon rivers in a Clackacraft drift boat and can accomodate up to three anglers. Look for best dates from Nov 2-15.  

Most fishing is done with a #8 or #9 weight rod but a #10 weight is not too heavy.  Flies are often bright and flashy and expect to be using deep sinking sink tips or other tricks Todd has in the bag to get the fly deep where bright chinook and chums like to hang out.  

Guided trips consist of full day 8-9 hour float trip, flies and required tackle.  Two guests fee is $500 and three guests fee is $700.  

For available dates and to reserve your spot call 503-704-6449 or visit www.watertimeoutfitters.com .  

All in a Days Work- February Steelhead on Oregon's North Coast

Guided fly fishing trips can be a blast- being the guide doing the work can also be a blast!  Great days with fun loving clients and good fishing always produces a vibe that is invogorating to a fly fishing guide.  This years winter steelhead run on Oregon's North coast has been excellent with good numbers of steelhead returning to their natal waters to spawn.

A recent trip with John and Dennis was just such a trip.  Great weather, great company and excellent fishing conditions with cooperating steelhead.  What more could a fishing guide ask for!

Dennis with the first fish of the day a mere 20 minutes after we started.  A wild fish that fought like crazy! The statement is so true-the "Tug is the Drug!"

The second fish Dennis landed...

John doing his best to keep up with a hot chrome fish that eventually won this battle!

Dennis is all smiles!

John finds one for the BBQ-a hatchery steelhead to take home.

Good water conditions and fresh arriving steelies - a great combination!

Come fish with the experienced guides of the Water Time Outfitters Team.  We have been fishing and

guiding Oregon's North coast for over 20 years.  See more at: www.watertimeoutfitters.com 

Oregon's Winter Steelhead Season 2015

Dave's Oregon Coast Steelhead

We had worked the slot very carefully and picked up one nice steelhead about 8 pounds.  We released it and Dave made a few more casts before we were going to head out.  Dave's line straightened in the sweet spot and he lifted his rod into a heavy fish.  Huge head shakes were followed by a ballistic run upriver with a cartwheel on the surface throwing spray like a broken firehose.  The bruiser was having none of what we wanted and pulled hard violently ripping line off the reel as it headed down river.  Now in the tailout it was do or die.  Dave pulled hard but this big guy was headed back to the sea.  We had no choice but to commence chase in the boat.  Downriver into the rapids below the surging steelhead muscled his way through the heavy current aiming towards a log jam.  If he get's in there he's a goner -we all knew... Fighting a fish through a rapid and bouncing down river in the boat is challenging but Dave kept the line tight and the rod bent.  Several times the fish made a mad dash under the boat.  A quick spin on the oars helped keep us from a broken rod on the gunnel.  Finally out of the rapids and into the next hole the big fish started to tire. Eventually we eased him into the catch and release net and admired a dandy steelhead by any measure.  We estimated it at 17 pounds.  A great battle and an epic fish.  Steelhead- hard to beat!

Fishing for winter steelhead has been good this season.  Oregon's north coast is home to some of the best rivers in the region for winter steelhead.  Rivers like the Wilson, Trask, Kilches, NF Nehalem and Necanicum Rivers have seen good returns of chrome steelhead.  Winter steelhead fishing has it's challenges. Water conditions and every changing weather are a big factor.  Another variable especially telling for fly anglers is the water temperatures; cold water makes fishing tough.  For a wide variety of river scenics and fishing variety Oregon's north coast has a lot to offer.

Fly fishing the north coast focuses on two primary techniques; the swung fly strategy and nymph fishing approach.  Both are deadly effective at the proper time and place.  Swung flies are extremely effective when water temperatures are warmer.  Coastal rivers tend to run warmer than inland rivers because of the marine influence and generally warmer temperatures.  This plays into the favor of the swung fly angler.  The cast is generally down and across alowing the fly to sweep across the current.  Quickly covering a large area of water searching for aggressive steelhead.  To get the fly down the swung fly approach requires a sink tip for the winter timeframe.  Sink tips are often 10-12' long and have varied sink rates.  Sinking tips that drop at 6-8 inches per second are common for this time of year.  T-11 and Type 8 sink tips are a favorite among many veteran anglers but lighter and heavier tips may be required depending on the wide swing in fishing conditions.  While the take of the fly can vary when a fish grabs the swung fly an electrifying tug is often felt.  This is where the expression: "The Tug is the Drug" comes from.

Nymph fishing strategies for steelhead allow for a dead drifted presentation and fishes the water much differently than the swung fly.  With the dead drift approach getting the fly deep is the main objective. Indicators are placed on the leader allowing the angler to quickly detect a fish or rock that has stopped the fly.  Split shot or weighted flies are utilized to anchor through the fast and heavy flows of winter and get down to where the fish are.  These are varied depending on the flow of the river.

This year's return of hatchery steelhead has been excellent.  Great returns have been seen on many of our coastal rivers.  Most notably the NF Nehalem has seen as many hatchery fish return in by Jan 1 as we had return in the entire season on 2014.  Limits of fish each day for our guides have been the standard when good water conditions allowed in late December and early January.

For good bank accessible rivers, the Wilson River flowing into Tillamook and the Necanicum River flowing into the Oregon town of Seaside are favorites.  Miles of easy access are found along HWY 6 on the Wilson and on HWY 26 for the Necanicum.  The Wilson River has many great sections to float but the upper river has extreme hazards.  The Kilches river is a beautiful gem which receives early hatchery steelhead and later run wild fish.  This river has several good access points and can easily be floated in the lower river with a pontoon boat, raft or drift boat.  The NF Nehalem is a dangerous river for floaters and only expert anglers should consider this float. Three water falls in a basalt cliff canyon are the legendary hallmarks of this river.  Limited access is found along the bank near the hatchery where anglers have solid results during medium -high water conditions.  The Nestucca River is another river just south of Tillamook that sees excellent returns of both hatchery and wild steelhead from December - March.

For the best view of the river join one of the Water Time Outfitters team of guides for a day float.  Our guides are experienced oarsmen and expert anglers with a lifetime of experience on the north coast of Oregon.  See more info at: www.watertimeoutfitters.com

River Report Feb 12, 2014

Looks like the rain dance we were working on finally did the trick.  Rivers are swollen now with over an inch of rain overnight hitting the North Oregon coast.  With the good snow pack we had over the weekend the now much higher freezing levels combined with warm rain is melting snow fast.  Looks like next week for some rivers and possibly the weekend for others depending on what we get for more rain.  Should be good numbers of fish around when the water gets back in shape.  Here are some graphs of local rivers:

Nestucca River

Wilson River

Nehalem River

Find more info on fishing Oregon waters at: www.watertimeoutfitters.com 

Fishing Report - end of March

Lots going on with this time of year for Steelhead fishing.  It's that crazy time of year where the weather can't make up it's mind if it is going to be winter or spring.  Just yesterday we saw snow on the morning drive, sun, rain, hail, wind, sun and more snow on the drive home.  Ok, dress up in the gortex, thermals and let's got there is so much to do!  Trout fishing is just around the corner and people are already starting to talk about salmon flies.  While fishing the coast we have been seeing March Browns and actually a large stone flapping on the water before us yesterday.

Coastal steelhead:  It's been a bit slower than last year in most cases but consistent fishing since January.  We've seen a lot of low water this year and have finally received a few blasts of rain.  Each blast of rain we see some new fish arrive and breath a sigh of relief as we row the boat through more "normal" water levels for this time of year.  (Earlier in the season backs were sore as we wrestled the boats with  more "rock rowing" than anyone should have to do in a "rain forest").  Wild fish are the norm in most of our Oregon North Coast spots with hatchery fish showing on the Wilson and Nestucca.  We have a few more weeks on the Wilson, Trask and Nestucca before thing drop off.  The NF will close at the end of March.

What we've missed in a lack of numbers of fish has sure been offset by the massive size of steelhead returning this year.  I have personally seen 5 fish in the 20 plus pound range in the last 2 months and saw one swim under my boat the was truly the largest I have ever seen in real life- way over 20!!.

Clackamas River:  Rain has definitely helped encourage fish to sneak up the Clack and fishing has been improving.  We have a mix of wild, broodstock hatchery fish and some early summer runs showing in the Clackamas.  These fish will spread out through the system from the mouth of the river to Rivermill dam.  This season is just hitting stride and I will be out there most every day in the sled or drift boat plying the waters.
Here is a fish that was caught by author Don Roberts on tuesday.

Deschutes:  Trout fishing will be full swing by May with the salmon fly hatch expected perhaps a bit early than the early arrival of the last few years if we are lack luster on our snow pack.  We'll see how the remainder of spring goes.  At this point it looks like we will sneak around a big run off and have more agreeable water levels for the famous salmon fly hatch.  Look for things to break loose the second week of May around Maupin and then work upriver from there.  For right now, expect a few BWO's mid-day and some March browns to be popping.

See more fishing info on our website or other blog entries: www.watertimeoutfitters.com 

Oregon's North Coast Steelhead - January

It's prime time on many of Oregon's north coast rivers and Water Time Outfitters has been busy getting clients into fish.  Our last week on the coast was truly exceptional fishing as our group from Arizona can attest.  We enjoyed excellent fishing despite low and clear water conditions.  With the water low and cold the key was to get deep. 

Expect January to be a good month and rivers like the Kilches, North Fork Nehalem, Neccanicum to yeild good numbers of chrome fish. 

We have been catching both wild and hatchery fish.  Many of the hatchery fish have been 8-10lbs or larger and look very healthy.  See decent numbers of wild fish this early is usually a good sign for prime time of the wild run later in the season.

Fishing from Tillamook, Oregon or Seaside, Oregon offer you many fishing options with Portland, Oregon less than 2 hour drive away.  See more about our fishing options at:  www.watertimeoutfitters.com  

Oregon's North Coast Rivers - mid December Report

Rivers on the North Coast of Oregon have had a big shot of rain over the last week and are finally starting to drop into shape.  As these rivers fall, chrome bright winter steelhead are charging up to their natal homes.  Rivers like the Kilches, Neccanicum and NF Nehalem are fast to drop and clear.  The Nestucca, Wilson, and Trask are soon to warrant effort as well. 

 Notice how clear the fins are in these early arriving fish. 

 

Get more info on fishing Oregon's North Coast at:  www.watertimeoutfitters.com

Oregon Winter Steelhead Workshops

Want to catch a winter steelhead on the Trask, Wilson, Clackamas, NF Nehalem, Neccanicum River or Eagle Creek?

These workshops are designed to get walk in fly anglers comfortable with a variety of spots and techniques that will put them into fish on the Oregon's best coastal rivers.

Here is how it works. We start at the crack of 9:00 am at a designated location near the water with coffee and donuts. We’ll review maps that will give you at least a dozen productive steelhead runs that you can drive and walk to often these are spots we personally fish. With coffee in hand we’ll discuss the maps in detail.

Then when we’ve reached proper caffeine level we’ll grab a bunch of gear and head out to fish a few spots. At this time we cover: fishing techniques, fishing strategy, fly selection and more. This is also time to talk about lines, rods and rigging. We’ll have plenty of spey rods and nearly 20 fly lines for you to try out and get a feel for different systems. We will have ½ dozen spey rods and switch rods for you to try out and different lines to try on your own rod. If you need some basic spey casting lessons there is usually time for that as well. On the smaller water river classes (NF and Neccanicum) the single hand and switch rods will be the center of attention. 

If we actually catch a fish it will be by accident. The purpose of this workshop is to give you the tools you need to find, read, and properly fish good steelhead water the actual fishing will be secondary.

Around 1pm we’ll break for a hungry man’s lunch and then head on to some more spots with steelhead water you’ll want to drool on!

Steelhead Workshop Classes offered in 2013:

January 26th  -Clackamas & Eagle Creek meets at Royal Treatment Fly shop   

January 26th - North Coast Class- Trask, Wilson, Kilches meets in Tillamook, OR

 

February 16th - North Coast Class - Trask, Wilson, Kilches meets in Tillamook, OR

 

February 23rd - Clackamas & Eagle Creek meets at Royal Treatment Fly shop

 

March 23 - Clackamas & Eagle Creek meets at Royal Treatment Fly shop

 

Need flies? Royal Treatment Fly shop has a special package of winter steelhead flies for you:
Click here to see a recommeded selection of flies for the Clackamas River.
Workshop cost is $100 including meals and is limited to 8 anglers. Spots fill fast.
Call 503-704-6449 to reserve your spot.

Steelhead Battle Video- Highlights from Feb/Mar 2012

Here is a little video we put together on some of the little highlights we caught with the video camera the last couple months while chasing Oregon steelhead. 

Check it out:  http://youtu.be/k6WR7aAL-kc

Come visit us on a great Oregon Steelhead river soon.  www.watertimeoutfitters.com 

The Tug is the Drug!

Rob

Lunch Under the Eagles Nest

One of my long time clients from San Diego was here recently fishing the coastal steelhead waters of Oregon.  For late March he was surprised to see so many chrome bright wild steelhead.  This year and most years that however is the norm.  We fished rivers like the Wilson, Trask, NF Nehalem and Kilches.  Fishing swung flies and indicators we had success on both strategies. 

Fat rain pounded down hard several hours as we worked the riffles and runs.  We saw few other anglers and had the rivers virtually to ourselves.  Floating in our raft we encountered waterfalls, eagles nests and steelhead rolling in several areas.  The fishing wasn't easy but the throbbing head shakes we did find were rewarding and exhilerating.  Fighting wild steelhead in wild places leaves you with an awe and respect for the finned creatures that live there.

Overhead an eagle glided near the tree tops peering down in approval as we plied the waters.  What a treasured place. 

We stayed at our local river house cabin, relaxed with a cold beer, listened to Bob Marley music and tied a few flies.   Being in Tillamook, OR we had to have some Tillamook icecream of course!  The Wilson river in the back yard and 5 other rivers only minutes away.  We could choose to float two different rivers in one day if we wanted.   

Come and join the fun for great Oregon steelhead fishing.  www.watertimeoutfitters.com

2012 Winter Steelhead One For The Books?

Hello fellow steelheaders,

What an amazing season of Winter Steelhead fishing thus far!!!  December began with no rain and severely low clear water.  I did my secret rain dance at the holidays and boy did I ever over shoot the goal.  While there has been a lot of water this January there have been absolutely fantastic opportunities with possibly my best catch numbers ever.  Remember that small streams like the Kilchis, NF Nehalem, Eagle Creek and others clear very quickly.  These streams typically fish best when larger streams are still off color and too high to fish.  For those of you wondering what to do this weekend, other than watch superbowl commercials, you may consider heading to the Oregon Coast.  Rivers like the Wilson and Trask will be at fishable conditions.  These rivers have rarely been fishable in January and are loaded full of chrome Steelhead right now!!!

Saturday I taught a Winter Steelhead class in Tillamook.  Those who attended got a lot of great information about the area rivers and were shown a few of my favorite sweet spots.  Two class participants joined me for a half day on Sunday.  It is alway a treat for me to guide anglers into their first ever Winter Steelhead.  Brett got things started with this beautiful chromer.

Not to be out done, Eric added a few more as we managed to hook 7 with 4 magnificent fish to hand.

For those of you who attended this class, all of these fish were caught on the Trask River in the area I told you was the transition zone.

Good luck to all and I look forward to fishing with you soon,

Gil Muhleman

Water Time Outfitters

541-419-7778

Winter Steelhead Workshop Report

Our Tillamook area Winter Steelhead Workshop instructed by Gil Muhleman had a beautiful day on Saturday.  Not only did the normal Tillamook rain decide not to show up but the sun actually made an appearance. 

Water Time Outfitters instructor Gil Muhleman did a great job sharing his intimate knowledge of the Wilson, Trask and Kilches rivers near Tillamook, OR. 

Our morning strategy talk by Gil was detailed and comprehensive and the coffee wasn't that bad either.  Casting and fishing strategies, lunch and a complete tour of fishable access points on the three rivers makes for a full day.

Thank you Gil for a great job!

If you'd like to learn more about Steelhead fly fishing or our steelhead workshops click on these links or visit our website at: www.watertimeoutfitters.com  "The Tug is the Drug"