Steelhead Fly Fishing Oregon Coast

Hi everyone,

I plan on driving from Norcal to Portland during Thanksgiving.
I will be stopping to camp and fish along the way.

I've been researching online on the rivers to fish for steelhead during november but was wondering if anyone local would like to meet up and do some fishing.
I'm experienced fly fishermen and have my own equipment. I have never fished steelhead though.

Any recommended rivers or nymph technique yall recommend?

 

Deschutes river north of Sherar Falls

 

Make your way a little further north to the Cowlitz river in WA. That river is a steelhead hot spot.

BTW, steelhead are some of the most epic fighting fish that you'll ever catch.

 

What did you go and how did you do?

 

Hey man,
I drove up with a friend, and he doesn't fish.
I brought all my stuff and fished 1 hour on the North Umpqua. That was it because like I said, he doesn't fish and yeah.
It was a GREAT trip. Amazing driving through Oregon. Incredibly beautiful. There were some good showers a few of the nights, and some snow.
We essentially went through Winema NF, Umpqua NF, Deschutes NF, Mt Hoot NF, and then spent one evening in Portland. Drove back to Ca next day.

I'm driving back up this thanks giving week (solo). Going to fish the north umpqua ( think I will miss steelhead I have to see what to do), then I will fish the fall and deschutes river.
I really wanted to do Owyhee but super far to the east. It's actually damn hard finding good fishing info online. I'm looking for bigger fish areas. I see the crooked is fishing well but all small fish.
Also I have to check regulations for November.

 

That's the real challenge anywhere in the lower 48. Good luck without driving a long way to reach paradise in the middle of nowhere. Even there the average fish will be small unless the river is under trophy management.

A coworker fishes the Owyhee and it sounds like it can be worth the effort.

Anymore I'm happy if the river is clean, uncrowded, and the fish population is wild. A 3wt rod makes every average trout feel like a trophy

 

Oh yeah, you can find a lot of that in CA, clean uncrowded beautiful trout streams. Just came back from east walker and west walker (small section on the way up to sonora pass).
I was hammering em on dry flies. Beautiful area. I might post picture later.

I also agree a day on the water like that beats anything, but I been getting more into planning for big fish, more challenging I think but unless you get super lucky, you gotta pick the right river that holds em.
The Owyhee looks great for "big brown", too far.

Im planning the trip right now. Looks like I will do Klammath (norcal), rogue river?, north umpqua, then deschutes. Deschutes is the end game. Do 2 days there, scenery looks very cool.

Do you fish in washington?

 

Never Fly fished so Can't help you there But I hope you have a Great time.

 

Thanks man I appreciate it!
I'll be in Portland on black Friday most likely, then drive back down to CA.

 

What do you qualify as big fish? The O has some good ones, but it's really small water and gets a lot of pressure. There are bigger browns in Montana. The D is a special place, but it's a shell of it's former self. I wouldn't plan on rolling in there and swinging up a bunch of steelhead. The biggest thing you can catch on a fly in fresh water in WA is an esox, but November isn't the right time. I don't name places on the internet, but there is a lake to the east of you that has the biggest cutties on the planet... There are also some streams in the Oregon Cascades that hold massive migrating bull trout around that time.

If you are truly on a quest for big fish on fly rods, I would be heading south and looking towards the salt water. Having caught mako sharks, sailfish, dorado, roosters, etc. on flies, I promise that will scratch an itch that trout cannot.

 

Fished WA for 50 years. My fly fishing is mostly in eastern WA, Idaho, and western Montana for trout. Im no purist though. Just as likely to find me chasing steelhead, salmon, sturgeon, walleye, smallmouth, and an occasional trip to the salt or BC with something other than fur and feathers.

 

Love the username. When I say big fish I'm talking about trout. Not a quest for big fly rod fish.
I want to fish somewhere that has a decent history of 16", 20" can be had in a day or two.
I dont care for saltwater on the fly rod. Reason for the trip is I enjoy solitude and the variety in Oregon landscape. I don't want to fish something like the crooked though, where it's all tiny fish under 12"
I want to fish somewhere that has a good history of big trout. For example, the East Walker,Owyhee, Censored Lake (nothing small there). I don't mind listing these places because their reputation already exists. I fished the location you talking about and will go back this winter. I love it there (camping and the fishing).

Hahaha about the deschutes I accept that. I will just be going for the red sides. Looks beautiful there.

 

@steelhd nice username too lol

 

NorCal: Trinity, Klamath, Eel (if you can time it right), Smith, Redwood Creek, Mad River. Plenty of solitude to be found and plenty of big steelies. Plenty others closer to the Bay Area, Feather, Gualala, Russian. If I were going to Oregon I would fish the Chetco, N Umpqua and Deschutes.

 

There's something about the beauty of the Norcal rivers. I love em!
I will definitely stop at the Klamath. I plan to do San Jose Ca to Klamath on the first leg. Fish one day there, then move to the next point. Probably N Umpqua, then Deschutes. The N Umpqua is beautiful!!
I think I will be missing the steelies there during late November. Go for whatever else is in there.
Thanks for the recommendations brother.

This is a great video for the Mc Cloud:
EDIT: I like all the videos that california trout produces, but this one on Klamath is short and shows some beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfiaPUfdLI


You guys have any fly shops you like? I love going in and getting the scoop, in return supporting them with buying flies or even new fly line etc.

If anyone want's to fish with me let me know. My tentative timeline is leave Bay Area Ca, Nov 22-23, hit the Klamath 23-24 ish, drive up north and fish one more river, fish the deschutes maybe 27-28, then portland 29, leave 30th back to CA.

Thanks,

 

Very challenging to fish any steelhead river for just a day or two. Requires extremely good luck as the fish are constantly moving and you have to hunt them down. I rarely fish the Klamath for less than 4-5 days minimum. Trinity maybe 2-3 days. You have to move, move and move. Klamath is good because you can get great access near good water with your vehicle and then hike out and cover a mile of river. Umpqua, Deschutes are not similar. Trinity is pretty decent for access.

 

I think I'll do the Klammath for a day or two then. I know that it's best to stick to one river for multiple days, but I don't mind getting skunked and trying a few different waters.
For the Klammath, I wanna try and hit a local-ish fly shop before and get some intel. That might increase my luck. Then I plan on setting up a nymph rig. Might hook something other than a steelhead with that versus a streamer or something.

 

There are no local fly shops and the Klamath is pretty remote. Locals don’t give you locations as to where fish are moving. It’s not mean, they are hold their info close. I generally start by throwing spinners to try and locate fish and go to fly once I have found them. As almost always, riffles and tail outs are where it’s at. I have caught 50 plus in a day and been skunked more. You can find fish in the deeper holes but won’t be able to access them without a boat. If you want to fish it then focus between Orleans and Happy Camp (50 miles or so). Lower river is mostly earlier season salmon and requires a boat. Above Happy Camp is fine but access becomes a challenge. I don’t it all but I know the Klamath pretty well. If you’re plan is for a day or so I wouldn’t bother. Just go join the crowds elsewhere.

 

Hmmmm thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll PM you.
Yeah I understand, its the same here. We actually have 1-2 creeks that have steelhead sometimes all the way down here, but very very secretive of when they're there and where.
I was gonna hit up the Ashland fly shop, and drive back down to Klammath. I mean I think the Klammath is beautiful, so being out on the water and camping is a win for me. I'll do two days for sure then, but won't be disappointed if nothing comes of it.

 

Gorgeous water, beautiful runs. Nice camping at Ti Bar with easy access to great water. Have fun. Klamath is remote and freaking awesome.
You can spend days virtually alone on large stretches of water. Rare treat