Ethan Nickel Outfitters

In general, there is a lot of great fishing here in Western Oregon in the early Spring. It often offers some of the best fishing of the winter steelhead season, and great opportunities to fish for wild trout on rivers like the McKenzie and Willamette. This year, however, the weather just has not been very cooperative. Here in Eugene we had only two days last month without precipitation, which led to a lot of high and sometimes off-color water. That being said, these last few weeks were not without their highlights.

In general, the winter steelhead fishing has been best on the smaller creeks and rivers that drop into shape quickly after a heavy rain. These can be some really cool places to fish, sometimes offering the opportunity to intercept chrome-bright fish fresh from the Salt. Most of the bigger streams that I like to swing for late winter steel have been in shape only briefly if at all over the last several weeks. Many winter steelhead streams are now closed for the season, while some remain open unil April 15th, and others don’t close at all. Consult your ODFW regulations before you go fishing. Some of the closures can be confusing.

The trout fishing on the lower McKenzie and Willamette has been good whenever the weather cooperates. The McKenzie has many charms, but amongst its finest qualities is the clarity of the water and its resistance to turbidity: the river maintains its clarity very well even when it is quite high. Fishing in high water can be intimidating, but remember, you are fishing for trout, and they need to eat. The same spots that you like to fish when the river is at a more normal level may not work well, but the fish will be feeding somewhere. When the river is high and rising, the fishing is almost always tough, but if the flows are stable or dropping, the river can fish very well at a surprisingly high volume.

The March Brown hatch has been inconsistent, which we can probably blame on the weather. It has come off in fits and starts, with good abundance of bugs on calm, warm, overcast afternoons. Sadly, we have had too few days like this.

I guided the last three days with pretty good success, finding some nice wild rainbows and cutthroats each day. Saturday and Sunday were particularly good with high water receding, good afternoon hatches of both caddis and march browns, and some nice fish feeding on the surface. I saw very few other anglers on the river over the last several days. I think most people were scared off by the relatively high water.

Unfortunately the river blew out again today and another inch of rain is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow…Ouch! Let’s hope that we are about to turn the corner, and a drier weather pattern is in our future.

March is among my favorite months on the fishing calendar, with great opportunities for both steelhead and trout. While most of the hatchery runs have petered out, good opportunities remain to fish for wild steelhead on many of our coastal and inland rivers. The weather is typically more mild this time of year than it is earlier in the winter steelhead season, which can make the act of fishing more enjoyable, and can also make it more productive; as water temperatures climb slightly, the fish often respond better to flies, especially swung offerings.

As we enjoy the last month of our winter steelhead season, the trout fishing on the McKenzie is set to really turn on. Throughout the last month, the nymphing on the lower McKenzie remained good for some nice-sized wild trout. With the advent of the March Brown hatch and milder weather in the forecast, fishing on or near the surface will really pick up.

This picture was taken on the lower McKenzie last Friday. While the weather was cold, the fishing was not. A guest on a guided trip, Gregg Leet, found good numbers of nice rainbows on nymph patterns. This fish made a dramatic finish for our day on the river.

Now through May 15, I am offering a discounted rate of $275 on half-day trout fishing trips on the lower McKenzie, a $50 savings off the normal rate. This price is good for 1 or 2 anglers. The half day trip is around 5 hours of fishing, and includes tackle, flies, and all fishing accoutrements. All you need to bring is a fishing license, some rain gear, sunglasses, and a hat.

The late winter and springtime offer the best fishing of the year for the lower McKenzie’s mature wild rainbows. Already, there has been some great fishing out there, but the best is yet to come. Thus far, the lower McKenzie’s wild trout have been responding well to nymphs, but by the end of February, the March Brown hatch will pop, bringing the fish to the surface to feed.

For those of us that live in the Willamette Valley, the lower McKenzie offers some great fishing and easy access. The spring time trout fishing on the McKenzie is not to be missed.

Though this prolonged lack of precipitation has not been good for the steelhead fishing on the coastal rivers, the dry spell has brought the inland rivers down and into nice shape. As of this writing, the lower McKenzie is running at a low and clear 3700cfs, and many of its mature rainbows are actively feeding on nymphs, looking to put on some weight before the spring spawn.

Though the water is still pretty cold (it was 42.5 degrees Farenheit this afternoon), many of the good-sized wild rainbows on the lower McKenzie are still pretty active. When the river comes into good shape in the late winter or early spring, you typically won’t catch large numbers of fish, the ones you find are usually much bigger than average.

It is still a little early to find these nice fish feeding on the surface. Though there is a blue-winged olive hatch in the afternoon, typically only the smaller fish will come up on top to feed on these bugs. We will have to wait until the March Brown hatch arrives later this month to have a good chance to hook some of these bigger fish on a dry fly.

Various nymphs are effective this time of year: different types of stonefly nymphs, mega-princes, possie buggers, pheasant tails, and assorted smaller patterns like pheasant tails and copper johns will all take fish.

It has been a long while since we have had a good rainfall here in western Oregon. Steelhead fishermen and guides up and down the coast are almost unanimous in their desire for a good freshet, to bring water levels up and draw some new fish into the coastal rivers. On the tail end of the last high water event, there was some good fishing on various streams along the coast, but more recently the fishing has gone a little stale.

The fishing hasn’t dried up entirely, however, I have still been finding a few bright fish on the lower reaches of some of our central coast rivers.

I managed to get this young fisherman into his first winter steelhead a few days ago on the Siuslaw River.

Conditions on Oregon’s coastal winter steelhead streams are setting up for some great fishing in the coming week. With no precipitation in the forecast, levels will continue to fall in the wake of last week’s flooding. Some of the smallest streams have been fishing well for a couple of days now, but as we move into the new week, the larger river systems will start to fish well.

In the first week of January, we had similar conditions with a high water event followed by a prolonged dry spell, and there was some great steelhead fishing as the flows receded. The major difference this time around is that we have very mild weather currently, and relatively warm water temperatures. Under these conditions the fish tend to bite better, responding more aggressively to swung flies in particular.

Bottom line, success in the winter steelhead arena generally involves striking while the iron is hot. This week should be a great time to get out on the water.

The week between Christmas and New Years was a wet one, punctuated by driving rains and blustery squalls which pushed most rivers in the state over their banks, swollen with flood waters. A couple days before the holiday the rain abruptly stopped, and by New Year’s Eve, it was time to be fishing.

I had a friend in town who was itching to get out on the water. My buddy David is a former fishing guide who succumbed to a real job that landed him in California. He doesn’t get many opportunities to fish anymore. While we had planned to fish for a few days last week, a winter storm and a bout of the flu conspired to keep us off the river until Friday. Knowing this would likely be Dave’s only opportunity to fish for steelhead this winter, I let him do all the fishing while I boated us down a favorite stream. It didn’t take us too long to start finding fish.

All our action came on an egg pattern fished under an indicator. Our timing had perfect; the water had just dropped into shape, and was a beautiful shade of green with about 4 feet of visibility. Conditions like these often offer the opportunity to intercept beautiful chrome steelhead as they leave tide water and quickly ascend to their spawning grounds.

While the water conditions have been great the last few days, the road conditions certainly have not been ideal. On the tail end of the last storm cycle, we got some snow down to very low elevation. Since then, the weather has been very cold and dry, leaving many of the roads through the coast range in an awful state. Yesterday I fished with friends Rob Russel and Matt Stansberry on a north coast river. Generally, you can expect the ambient temperature on the coast to be a good deal warmer than it is inland when we get cold and high pressure like this. This day, however, was an exception. I don’t think the air temperature broke freezing, hovering most of the day in the upper 20s. In this particular spot, I opted to fire up the heater and warm my boots up while Matt covered the lower end of the pool.

As it turns out, the trip was well worth the effort. After culling a small hatchery hen from the herd, Rob hooked this robust wild buck which came to hand after a dramatic battle.

With early reports of fish ascending nearly every coastal river system, 2011 is shaping up to be a great winter steelhead season here in Oregon. Watch the weather and water levels, get up early, drive carefully and dress warm. There are some spectacular fish swimming around in our coastal rivers.

The first month of winter steelhead season here in Oregon has been both encouraging and frustrating. Encouraging because early returns of wild fish on many of our coastal rivers have exceeded expectations, and frustrating because the weather has been even more volatile than usual for this time of year.

The weather is the single most influential variable to winter steelheading success. We have had such a wet December that most of the medium-sized and larger coastal winter steelhead streams have come into fishable shape only for very brief periods. Deciding exactly where and when to fish this time of year is a challenge. Throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall I watch the weather and water conditions closely to keep tabs on conditions, but in the Winter, I watch the river levels, hydrologic predictions, and weather forecast like a hawk in an effort to be in the right place at the right time.

As of this writing, rivers and creeks up and down the coast are in flood, and every stream besides the smallest creeks are unfishable. However, this is the exception rather than the rule in the winter time. Being able to fish successfully throughout the winter months requires being familiar with a number of creeks and river systems within striking distance of your home base. As a storm passes and high water begins to recede, there are many small rivers and creeks that will drop into shape within 24 hours. With the passing of a couple more days, the medium-sized systems will begin to clear, while it might take a couple weeks of dry weather before the larger rivers will become fly fishable.

Weather not withstanding, 2011 looks like it will be a great winter steelhead season. Thus far, I have had the bulk of my success fishing various egg patterns under an indicator. The bigger rivers, however, have more of the broader runs, pools, and tailouts that fish better with a swung fly. As the weather dries out and the larger rivers begin to drop into shape, there will be more opportunities to swing for these spectacular fish.

Now through the end of the season, I am offering a reduced rate on half day fly fishing trips for trout and steelhead on the McKenzie and Willamette rivers near Eugene. The special rate is $250 for a 5 hour trip, a $50 savings off the normal rate. This rate includes 5 hours of guided fishing, flies, tackle, fishing accoutrements, and beverages for one or two anglers.

Though guiding is not a business where we give hard guarantees, the fishing this time of year is usually great, and this season is no exception. The fishing for both trout and steelhead on our local rivers has been very good for the last couple of weeks, and should stay that way until heavy fall rains muddy the waters. Now is the time to get out and fish. Too soon, Winter will be here with its associated nasty weather and cabin fever.

I have spent the better part of the last three weeks fishing the lower Deschutes River for steelhead on the Madras to Maupin stretch. While the fishing hasn’t been as good, on average, as it was last season, it has been steadily improving.

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The fish have been responding well at times to everything from small skaters and wet flies fished on a dry line to leech patterns swung on a sink tip to nymphs fished under a strike indicator. It makes sense to tailor your approach to the nuances of the given spot, and the light and water conditions.

My hunch is that the best of the steelhead fishing is yet to come on the section of the Deschutes between Madras and Maupin. The bulk of the steelhead run has been slower to migrate upstream this year than in the last several seasons. I think that this section of the river will fish very well in late October and November as more fish show up for the party.