Steelhead & Surf Perch

My fly fishing purist friend, Chase, accompanied me on a trip to my two favorite steelhead creeks in Oregon.

After drifting a bead through a run thoroughly, I switched it up and put on a small custom made spinner. I cast straight across and "swing" my spinners through some holding water and before it even gets halfway, BAM! Fish on! 

For half a second it felt like a steelhead, but I quickly found out it was a native cutthroat trout! 

Okay, great! I caught a fish. However, I wasn't there for the trout. I came for the steelhead. Standing in the water while its pouring down rain can really damper your spirits. 

I was fishing a 10mm blood red bead through some fast water and felt it stopped. When I pulled up on my rod I felt a headshake and knew it was on. After a quick 5 minute battle I landed this fish. 

This ended up being the only Steelhead we landed for the trip. Hooked many more that didn't quite make it to the bank.

We decided to make the short drive to the jetty and see if we could get into some Rockfish... what we got was much better.

 Casting Berkley sandworms and big black leech flies was the ticket for both of us, as we ended up catching over 5 Surf Perch each off the rocks.

Casting in the white water after the waves come is key!

Oregon Jetty Fishing

Ever since my first trip to the coast to fish off the rocks, I have considered it to be one of the most fun and exciting fishing trips you can take in Oregon.

Aside from mesmerizing views and insane action, Rock fish taste phenomenal for a white meat fish. 

Above you will see a Kelp Greenline and Cabezon. These are some common species found around jetties. Catching them can be quite easy and fast!

How do I catch them?

I use the "fish finder rig" with a size 2 hook. Usually a 1-2oz weight works best. As far as baits go, I like using live sandshrimp or Berkley Sandworms. Other popular baits include raw shrimp, clams, cut baits, worms, small crabs, ghost shrimp. I find plastic baits stay on a lot better and are equally as effective as live baits are.

Make sure to cast no more than 25' of the rocks. Beyond that is just sand and very little fish. They are all in close, hiding in the rocks to ambush any food that happens to drift by.

PRO TIP: Use a piece of 8lb mono to attach your weight to your swivel. This way, if it gets snagged, the light line will break off, saving the rest of your rig.

There are lots of jetties to fish in Oregon! Some of the most popular ones are located in Newport, Barview, Astoria and Winchester Bay. 

Live by the tide

Whenever choosing a time to head to the jetty, plan your trip to fish the INCOMING tide. This is when the water is rising, and salt water is being pulled into the bays. This is the BEST TIME to be fishing in the ocean.

Use this link to check the Oregon Tides and fish just a few hours before high tide. 

Barview Jetty on a sunny day is an anglers paradise. Catching 5-10 rockfish a day is not uncommon, and when the weather warm and the sea is calm, this could be the perfect place to spend a weekend.

Summer Chinook near Portland Oregon

As air temperatures rise and water levels begin to drop, the water of the Columbia River begin to turn a certain shade of green from the glacial runoff. Local anglers know this as summer time! A prime time of the year to catch a variety of species, including Shad, Salmon and Steelhead. Today I will be writing about fishing for Summer Chinooks in a creek near PDX.
Being a PDX local myself I don't like to commute a great distance from my home in Northeast Portland. The most I would drive to go fish is an hour.  This creek is within that range and provides me good quality fish almost every trip.

Standing at the hatchery bridge, I spotted a few big fish immediately. They were schooled up in the deeper, slow moving parts of the stream. This gave me a sense of what to look for in the water when spotting fish in the future. 

Lots of bright fish around and some medium looking fish too. Everyday we would walk down the stream into pools full of fresh Chinooks that were eager to eat a blue fox spinner or shrimps.