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talked to a guy at sportsmans, he said wait until about a week after fall rains to go to tillamook, until then try the sandy river and other tributaries of columbia up north.
Fall Chinook fishing is in full swing on the North coast. Nehalem, Tillamook and Nestucca bays are all producing fish on a regular basis, although still sporadic from day to day. A few Chinook moved on the last freshet, but there are a lot of fish in the estuaries still. Another rain predicted for this weekend may move more fish into the lower river.
Most of the action is still in tidewater where trolling herring or spinners, casting spinners, or bobber fishing bait are all proven techniques. The first heavy rains of the fall are predicted for this week, and if that freshet happens it's likely there will be Chinook moving into the lower Rivers above tidewater.
Summer steelhead fishing is often overlooked in the fall, but this is a good time to target them as rainfall and cooler temperatures can make fish that were lock-jawed during the summer more active. Although these fish have been in the river for a while, they're not going to spawn until December and January, so they're still in good shape.
Fall Chinook fishing continues to be decent in all of the mid-coast rivers. Many of the fish that were staging in the lowest portions of the tidewater have moved up into the middle and upper reaches of the estuary. Fish are now distributed throughout the tidewater from the mouths up to the head of tide. Last weeks' rain pushed some of the fish out of the tidewater and into the rivers but the majority of fish are still staging in the estuary.
Rivers and streams to fish this week:
- Nestucca, Tillamook, and Nehalem bays are all producing Fall Chinook. Fish are being caught regularly throughout the bays and tidewaters; although the daily bite can be sporadic. This most likely won't change throughout the month of October, although more fish should start to move into the rivers as the month goes on. 10/7/20
- North coast Rivers got a few Chinook migrating on the last freshet, but not as many as expected. The Trask and Nehalem got good pushes of hatchery coho though. Another big rain predicted for this weekend should move more Chinook into fresh water. 10/7/20
- Nestucca and Wilson rivers have hatchery summer steelhead throughout the system and another good rain predicted for this weekend could revitalize these fisheries. 10/7/20
- The Siletz River summer steelhead fishing continues to be slow but there is little to no pressure and these fish get "grabby" again when the water temps cool down and we get some fall rain. 9/9/20
The best catches and brightest Chinook come from the lower sections of the Wilson, and the tidewater also puts out plenty of salmon, especially in the last weeks of summer and into early fall.
A guy at Sportsman's huh? A counter guy??? Not sure about fishing advice, but they are notoriously bad with gun advice.
Anyway, this is an Oct 7 ODFW fishing report for the Bay etc:
Fishing Report - Northwest Zone | Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
I read that bank access is best at Wilson and Trask.
ODFW is notoriously slow to collate reports. As mentioned earlier, a local Tillamook Bay source would be the best info.
BTW, estuary fishing is the easiest and most successful fishing for chinook that I have ever done!! The fish are usually still fresh and bright, and often quite a number of Jacks can be caught, which smoke up real nice.
Wilson River Fishing
he seemed a legit... but I def want to get down there to tillamook soon.
Where did you end up going?Wow, went out today, there is no shortage of spots to fish in the area... great place to explore this fall.
Where did you end up going?
To me, that sounds like the old coast guard station in Garibaldi. I've seen steelhead chase swim baits off that pier. That pier is also a popular crabbing spot. Honestly, there aren't many piers on our coast. I'd definitely try a little further up river in the coming weeks tho.some county pier, I'm not to sure of the area yet...
To me, that sounds like the old coast guard station in Garibaldi. I've seen steelhead chase swim baits off that pier. That pier is also a popular crabbing spot. Honestly, there aren't many piers on our coast. I'd definitely try a little further up river in the coming weeks tho.