Happy New Year! 2022 Winter Steelhead Fishing Report
Happy New Year! It’s now 2022 and as ever hopeful steelhead anglers we are definitely hoping for a much better year of steelhead fishing. Since 2016 our steelhead runs have been on a decline some runs worse than others but definitely a drop from past levels. We are looking forward to some good runs!
2022 Winter Steelhead Fishing Report
So far the winter steelhead season of 21/22 has been off to a good start. Weather conditions have been bad for fishing; snow, ice and super cold but that hasn’t stopped fishing for sure. We’ve been out and encountering steelhead almost every time on the water. Reports have been decent to good on a number of Oregon Rivers.
This time of year we generally look to the Alsea and NF Alsea Rivers, Neccanicum, Three Rivers/Nestucca River, NF Nehalem for early returning hatchery steelhead. Wild steelhead have been caught in many of our larger rivers already with prime time generally being in February or March. That’s a good sign!
Water levels have been slowly dropping since the last flood event. Keep track of water levels on the Clackamas River here. Cold weather has kept the water around 35 degrees and cold-blooded steelhead can be on the lethargic side when the water is that cold. Be sure to slow down the swing and get that fly deep to be effective in this cold water.
We are getting a big rain and it is expected to push river levels up this week and the next flood is on the horizon. Remember that this time of year, especially after snow events, the rain we get is not just adding the rain to the river but also melting low lying snow. This rain event should help warm the water and bring in the next batch of fresh chrome.
Good luck on the water!
Water Time Outfitters, Inc.
