High Water and Small Creeks: Winter Steelhead Fishing on Oregon’s North Coast

January 11, 2021

High Water and Small Creeks: Winter Steelhead Fishing on Oregon’s North Coast

It was the beginning of what would be a turbulent year, but the only thing on my mind last January was how I was going to catch a steelhead during an almost month-long high-water event. All the rivers within my reach were blown out (too murky to fish) and many were flooded. As a dedicated winter steelhead fisherman, however, I wasn’t about to let that stop me. I came up with a plan to scout out potential tributaries at a higher elevation in the watershed than the main rivers, knowing they would be the first bodies of water to clear up.

February 15, 2021

1,000 Casts? More like 410 Days: A Steelheader’s Journey

How long did it take you to bring home your first steelhead? A few days, weeks, or months? It took me over a year… 410 days to be exact, and not for lack of effort. My adventure began on Black Friday, 2015. I walked into Fisherman’s Marine and bought all the gear to float fish for salmon and steelhead, but none of the store employees warned me how difficult the challenge ahead would be.

February 22, 2021

Angling For Advocacy Fundraiser Kicks off March 1st to Support Salmon & Steelhead Conservation

From March 1st through 7th, the Association of Northwest Steelheaders will be raffling 13 world-class fishing trips with premier Northwest guides to support angling advocacy. Our guides have generously donated their time and expertise to help you learn new techniques and develop a deeper understanding of Pacific Northwest fisheries and why their conservation is so important. If you win one of our trips, we can guarantee that it’ll be the trip of a lifetime! Our guides include Jordan Knigge, Big Dave, Chris Vertopoulos, Jack and Brandon Glass, Kevin Anderson, Damon Struble, Bill Taylor, Trevor Storlie, Herman Fleishman, Kevin Larson, Ciara Lambert, and Bill Woods. Find the details for each trip at the button below.

March 17, 2021

Why Should We Remove the Lower Snake River Dams? Your Questions Answered

At one point, 50% of salmon returning to the Columbia River Basin spawned in the Snake River or its tributaries. Today, only 1% of these salmon return to their spawning grounds as adults to reproduce. Each interaction a juvenile salmon has with a dam reduces their chance of returning to the Columbia River as an adult by 10%. Snake River salmon have to pass eight dams during migration: four on the lower Snake River and four on the mainstem Columbia River, bringing their chance of returning as adults to just 20%. Removing the lower Snake River dams will remove half of the major obstacles blocking fish migration to and from their spawning grounds.