Portland/Metro Fishing Report – Just when higher numbers of winter steelhead should be bypassing Willamette Falls, numbers are slowing, quite clearly due to dropping water temperatures on the mainstem.
Temperatures dropped to 40° in a matter of days, from 45° to 40°, stalling migration upstream, when numbers should be on the bump. It’s going to be interesting when temperatures rise again, there must be a bunch kegged up below the falls, awaiting better passage conditions to make it to the upper river.
It’s a fun watch and we’re still confident that we’re going to see some great numbers of mostly wild winter fish headed to the upper basin. Gotta say we don’t miss those steelhead munching sea lions at the base of the falls so much, the removal effort literally saved that run from extinction…