Salmon & Steelhead in Oregon

Salmon and steelhead built Oregon's fishing reputation, and the rivers still deliver: the Rogue and Umpqua on the coast, the Deschutes and Grande Ronde inland, the Columbia running through the middle of it all. But the state fishes wider than its famous runs. The Pacific holds albacore tuna and halibut, the estuaries hold sturgeon, and the high desert east of the Cascades holds trout water that fly anglers plan whole years around. Whatever month you arrive, a guide somewhere in Oregon is rigging rods.

The river fishing follows the fish. Spring Chinook, springers, push up the Willamette through the state's most populous valley. Over the Cascades near Bend, the Deschutes runs cold through canyon country, and its wild redband trout and summer steelhead keep the drift boats and fly guides busy. Come the cold months, coastal rivers like the Nestucca and Alsea fill with winter steelhead and fall salmon, and you fish them under dripping conifers with the whole forest leaning in.

Down at the ports (Astoria, Newport, Garibaldi), the saltwater fleet works Oregon's 363 miles of coastline. Summer means albacore runs offshore; lingcod and rockfish fill boxes most of the year; halibut gets its own seasons and depth rules and a devoted following. Inside the bar, the bays and estuaries offer a calmer day: sturgeon on anchor, crab pots soaking, bottomfish on light gear. Same ocean, very different trips.

The regions barely resemble each other, which is the point. The southern coast is Rogue River country, fall salmon in a rugged, fog-hung corner of the state. The Columbia Gorge pairs basalt cliffs with sturgeon and salmon water of national standing. The John Day cuts deep desert canyons; Tillamook opens onto the open Pacific. Guides make each of these fishable, and no two of them fish alike.