Lower Clackamas Steelhead
Turns out the age-old saying, "the early bird gets the worm," is completely true with the Clackamas River right now.
Last week, Gabe, Ethan, and David headed out for dawn patrol on three consecutive days in search of summer steelhead. Closures on some of our most beloved destination streams, like the Lower Deschutes and North Umpqua, haven’t stopped our crew, and they shouldn’t stop you, either. Portland anglers are blessed with many excellent summer steelhead rivers within two hours, from the Middle Fork Willamette down south to the Lower North Santiam near Salem.  We hit the water early all three days, early enough that it was still dark as we walked down to our first run at McIver Park.
But there’s no need to even travel that far. We have one of the best summer steelhead rivers in the state right now in our own backyard: The Lower Clackamas.
Fly Fishing Gear for Steelhead Success
With the water clear and the fish holding in deeper lies, we fished strictly Skagit lines with a mixture of T8 and half float/half T8 MOW tips. We swung primarily tube flies — purple and black, and orange and pink — with 12-pound Maxima leaders.  Reminder: leaders don't need to be more than 3 feet long so you can turn flies over easily.  We want the fly swinging immediately as some of these fish ate right off the bank in the shallows.
Because overnight temperatures have been dropping into the 50s regularly, the river temperature has been cooling off. The water was a pleasant 66.5 degrees all three days. We’ve been seeing steelhead in the river in substantial numbers for a few weeks now, but they have been pretty lockjawed. This cooler weather seems to have made them happy, mobile, and far more willing to take a fly.
The Report
On day one, David and Ethan hooked three fish and landed one. Gabe headed out later in the evening and hooked another pair, but didn’t bring either fish to hand. Day two produced almost identical results: David hooked three fish and landed one.  The following morning, Gabe went solo, hooked one fish, and landed it.  We found the fish to be very aggressive early on, with things slowing down around 9 AM.  Most of the fish were hooked in tailouts, but a couple were hooked deep into the start of runs.
You’ll want to be out on the water early or late, when the sun is low and off the water. We’ve also found that tailouts have been producing better than the runs.
The Outlook
There’s more cool, cloudy weather in the upcoming forecast, and the nights get longer every day. Don’t let the Deschutes and Umpqua closures get you down. Get out on our local waters and catch some fish!