Fishing is generally best when flows are below 3,000 cfs. Currently flows have dropped quite a bit over the last week and are now at 1,300 cfs at the Waterloo gauge as of May 20. These conditions are less than ideal but should recover relatively quickly with dry weather expected the rest of this week. ‌

Summer steelhead are off to a pretty good start this year with about 5,420 adults having crossed into the upper Willamette River as of May 14. A few of these fish have already arrived in the South Santiam and are being caught by anglers, with more arriving each day.‌

Spring chinook numbers have also surged in the last weeks with counts at Willamette Falls now exceeding 5,600 as of May 14. Now that we are beyond April 22, bait restrictions are lifted and anglers can use bait through the end of October.