BY MIKE STAHLBERG

The Eugene Register Guard

Steelhead appear to be returning to Oregon coastal streams early and in above-average numbers this winter, which is good news for anglers — and something of a “relief” for fishery biologists.

The latter entered the winter season with trepidation, given that chinook salmon returns last fall were “the lowest we’ve seen in two decades,” as biologist Bob Buckman of Newport put it.

“So far it seems like a pretty good year for winter steelhead, which is certainly a welcome relief after the poor salmon return,” said Buckman, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife district fish biologist on the mid-coast.

Buckman said there are encouraging reports and/or data from all the major watersheds in his district, which include the Siuslaw, Alsea, Yaquina and Siletz rivers, as well as several smaller coastal streams.

“The Siletz River has had a good catch of hatchery fish,” Buckman said. “The Alsea River has had good returns to the hatchery for this early in the year, and good fishing on the North Fork. … And I’m hearing about some good catches on the Siuslaw.”

Similarly upbeat reports came from Buckman’s counterparts in the Umpqua and Coos-Coquille watershed districts.

The winter steelhead run “is actually looking really good” on the Umpqua system, said Laura Jackson, the district biologist in Roseburg.

Steelhead counts at Winchester Dam fish passage came in at “our second-highest December in the last 10 years,” she said.

With 759 winter steelhead tallied through Dec. 31, the North Umpqua is on pace for a run of 10,000-plus. The highest December count in the past decade was 1,110 in 2003, when the run total topped 14,000.

A fish trap at Smith River Falls, on a tributary to the lower Umpqua, has already produced 130 steelhead, which is “a real good number,” for this early in the run, Jackson said.

Mike Gray, a Charleston-based biologist whose district includes the Coos and Coquille watersheds, said “all indications so far are that we’re heading into a good steelhead season.”

In fact, the outlook is generally good statewide, according to the ODFW’s 2008 Steelhead Angling Forecast, issued last week.

“For some anglers, catching a steelhead is the ultimate prize,” said Rhine Messmer, ODFW Recreational Fisheries Program Manager. “We believe the information in the steelhead forecast will help make for a better fishing experience and hopefully lead to hooking that “prize” fish.”

The report “includes information important to beginning, novice and experienced anglers — everything from local fish stocking figures to management and regulation changes, to tips on where to find bank and boat access points,” Messmer said.

While winter steelhead begin showing up in coastal waters before Christmas, runs in most coastal waterways south of Newport traditionally peak between now and March.

This past weekend was expected to be the first really good one of the season, as high and off-color water has hampered steelhead fishermen for much of the post-Christmas period.

Angler pressure was high late last week on the Siuslaw River near Whitaker Creek.

“The river came up eight inches this morning with all the boats that put in,” one angler joked.

Cold water temperatures appear to slow the bite, but there was ample evidence that plenty of fish are in the river.

Volunteers from the Florence Salmon Trout Enhancement Program club processed 80 steelhead from the Whitaker Creek fish trap on Tuesday, and another 20 Thursday morning. Fin-clipped fish are marked with a hole punch in their gill plate, then “recycled” back into the river.

One of the volunteers, Mike Myers, said he and a buddy caught four steelhead Wednesday, even though they “followed 10 other boats down” the Whitaker Creek run.

The Siuslaw winter steelhead run usually peaks in March. And it’s been a productive one.

“We had 4,300 fish in the trap last year,” Myers said. “This one little creek.”

According to ODFW catch estimates based upon angler harvest cards, the Siuslaw ranks 10th among Oregon coastal drainages in average annual catch.

Anglers harvested about 1,000 winter steelhead per year out of the Siuslaw during the period 2001-2005, according to the annual forecast.

The most productive winter steelhead river on the central coast has been the Alsea, with an average annual catch of about 2,700 fish.

Returns to the Alsea Hatchery on the North Fork Alsea this year are running well ahead of last year’s pace. As of Jan. 17, 831 fish had been counted at the hatchery, compared to 659 at the same time last year.

Second on the list of top-producing river basins is the Umpqua/Smith river drainage with an average catch of 2,600. The Siletz River is third at about 2,000 and the Coos/Millicoma River system produces about 1,750 per year.

Even though steelhead runs are in good shape this winter, angler success will depend largely upon water conditions.

The upper North Fork Alsea River near the hatchery, which is restricted to bank angling only “fishes best at high flows, say in the vicinity of seven feet” (on the river gauge at Tidewater), Buckman said. “Then downstream below Mill Creek, where you can use drift boats, it fishes best at six to seven feet. The middle and lower river, from Fall Creek downstream, would fish best at six feet or less.”

On the Siletz River, Buckman said, “best heights are seven feet for the upper drift starting at Moonshine Park and six feet or lower for drifts from Twin Bridges downstream.”

Drift fishing on the Siuslaw River is generally best when the gauge at Mapleton reads between four and nine feet. Umpqua River drift fishing is best at water levels of 3.5 to five feet on the Elkton gauge, but plunkers catch fish at depths of up to 12 feet.

When water levels are too high everywhere else, many knowledgeable winter steelhead anglers head for one of the smaller coastal streams — such as Cummings Creek, Euchre Creek, Brush Creek and the Yachats River.

Tenmile Creek, the outlet to the Tenmile Lakes basin, provides good opportunities to catch a fin-clipped winter steelhead when most other stocked waterways are too high and/or muddy.

“The lakes tend to act as kind of a settling pond,” said Gray, the ODFW biologist in Charleston.

“So it’s usually a pretty fair bet that you’re going to be able to go there and fish even when other places are out of shape.”