Tough Oregon salmon week: Tillamook Bay goes quiet, the Siletz still shines, and the Chetco estuary is the best bet

Bob Rees of The Guide's Forecast describes the week ending Oct. 24 as a challenging one for Oregon fall salmon anglers. On the north coast, guide Chris Vertopoulos counted only three Chinook and no coho caught in Tillamook Bay on Oct. 21. Guide Rob Gerlitz is still doing steady business with bobbers and bait in the tidewater sloughs of the Tillamook and Trask.

Farther south, the Nehalem is slow. The Nestucca has a few fresh fish, but many are darkening. The report says the Siletz is "still shining," while the Alsea is slowing down. The Yaquina wild coho season closes soon. Ocean salmon fishing is mostly over, and ocean crabbing is closed.

The Willamette Falls coho count has reached 6,479, with about 150 fish a day passing. Rees says the valley needs rain to get fish moving.

On the south coast, Jeff Rome rates the Chetco estuary as the best salmon option. Hatchery coho have picked up in Rogue Bay, and upper Rogue steelhead fishing is fair from Dodge Bridge upstream. Inland, Diamond Lake is giving up tiger trout, which must be released. Howard Prairie is at about 50 percent capacity, and Lake Selmac is producing 2- to 3-pound bass.

Photo: An angler with a bright fall Chinook, published with the report. Credit: The Guide's Forecast.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: The Guide's Forecast — Challenging Oregon Fishing Week (Oct. 24, 2026).