Fishing is generally best when flows are below 3,000 cfs. Currently flows are around 7,000 cfs at the Waterloo gauge as of May 7. 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 3,000 adults having crossed into the upper Willamette River as of May 1. A few of these fish have already arrived in the South Santiam and are being caught by anglers, with more arriving each day.‌

A few weeks behind are the spring Chinook, but their numbers are expected to rise dramatically in the next couple of weeks. Now that we are beyond April 22, bait restrictions are lifted and anglers can use bait through the end of October.