Willamette Valley/Metro - Anglers fishing Bonneville Dam produced good catches of chinook on Monday. Backtrolled plugs took the majority of fish as fish counts took a small upswing that day. Peak weeks for this fishery are underway but the quality of fish will fade after mid-month.

Boat anglers in the Bonneville area averaged nearly a keeper per rod this week while bank casters tallied a keeper for every 7 rods. These are also peak weeks for sturgeon fishing giving anglers a great opportunity for a mixed bag.

The water temperature of the lower Willamette is down to the mid-50s which has coho moving over the falls in double digits daily. Few anglers are taking advantage of a developing coho fishery above the falls. Sturgeon fishing has improved with a fair number of keepers reported over the past week. Smallmouth are still on the bite in the lower river but will shut down as the temperature drops.

Pro guide Jim Nicol (503-550-3166) reports doing well for coho trolling spinners above Willamette Falls despite modest counts.

The Clackamas water level is up this week which in bringing more coho into the river although the bite has been slow recently. If the weather breaks as forecast, this weekend should provide opportunities for late steelhead and bright coho.

Sandy coho anglers have been hitting fish with fair to good regularity. Expect plenty of company on or below Cedar Creek where anglers have had some stellar days. Hopefully, the start of deer and duck hunting season will thin out the crowds.

For those who can entice coho into biting, anglers can keep three hatchery coho daily on Eagle Creek, the Sandy and Clackamas Rivers thanks to good returns this year.

North Santiam level and flow increased as expected. While the weather is predicted to be dry this week, rain will return and the river will rise further as the season winds down.

Detroit Reservoir, Walling Pond and Walter Wirth Lake are scheduled to be stocked with trout this week.

Northwest ??? Tillamook Bay anglers have been largely restricted to fishing inside the bay this week. Large seas have most anglers focused in the Ghost Hole and the middle bay. Follow the fish up the bay as the tide progresses. Trask and Tillamook fish dominate the catches but the later returning Wilson and Kilchis fish are due to show.

Water levels rose enough to stimulate some fish up the Trask River last week. Since then, levels are on the drop making driftboating hazardous once again.

The Nestucca is spotty although good numbers of chinook are present. Reports of anglers mis-identifying large coho as chinook will still land the violator a ticket. Proper identification is critical.

Crabbing has been poor in Tillamook and slow in Nehalem Bay but continues to be good on the lower Columbia River.

Chinook fishing was slow on the Siletz in the first week of October. Spinners on the troll have been out-fishing herring.

Crabbing has been fair to good at Yaquina Bay but is getting a lot of pressure. It is hoped the chinook fishing will pick up for the "U Da Man" salmon tournament at Yaquina Bay on Sunday, October 14th.

Alsea Bay is getting a lot of pressure but chinook fishing is only fair at best.

Trollers are hooking only the occasional chinook on the Siuslaw by dragging plug cut herring very near the bottom. Crabbing has been fair. Pro guide Jeff Jackson (541-268-6944) reports the Siuslaw in upper tidewater is starting to pick up.

Southwest??? High wind and waves are forecast for the weekend so count on fishing inside the bars or on the tributaries. If the wind is tolerable, crabbing in coastal bays and estuaries should be good.

Steelheading remains very slow on the North Umpqua due to poor returns this year.

Chinook fishing has been slow to fair for trollers at Coos Bay.

Diamond Lake has been producing good catches of trout in the eight-to-10-inch range. Be prepared for cold weather as it has snowed here recently.

The Chetco Hog ocean fishery has produced a few when boaters have been able to get out. Fortunately, chinook are also being taken inside Brookings Harbor.

The Rogue River recently turned on and fish to 40 pounds are being seen almost daily. The chinook seem to be favoring blue label herring this season over the traditional anchovy rig. Most believe this is the start of a good season ahead. Dave Pitts, Field Editor for Salmon Trout and Steelhead wrote to say the Rogue was hot on Monday, October 8th. Eastern ??? Most anglers, whether flinging hardware or casting flies, were hooking at least one or two steelhead per day on the lower Deschutes last week although action slowed into the weekend. October caddis are hatching and catches of redband trout on imitating patterns have been good.

Plug pullers are lading fair to good numbers of coho on the John Day River above the dam.