Planning a trip?

Oregon's South Coast is your destination. Check out these wonderful Bay Area activities.

Go catch a fish

The South Coast has a plethora of lakes, rivers, creeks and strea ...

continue

Take an art class

Tucked away in a little nook off Highway 42 just over a mile east ...

continue

9 Hook yourself a salmon

Going fishing? Try the Umpqua River.The lower section of the river offers fine fishing around Reedsport and up to eight miles upstream. In fact, the river is a record-maker. The largest Chinook salmon ever landed in Oregon was caught in the Umpqua and weighed 83 pounds.

Salmon aren't the only fish in the Umpqua. The best fisheries are for smallmouth bass and brown bullheads. Anglers also hook largemouth and striped bass, yellow bullheads, black and white crappies, bluegills, warmouth, pumpkinseed sunfish and yellow perch but in smaller numbers.
Bank fishermen should make the Umpqua a destination come August. That's when fall Chinook salmon start to run. By early September, coho salmon are right on their tails. No luck? Drive down to the east boat basin at Winchester Bay, where hatchery salmon are sure to be milling around. Try spinners, and bobbers and sand shrimp or salmon roe. There are spring Chinook, but fishermen typically target those fish from early March to June near the Scottsburg Bridge.

There are sturgeon (white and green), too, but only sturgeon measuring between 42 and 60 inches may be kept.

There also are both summer and winter steelhead in the river, and American shad move in come spring. Check with local bait shops for the times of year to fish and baits to use for these.

The Umpqua produces the largest spring Chinook salmon in Oregon and fish approaching 60 pounds have been taken. They are not fished for until they near the upper end of tidewater near the Scottsburg Bridge. Usually the fishery begins in early March and continues until June.

Planning a trip?

9 Hook yourself a salmon

Publication Advertisers