Clackamas River Fishing Report
Updated 04/21/24
(Bottom Of Page)
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone/Tailwater
Species
Steelhead (Wild and Hatchery)
Coho Salmon
Chinook Salmon
Rainbow Trout (Wild)
Cutthroat – Sea Run
Cutthroat Trout (Native)
Whitefish
Size
Small to Large
Location
Northwest Oregon
Nearest Towns
Portland
Estacada
Oregon City
Season
Varies by species. See current
regulations.
Access:
Very Good
Non-Resident License
State of Oregon
Weather
National Weather Service
USGS Stream Flow Data:
Estacada
Season:
The steelhead fishing is at its best from about the middle of February through May.
Spring:
Summer run steelhead enter the Clackamas River in April.
Summer:
Fly fishing the upper headwaters of the Clackamas River for rainbow and cutthroat is good throughout the Summer.
Fall:
Early Fall is generally good for Coho Salmon.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
For Steelhead and Salmon
Fly Line:
7, 8 , 9 or 10 weight for appropriate typerod, sinking, sinking tip and floating
Leaders:
10#, 12# in 9 to 15 feet lengths
Tippets:
10# and 12#
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly 7, 8, 9 and 10 ft. single hand rods
Fly Reels:
For 7 to 10 weight lines
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
KISS Strike Indicators, Lanyards, etc.
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The Clackamas River Oregon
The Clackamas River is an 83 mile long river that’s a tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon. The headwaters of the Clackamas River are in the Cascades’ Mount Hood National Forest. It drains a rugged heavily forested area of the Cascades and flows through the North Fork Reservoir at Estacada. About half the length of the river is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River. It joins the Willamette River near Oregon City. Fly fishing the Clackamas River offers a great variety of opportunities depending on the season.
The Clackamas River has runs of Coho salmon, spring and fall Chinook salmon, and summer and winter steelhead. The river has both hatchery and wild steelhead. In fact, your find different strains of steelhead in the river almost year-round.
Fin-clipped hatchery Coho salmon enter the river in September and remain though October. Spring run Chinook salmon enter the river in April.
The first run of winter steelhead return to the Eagle Creek fish hatchery. Eagle Creek is a tributary of the Clackamas river. These steelhead are in the Clackamas River from about the middle of December through January. Most of the wild steelhead start entering the river in late January and remain through the month of May. There’s also a Skamania Summer steelhead run. These fish are present in the Clackamas River from about the first of March and remain there into June.
Rainbow and cutthroat trout are present in the upper basin of the Clackamas River as well as its small tributary streams. Hatchery trout are stocked in all of the upper basin lakes. Mountain Whitefish are also plentiful in the upper section of the river.
Flies:
We have a complete line of flies for steelhead and salmon. We have selected them as the most popular flies from thousands of patterns that have been developed over the years. We have some of our own Perfect Fly steelhead and salmon patterns. They imitate the hexigenia mayfly nymph, certain caddisfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs and fish roe or eggs that are found in the river throughout the year. We also have a full line of popular wet flies, egg flies, Spey flies that are very popular. We hope you will give our flies a try.
Trout Flies:
We definitely recommend our “Perfect Fly” trout flies. They are by far the best flies for the Clackamas River because they are the most realistic flies you can purchase. We have imitations of every insect and other trout food that is present in this stream. If you haven’t done so already, we ask you to give them a try. We know you will not be disappointed.
Clackamas River Fishing Report:
06/26/20 We are receiving good reports from our customer fishing for trout. Stream levels are a little low but okay.
07/08/20 Summer runs are coming in and a few being caught. Trout are being caught in good numbers.
07/21/20 Good numbers of summer steelhead are being caught. The upper river is turning out some good trout.
08/04/20 We continue to get some very good reports on summer steelhead. The headwaters are producing trout for our customers.
08/20/20 Summer steelhead and chinook are being caught in decent numbers. The headwater are turning our trout.
09/09/20 The stream levels are a little low but we continue to get good reports on summer steelhead, chinook salmon and trout in the upper sections. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
sales@perfectflystorecom
10/02/20 Summer steelhead, Coho salmon are being caught in good numbers by our customers. Stream levels are fine.
10/21/20 Our customers are catching good numbers of coho. It is the peak of the season .
11/26/20 The coho season has been good but winding down fast. You better get it while the getting is good.
12/13/20 Winter steelhead are starting to come into the lower river. Stream levels are near normal levels.
12/26/20 Conditions are good. We are getting reports from customers catching steelhead.
01/09/21 High levels slowed things down but it is just a little above normal now and we got a good report yesterday on steelhead.
01/26/21 Stream levels are near normal and the river in good shape. We are getting some good reports on Steelhead.
02/25/21 Stream levels are currently high but should fall out soon. Steelhead are being caught in good numbers when the levels are okay.
04/18/21 The stream levels are near normal. Trout are being caught in good numbers. March Browns, Skwala stoneflies, midges and BWOs are hatching.
05/02/21 There are Pale Evening duns and Spotted Sedge caddis hatching in addition to the above insects.
05/11/21 The stream levels are still running a little below normal but in good shape. We are still getting good reports from anglers fishing for trout.
05/20/21 Good conditions continue. We are getting good reports on trout fishing. Good hatches including March Browns.
05/28/21 The river continues to turn out good numbers of trout. There are good hatches taking place and we continue to get good reports. Call or write us for a recommended fly list.
06/06/21 The stream levels are still a little below normal levels. We continue to get good reports from customers fishing for trout. Summer steelhead and chinook are spread throughout the river.
06/17/21 The river is still a little below normal level. Summer runs are located throughout the river and being caught in okay numbers. Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations.
07/02/21 The levels are still well below normal but we are getting good reports of summer run steelhead being caught.
07/12/21 The river is still turning out summer steelhead for our customers. Stream levels are still a little below normal level.
07/20/21 We did receive a couple of good reports from customers fishing for summer runs. Stream levels are still a little low.
07/28/21 The river is turning out some good summer steelhead catches for our customers. Hoot owl restrictions are still in place.
08/15/21 We continue to get excellent reports from customers catching summer steelhead. This should continue for the next several days.
08/23/21 We received two more good reports of summer steelhead being caught. They are spread throughout the river. Check out our steelhead flies.
08/31/21 Good numbers of summer steelhead are being caught by our customers. Conditions are good for them.
09/10/21 More good reports from customers catching summer steelhead.
09/18/21 Summer steelhead and a few Chinook salmon are still being caught on a fairly regular basis.
09/27/21 The river is still turning out summer steelhead for our customers. We didn’t get any reports on Chinook.
10/10/21 Summer steelhead are still in the river but not in great numbers. At this point in the season, most of the Chinook are up high and mostly spawning. We are getting some good reports. Coho are coming in the river in good numbers and we are starting to get good reports from customers.
10/20/21 The stream is turning out good numbers of coho for anglers. They are distributed throughout the river.
10/31/21 The stream is a little high but okay. There are some good catches of Coho salmon taking place. We continue to get good reports from customers.
11/07/21 The levels are still high but we are still getting some good reports of salmon. The higher levels just bring more fish into the river.
11/15/21 There are still coho in the river and steelhead are most likely already coming in due to the amount of rain we have had.
11/23/21 Coho are still being caught and we received our first report on steelhead. It should be good this coming week. Be sure to check out our steelhead flies.
12/01/22 We received two good reports – one on steelhead and one on coho. There are some steelhead in the river according to our customers.
12/10/21 The river has steelhead. The numbers should increase the next rain but for now we are getting a few good reports from customers.
12/18/21 The Clackamas is turning out some steelhead for our customers. We received two good reports this past week.
12/26/21 More good steelhead reports came in the first of this past week. It will only get better as more fish come into the river. Now is the time to get your flies and gear in order.
01/03/22 The stream is a little above normal due to recent rain. We received two good reports from customers catching steelhead this past week.
01/11/22 The river is still flowing a little above normal but that just brings in more fish. We received two more good reports from customers catching steelhead.
01/19/22 We received two more good reports from customers catching steelhead. They are mostly stocked fish but some wild steelhead are should be starting to enter the river.
01/27/22 We received four good reports from customers catching steelhead. Stream levels are down to normal and the river is full of steelhead.
01/04/22 Conditions remain good. We received two good reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
01/12/22 We received four good reports from customers catching winter steelhead. The fish are scattered throughout the river. Swinging our streamers, eggs and our steelhead nymphs is working.
01/20/22 The received two more good reports from customers catching steelhead this past week. Conditions remain good.
02/28/22 We received two good reports of winter steelhead being caught this past week.
03/08/22 We received three good reports of winter steelhead being caught this past week. Both swinging our steelhead streamers and fishing our steelhead nymphs are working.
03/16/22 Stream levels are high right now. Wait until it drops some. We were getting good reports prior to the high levels.
03/24/22 The stream is still above normal but can be fished. We are getting some good reports of steelhead catches again.
04/01/21 We are getting some very good reports. Steelhead are being caught in good numbers. Stream levels are near normal.
04/09/22 The river is at a normal level in good shape. Winter steelhead are being caught by our customers. The river has a good population.
04/18/22 The winter steelhead are dark and mostly spawned out but there are still plenty of them in the river.
04/26/22 There are still some fish in the river but for all practical purposes, the winter run is over.
05/04/22 Trout fishing is getting good as the water is warmer and hatches have started to take place. Write us for a fly list.
05/12/22 Spring Chinook and Summer run steelhead are in the river and being caught. Conditions are good.
05/20/22 Stream levels are just a little above normal and mostly clear. A few summer steelhead are being caught.
05/28/22 Summer steelhead are being caught in okay numbers by our customers.
06/11/22 The stream is flowing at a high level and badly stained. Give it some time to drop back down.
06/18/22 The stream is just a little above normal level and mostly clear. Our customers are sending in some good summer steelhead reports.
06/25/22 The stream is still a good bit above normal level and clear. We received one good report from a customer fishing for summer SH.
07/02/22 The stream level is down to just a little above normal level and mostly clear. We received two good reports from customers catching Summer steelhead.
07/09/22 The stream is still in okay shape. We continue to get good reports on the summer runs.
07/16/22 The river is still in okay shape. We are still receiving good reports from customers catching summer run steelhead.
07/23/22 The river is still turning out catches of summer steelhead and chinook. Summer steelhead are throughout the river. Fish for the Chinook in the lower section of the river.
08/06/22 The river is still in good shape turning out good catches of summer runs and Chinook. We received two good reports from customers fishing this past week.
08/13/22 We continue to get good report from customers catching summer runs and a few catching Chinook salmon.
08/20/22 Summer steelhead and Chinook are being caught by our customers. Stream levels are fine.
08/27/22 We are still getting good reports of summer steelhead and Chinook. The stream is still in good condition.
09/04/22 Conditions remain good. More good reports have come in on the Summer runs and Chinook catches.
09/11/22 Summer runs and Chinook salmon are still being caught in okay numbers.
09/18/22 Still catching a few summer runs and Chinook. It should get better soon, so now is the time to get your flies and gear together.
10/08/22 The stream is still turning out a few summer steelhead and chinook. Some coho have begin to show up.
10/27/22 Still catching summer runs and Chinook. Cohos on the way but moving slow.
11/17/22 The stream is still flowing near a normal levels and clear. Coho are showing up and we are getting a few reports of some being caught. Some higher water would help.
02/08/23 Sorry for the missed reports. We should be able to keep them up to date from now on. We received three good reports from customers catching winter steelhead. The fish are scattered throughout the river. Swinging our streamers, eggs and our steelhead nymphs are working.
02/23/22 We received three good reports of Winter steelhead being caught this past five days. Both swinging our steelhead streamers and fishing our steelhead nymphs are working.
03/14/23 More good reports on Winter steelhead. The rain has helped and there are good numbers of fish in the river and being caught. Swinging our steehead streams and steelhead nymphs are both working.
03/25/23 You should be able to catch some steelhead. It is a little high and stained but falling fast.
04/07/23 The river is turning out some good catches of Winter Steelhead. Both swinging and nymph fishing using our Perfect Fly steelhead flies is working good.
04/21/23 The stream is turning out some nice catches of trout. Steelhead are about done but there are still some fish coming out of the river.
04/27/23 The stream is at an okay level and clear. Trout are being caught in good numbers. There are good hatches taking place.
05/14/23 Stream levels are high. There are Pale Evening duns and Spotted Sedge caddis hatching in addition to the above insects. Hopefully, it will drop soon.
05/25/23 The stream is down a little below normal level in good shape. Good hatches continue to take place. We received three good report the past four days.
06/07/23 Conditions remain good. The stream is flowing a little below normal and clear.
06/14/23 Good hatches continue to come off. Dry fly fishing has been good. Trout and Summer steelhead are present.
06/24/23 We didn’t hear from anyone fishing but the conditions are very good and you should be able to catch both summer runs.
07/02/23 The stream is turning out some summer steelhead. We received one report from a customer.
07/12/23 More good reports have come in from customers fishing for summer steelhead.
07/20/23 We are still getting some very good summer steelhead reports. Good hatches are taking place.
07/31/23 Summer steelhead and Spring Chinook are being caught in good numbers. Stream conditions remain good.
08/05/23 More good reports have come in on summer runs and spring chinook.
08/17/23 08/27/22 Good stream conditions exist. We are getting good reports of summer steelhead and Chinook. The stream is still in good condition.
08/21/23 Good numbers of summer steelhead and Chinook salmon are being caught.
08/28/23 More good reports come in on summer runs and Chinook. Get ready for some Coho coming in September.
09/05/23 No coho salmon reports yet, but they will come in soon if not already. Chinook and Summer Steelhead are still being caught.
09/19/23 The river is getting runs of Coho salmon. We received our first catch report this past week.
09/26/23 Coho are being caught in good numbers.
10/03/23 The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Coho are still being caught in good numbers by our customers.
10/12/23 The stream is very high due to recent rain. All in all considered, that is good. Give it some time to drop and clear some and you should be able to catch good numbers of Coho. There are still some summer runs and Chinook in the river.
10/27/23 Lots of Coho salmon are in the river and being caught. There are still a few summer steelhead and Chinook Salmon.
11/10/23 Some Coho are still being caught. Summer steelhead and Chinook is about done as the fish are colored up.
11/17/23 A few coho are still being caught. Stream levels are okay.
11/27/23 There’s still some Coho in the river is it is about done for the current run.
12/09/23 The big rain should be bringing in a big push of Winter steelhead. We recommend fishing it as soon as the water levels are suitable.
12/26/23 Stream levels are just a little below normal and the water is clear. We are getting good reports from customers catching steelhead swinging our steelhead egg sucking leech patterns.
01/10/24 More steelhead are in the river. Stream levels are high right now bu should drop soon and provide good conditions.
01/23/24 The stream has steelhead spread throughout its length. The stream level is a little high now but fishing should be good as soon as it drops some.
02/19/24 There are lots of steelhead throughout the river. Watch the stream levels and when they are okay, you should be able to catch some nice fish.
02/26/24 The stream is very high and highly stained. Give it some time to drop and clear.
03/08/24 The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear. The river is full of steelhead and we are getting good catch reports from customers.
03/14/24 More good catch reports have come in during the past week. Both swinging and nymphing methods of presentations are working.
03/21/24 The stream levels are high but we have been getting good reports.
03/28/24 Steelhead are distributed throughout the river. We received one good report from the past week.
04/04/24 The stream still has a lot of steelhead in it. We received one report from a customer fishing this past week.
04/14/23 We received another steelhead catch report from a customer fishing this past week.
04/21/24 We are still getting good reports of winter steelhead being caught.
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies.
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our trout and or/ steelhead fly recommendations.