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Fly Fishing Report On The North Umpqua River, Oregon

Winter Fishing on the North Umpqua River, Oregon

North Umpqua River Fishing
Report Updated
03/21/24 (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
Tailwater

Species
Steelhead
Brown Trout
Brook Trout
Chinook Salmon
Coho Salmon (Few)

Size
Large about 100 miles long

Location
Northern Oregon

Nearest Towns
Bend

Season
Year – round but species dependent

Access:
Good

Non-Resident License
State of Oregon

Weather
National Weather Service Link

USGS Real-time Stream Data:
North Umpqua at Winchester
Oregon.

Seasons:
The season is open year-round but it’s species dependent
Spring:
Spring Chinook arrive in April but check the regulations. Spring is a great time for trout in the headwaters.
Summer:
Summer run steelhead fishing is great and so is the trout fishing in the headwaters. Chinook fishing where the season is open.
Fall:
There is a Fall run of Chinook, but check the regulations. Good trout fishing in the headwaters.
Winter:
The winter-run steelhead fishing is great. It peaks in late February, early March..

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 2016 James Marsh

Fly Fishing The North Umpqua River (North Fork) Oregon
The North Umpqua River Oregon has thirty miles of fly fishing only water. The river provides one of the most scenic areas in the Northwest. Summer run steelhead arrive in late June and are in the river until the end of October. These are wild and hatchery fish. The month of September can be too warm for good fishing but it picks back up in October.

Winter run steelhead are in the river in late Winter and early Spring.  They come into the North Fork of the Umpqua River in January. The fishing peaks in February and goes through the first part of March.

Spring Chinook salmon are present from April through October. They can be fished for from the mouth of the river to the fly fishing boundary from January through July. The fishing is best during May through July. The fly fishing only section is closed to Chinook salmon fishing. There is also a good Fall Chinook salmon run.

There’s some very good trout fishing in the upper North Fork of the Umpqua River. You will find the best trout fishing above the Soda Springs Reservoir. Rainbow, brook and brown trout are present. Below Soda Springs, trout fishing in the main part of the North Umpqua is catch-and-release only to protect sea-run cutthroat.

This river has gone through some huge changes. It was once filled with runoff sediment. Its headwaters have been damed but today, it flows cold and clear. The North Fork of the Umpqua starts high in the Cascade Mountains at Maidu Lake. Its water comes from the outflow of Diamond Lake as well as melting snow. It makes a one-hundred mile long trip through beautiful canyons. Finally, it flows together with the South Umpqua and forms the main Umpqua River.

The North Fork of the Umpqua River is restricted to fly fishing only for thirty-one miles from the boundary markers above Rock Creek to the Soda Springs Dam.

The river is accessible from roads that closely follow the river all the way from the forks to Lemolo Lake. You can access the North Umpqua to its headwaters at Maidu from the Kelsay Valley Trailhead. Forest roads follow the North Umpqua inlet of Lemolo Lake. The section of water between Crystal Springs and Lemolo has some good brook trout and brown trout fishing. A forest road accesses this area.

The lowest part of the North Umpqua River is bordered by private land. It is usually fished by boat only. The most popular area on the lower section is from Amacher Park to below the Wincheser Dam. Salmon and steelhead can be caught in this area. There’s about a mile of fishing access in the Whistler’s Bend County Park. Bank fishing is available for about two miles along the Old Glide Road off of highway #138.

From above Rock Creek to the Soda Springs Power House it is fly fishing only. Steamboat Creek is closed to steelhead fishing because it’s a prime spawning area. The bend of the Umpqua River, including the Steamboat intersection, is a very popular area. It’s a few hundred yard stretch called Camp Walter. It’s heavily fished by anglers that stay at the famous Steamboat Inn.

North Fork Umpqua River Fly Fishing Guide 

The gear, tackle and flies you need depends on the species of fish you are targeting. Most fly anglers target steelhead in the North Fork of the Umpqua River. These fish are large, averaging about six pounds and getting as large as twelve pounds and they fight very hard. You need big flies to catch them and this requires a little heavier fly fishing gear than normal

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 fishing. We also provide information you need for trout fishing the headwaters.

We definitely recommend our “Perfect Fly” trout flies. They are by far the best flies for the North Fork Umpqua 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.

4/19/21 The river is low and catching steelhead is probably tough. Trout are being caught including in the tributaries that are open. Good hatches of March Browns, BWOs, little Black caddis, and skwala soneflies are taking place.

05/02/21 The stream is up and the trout fishing better. There are good hatches taking place. We received two good reports the past few days.

05/11/21 We received two good reports from customers fishing for trout. Good hatches are taking place. Send us an email or call us for a recommended fly and gear list.

05/20/21 More good reports on trout. The summer run steelhead haven’t started coming in yet.

05/28/21 The river is low but we are still getting good reports from customers fishing for trout. There are good hatches taking place. Call or write us for a recommended fly list.

06/06/21 The stream levels are still well below normal. We are still getting good reports on trout. There are some chinook in the river but we have no reports on them.

06/17/21 We are still getting good reports on trout. It is time for the summer run steelhead to start arriving. Now is the time to get your flies and gear ready for them. 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 stream is still low and warm but we are still getting good reports of trout being caught by our customers. We don’t have any reports of summer runs yet but they should be in the river. There are good hatches taking place.

07/12/21 The stream level is still very low and the water warm. We are getting some good reports from customers on trout fishing.

07/20/21 Conditions remain about the same. Warm water and low levels but we are still getting some good reports from customers in spite of that.

07/28/21 The levels are still low. There are some slides affecting portions of the river. We have been getting good reports from the uppermost sections on trout.

08/05/21 Part of the river is closed due to the Jack fire. A few summer steelhead are being caught but only a few. Trout are being caught in decent numbers.

08/15/21 The North Umpqua and its tributaries from the mouth of the marker below Soda Springs Dam are now closed to all fishing through Nov. 30. We received a very few good reports the past ten days from customers fishing for trout.

08/23/21 Season Closed

08/31/21 Closed from the mouth to Soda Springs due to low summer steelhead returns.

09/10/21 Still closed.

09/18/21 Trout fishing is open year round upstream of Slide Creek Dam and in tributaries in this section. We received one good report from a customer fishing this past week.

09/27/21 The river is closed to fishing for steelhead. Trout fishing is good in the upper tributaries.

10/10/21 Trout fishing is very good above Slide Creek dam and the lake. Good fall hatches are taking place and we are getting good reports from customers.

10/20/21 We are still getting some good reports on trout fishing in the upper section of the river. It is still closed from the mouth to Soda Springs.

10/31/21 The North and tributaries from the confluence with the South to the marker below Soda Springs is still closed to all fishing through Nov. 30. This closure is in response to the lowest return of summer steelhead on record. Trout fishing is open year-round upstream of Slide Creek Dam and in tributaries in this section.

11/07/21 We are getting good reports from customers fishing for trout above Slide Creek dam and in the upper tributaries. Good hatches are still taking place.

11/15/21 Trout is still the only game. We continue to get good reports from the upper sections of the river. There are still good hatches taking place.

11/23/21 Trout fishing is good. We received two good reports this past week. Blue-winged olives, blood midges and other insects are hatching and our sculpin articulated streamer are working good.

12/01/21 More good reports from customers come in on trout. Conditions remain good.

12/10/21 The steelhead season is open again. There are a few summers and good numbers of trout being caught but the summers are mostly done. Winter steelhead should start coming in any time now. Now is the time to get your flies and gear together.

12/18/21 Still no reports of winter steelhead being caught but any day now we expect some.

12/26/21 We received our first two reports on winter steelhead. Conditions should get better as the days go by. Get your gear and flies ready now.

01/03/22 We received another good report from an angler catching steelhead. Conditions are good right now.

01/11/22 The stream has been a little high but back down to normal levels now. There should be more steelhead in the river due to the higher levels. We received one good report from a customer this past week.

01/19/22 We received four good reports from customers catching winter steelhead. Swinging our steelhead streamers and nymph methods are both working.

01/27/22 We received four more good reports from customers. Our streamers and steelhead nymphs are working good. Now is a great time to be there.

02/04/22 Conditions remain good. We received two more good reports from customers catching steelhead.

02/12/22 We received another good report from a customer catching steelhead. Levels are a little low and the action has slowed down some but still okay.

02/20/22 We are still getting good reports on steelhead, two this past week. Fish the lower section of the river using out steelhead nymphs.

02/28/22 We received two more good reports on steelhead this past week. Conditions remain okay.

03/08/22 Two more good reports came in from customers catching steelhead. Chinook Salmon are also starting to move into the river.

03/16/22 The river is up just a little above normal level and in good shape. We continue to get good reports from customers.

03/24/22 The river is in okay shape with good numbers of winter steelhead being caught.

04/01/22 The river is still turning out some winter steelhead.

04/09/22 We are getting good reports from customers catching winter steelhead. Swinging our steelhead streamers and using our steelhead nymphs are both producing good results.

04/18/22 We are still getting several good reports. The steelhead are spawning and mostly dark but the river is still loaded with them.

04/26/22 The winter run is over for all practical purposes. Get ready for the Spring Chinook and summer steelhead runs.

05/04/22 Some summer runs should start coming in the first of this month. Spring Chinook are already showing up.

05/12/22 No reports on summer steelhead yet but they should be coming in soon. Some Chinook are in the river.

05/20/22 A few summer steelhead are being caught by our customers. Stream levels and conditions are okay. It should get better soon.

05/28/22 A few chinook are being caught along with some summer steelhead. Summer steelhead will be getting better as the summer progresses.

06/11/22 The stream is very high and off color due to recent heavy rain. Give it some time to drop and clear.

06/18/22 Stream levels are down but still a little above normal level. We didn’t receive any reports this past week probably due to high water. Some Chinook are being caught and you should start catching summer run steelhead.

06/25/22 Summer steelhead are being caught in decent numbers as well as some Chinook. The stream levels are still a good bit above normal level but it can be fished well in places.

07/02/22 The stream is flowing just a little above normal level and mostly clear. We received two good reports from customers fishing for Summer steelhead.

07/09/22 We are still getting a few reports of hatchery summer runs. Trout fishing should be good in the upper sections and tributaries but we didn’t receive any reports.

07/23/22 The stream is still turning out some summer steelhead and trout above the Slide Creek dam.

07/30/22 More good reports have come in on summer runs and trout although the new summer run fish seem to be slowing down. Fish the upper sections of the river. Good hatches continue to take place.

08/06/22 Trout fishing is still good in the upper sections. Summer run steelhead fishing is slower but there are still some being caught.

08/19/22 The stream is still turning out a few summer steelhead but trout fishing good. We are still getting a few good reports.

08/26/22 Summer steelhead are still being caught in small quantities. Trout fishing is very good.

09/04/22 The summer steelhead are still in the river in low numbers and some are being caught. Trout are being caught in good numbers above the lake.

09/11/22 Summer runs are still being caught but the warm water has it relatively slow. Trout are being caught above the lake in good numbers.

09/18/22 Some summer runs are being caught and trout fishing is very good with good hatches taking place.

10/08/22 Some summer steelhead are being caught along with trout in the upper section of the river above the lake.

10/27/22 Summer steelhead are still being caught. Water levels are. Fishing for trout is good.

11/17/22 The river is still turning out some hatchery summer steelhead as well as trout in the uppermost section.

02/08/23 Sorry for the missed reports. Hopefully, we can keep them up to date. We are getting good reports on steelhead, three this past week. Fishing the lower section of the river using out steelhead nymphs is working but eggs and our steelhead streamers are also working.

02/23/23 The stream is still turning out a few Winter steelhead. Swinging our steelhead streamers, fishing our steelhead nymphs and in the pools are both working in the lower water level.

03/14/23 We are still getting a few reports of steelhead being caught.

03/26/23 Winter steelhead are still in the river. We received another good report from a customer.

04/06/23 Winter steelhead fishing is about done. A few chinook have been caught.

04/21/23 Some Chinook are being caught but steelhead fishing is done for now.

04/28/23 Trout are being caught including in the tributaries that are open. Hatches of March Browns, Blue-winged olives, little Black caddis, and Skwala stoneflies are taking place.

05/14/23 Trout fishing is still good. Hatchery steelhead fishing is also good. The water levels are rising so be sure to check that out.

05/25/23 Trout and hatchery steelhead fishing is still okay. Get ready for summer runs coming the first to middle of June.

06/07/23 Chinook are in the river.

06/14/23 We received one good report of a Chinook being caught.

06/24/23 We received one good catch report on summer runs.

07/02/24 Summer run steelhead are in but it is obviously slow from a catching standpoint.

07/12/23 More good reports have come in from customers fishing for summer runs. It isn’t red hot, but we would call it good.

07/20/23 We are getting more summer steelhead reports from customers. It should continue to be good.

07/31/23 Good reports are still coming in for summer steelhead. Good hatches continue to take place.

08/05/23 All fishing in the North Umpqua River is closed until November 30th.

12/09/23 The river is open for fishing again. The big rain that just occurred should bring good numbers of steelhead into the river.

12/26/23 Steelhead are being caught in good numbers. Stream levels are okay and the water clear.

01/10/24 The stream is getting good runs of steelhead. The water level is currently high and it is stained heavily. It should be good as soon as it drops some.

01/23/24 The stream is still high and badly stained but should clear up some in the coming few days. There are plenty steelhead in the river and it should be good when conditions improve.

02/19/24 We are getting lots of good reports from customers catching steelhead. Swinging out steelhead streamers and our Steelhead nymph patterns are working good. The river is full of fish.

02/26/24 The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. We are getting very good reports from customers catching steelhead.

03/08/24 The stream is turning out good numbers of steelhead. Our steelhead nymphs are working good in the cold water. There are a lot of steelhead in the river.

03/14/24 The stream is still producing some good steelhead catches for our customers.

03/21/24 The stream level has been high most of the past week but almost back down to normal level today. Good numbers of steelhead are being caught when the levels are okay. Our Steelhead Nymphs and streamers are working good.

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 fly recommendations.