Winter steelhead fishing has begun on the Alsea River.  The popular North Fork Alsea fishery opened on Dec. 1.  Forecast heavy rain early in the week will blow out the river but conditions should be good by the weekend.

The Alsea still gets a good amount of the early returning stock that peaks in December and January, as well as a later stock that peaks in February and March. Expect more fish to show up with each rise in the river level from now through April. Bobber fishing with jigs/bait, drift fishing, and casting lures are all effective ways to catch these hard fighting fish.

Reminder, winter steelhead fishing remains open in the areas closed to Chinook.  When fishing for winter steelhead remember to practice good ethics and leave spawning Chinook and coho salmon alone so they can provide fish for the future.

Due to lower than expected returns and conservation concerns, fall Chinook fishing is closed on the Alsea upstream of the Five Rivers bridge.  Below the deadline the bag limit for fall Chinook is reduced to one adult Chinook per day and a limit of 3 from Nov. 1 through the remainder of the season.  Very few fish are being caught below the deadline and fishing continues to be very slow. Steelhead fishing is still open in the closed chinook areas.

All wild coho must be released during the 2018 fall salmon season.

Trout fishing in streams will reopen May 22, 2019.