River levels best for fishing are at or below 3,000 cfs, and the river is currently running at around 2,800 cfs at the gauge in Mehama. ‌

With the arrival of the first summer steelhead and Spring chinook of the season the fishing is beginning to heat up. Summer steelhead have started to enter the river and over 500 have already made it passed the Stayton area. So far, they have counted 7,000 adults passing above Willamette Falls as of May 24.‌

Spring chinook numbers increased dramatically over the last couple of weeks with hundreds being added to the count daily. These fish will likely pour into the North Santiam throughout June. ‌

Now that we are passed April 22 the bait restrictions on the river have been lifted and bait is again allowed. For the next week or two the lower river will have more fish until the bulk of the run arrives and pushes more fish into the upper sections.