Last year was an absolutely miserable local steelhead year. This time last year their were approximately 1000 summer steelhead over Willamette Falls. Those 1000 spread in the Willamette, McKenzie and Santiam River systems, so catching them last year was rare at best. This year has been tough with higher flows and less than impressive numbers when you look at the last 10 years but…..We are now looking at 4000 summer steelhead over the falls and water levels have just plummeted, things are looking up. The water from Dexter dam all the way to the confluence of the McKenzie will be worth a look for summer steelhead now. Daily counts over the past two weeks have been really solid and we have been hearing reports of anglers catching fish.
Best flies for summer steelhead locally have been:
Moal Leech
Green Butt Silver Hilton
Silveynator
Reverse Marabou
Locally inspired Jen Sens Steelhead Patterns
