Bryan Stinson Clackamas and Sandy Fishing Report
15 Oct 2026
Hi folks, Bryan here. I have been chatting with the crew at the shop about how the fishing has been this fall so far and they asked me to give you all the fishing report from my last month and a half of guiding.
What else can I say besides that it has been fantastic! My fall season started on September 1st chasing steelhead and coho. Steelhead fishing has been excellent. This has been the most productive fall I have seen in many, many years.
Coho fishing was pretty good early on, but now it's a little more hit and miss. We do have an A and B run of coho on the Willamette tributaries, and we should start seeing the larger B run fish finding their way into the rivers any day now. I am sure if you spend your time in the lower Clackamas or Sandy you will start to see more of them arrive. However, we need the almighty rain to bring them upriver and spread them out more where I focus the majority of my guide days. So we have that still to look forward to and hopefully the rest of October and November will be more productive with more opportunities for big, bright cohos.
Along with the great steelhead fishing we've had excellent weather. Chilly, foggy mornings with mostly overcast skies until the afternoon. This is an excellent time for new anglers to give spey fishing a shot with the opportunity hook both coho and steelhead in the same day! The river is low and calm, making the wading easy with plenty of room to cast. The weather is glorious and fish are willing to bite. What more can you ask for? How about taking breaks between fishing to have coffee and snacks by a warm fire looking out at the trees in their fall colors right here on our Portland rivers? That sounds good to me. It's been wonderful.
Swing by the shop if you are a new angler looking to get into the spey fishing and take a casting lesson with Jennifer to learn some new casting techniques, or brush up before the season is over. Then give me a call to come put your new skills to practice and hopefully get your first salmon or steelhead!
Also, swing by the shop Saturday October 24th. I will be doing a fly tying demo and chatting all about fall fishing in the metro area. Hope to see you there!
Cheers,
Bryan Stinson
Bryan guides the Portland-Metro area for salmon, summer steelhead, and winter steelhead on the Sandy and Clackamas Rivers. You can reach out to Bryan for guide trip inquiries at [email protected] or by phone at (503)737-4890
For more information about Bryan and the trips he offers, go to his website at https://riverwiseanglers.com/
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