Idaho Fish Report

The Nehalem gets an early component of the fall Chinook run sometimes referred to as "summer Chinook" and those fish are in. Fishing has slowed the past week, especially in the lower bay. There have been some Chinook caught in the upper tidewater. The more traditionally timed fall Chinook should be starting to show up soon.

The Nehalem gets a return of hatchery coho salmon that should be showing up soon as well. In addition, the wild coho fishery starts this Saturday. Nehalem Bay is open to retention of 1 adult wild coho/day and 2/season on WEDNESDAYS and SATURDAYS only, from Sept. 7 to Oct. 23. See the regulation updates online for more details.

Trolling with flashers and spinners seems to be the go-to technique for this fishery in the bay, but trolling herring is always a good option for Chinook as well. In upper tidewater bobber fishing bait can be effective. The bag limit for wild adult Chinook is 1/day and 5 for the season from July 1 to Nov. 30. See the regulation updates for more details.

There are cutthroat trout throughout the Nehalem basin. Most of the sea-run cutthroat should be up in the rivers and tributaries by this time of year.