Any good runs to speak of on the Willamette for winter steelhead?

The Willamette doesn't get winter steelhead. The closest big river with winter steelhead is the Santiam. Pretty much all of the coastal rivers get winter steelhead.

Thats what I thought. Coastal rivers, here I come!

Thanks

There is a very small winter run in the Willy. I have friends that fish Dexter year round and they catch steel in the winter, and some chrome bright ones too. Most of them are strays, but there are a few "wild" fish that come up. There are a few, but not many.

archer wrote:The Willamette doesn't get winter steelhead. The closest big river with winter steelhead is the Santiam. Pretty much all of the coastal rivers get winter steelhead.

Small correction their Daniel, all the winters that end up in the Santiam system must first swim the Willamette. That said, there are not many
who target them in the Salem/Jefferson stretch as they race through to the Santiam. The Little North Fork Santiam in March(end) and April can
be good for C&R'n.SSSHHHHH

Now Springers on the other hand......that's another story.....

Suprisingly enough there actually is a small winter run of steelhead on both the middle fork willy and Mckenzie. Nothing in real fishable numbers but there are a handful that come up really late. I work for the BLM and form what one of our fish bio's says is they come up into the lower Mckenzie and spawn in some of the smaller tribs. Probably the same for the middle fork, like fall cr or littel fall cr get a small run of wild fish.