North Umpqua River, Oregon

Steamboat and the Camp Water

The Camp Water is the run of named pools around the Steamboat Creek mouth on Highway 138, about 40 miles east of Roseburg, where Zane Grey camped in the 1930s and where the Steamboat Inn still sits. Summer steelhead stack here before they turn up Steamboat Creek to spawn, and the creek itself is closed to fishing all year to protect them. Basalt ledges, fast slots and a tradition of swinging flies on floating lines define the fishing.

Rock Creek to Steamboat

The fly-only water begins where Rock Creek enters near Idleyld Park, a few miles above Glide, and runs about 31 miles upstream to Soda Springs Dam. Swiftwater Park and the Susan Creek and Bogus Creek areas give the lower fly water its road access, and this stretch fishes earliest in the season as the first fish arrive in June before the bulk of the run reaches the Camp Water in July.

Toketee and the upper river

Above Soda Springs the North Umpqua is broken up by the PacifiCorp hydro project at Toketee and Lemolo, and the river above the dams is trout water rather than steelhead water. The USGS gauge this page reads sits above Copeland Creek near Toketee Falls, at the top of the fly water, which is the gauge Oregon shops quote for the canyon.

Summer steelhead

Wild summer steelhead enter the river from mid May, the bulk of the run arrives in July, and fishing holds through August and September into November. They are caught on the swing with traditional wet flies, skaters and waking dries, without added weight, which is what makes this the most demanding steelhead river in the state. Wild fish must be released; only fin-clipped hatchery fish may ever be kept.

Rainbow and cutthroat trout

Resident wild rainbows live through the fly water and above the dams, and coastal cutthroat run the tributaries and the river above Toketee. Golden stones, caddis and March browns bring them up, and the trout fishing stays open in the fly water when the steelhead season closes.

Season and regulations

Within the fly water only artificial flies may be used, no weight may be added to the fly or leader and strike indicators are not allowed during the summer season, and the whole corridor is wade fishing; boats are restricted. Summer flows at the Copeland Creek gauge usually run 800 to 1,000 cfs, and 500 to 1,500 cfs is the range fishing sites treat as ideal for swinging the canyon, so that is the band this page uses.

Returns fell below the trigger in ODFW's 2022 framework this year, so ODFW closed the North Umpqua to steelhead fishing from August 10 through November 30, 2026, while trout fishing stays open where allowed. Check the current ODFW Southwest Zone regulations and in-season notices before you drive in.