Salem reads the upper river, not Portland
USGS 14191000 sits at Salem, about river mile 84, roughly 58 miles above Willamette Falls. It adds up everything coming down from Eugene, the McKenzie and the Santiam, so it is the right number for the trout and bass water this page mostly covers. It is the wrong number for the Portland harbor. Below the falls the Willamette is low-gradient and pushed around by Columbia River tides, and the Portland gauge (14211720) swings with them, which is why it is not the gauge used here.
No shop publishes a wading or drifting range for Salem. The 7,000 to 15,000 cfs on this page is the June through October spread of USGS monthly means since 2010: about 14,960 in June, 7,110 in August, 8,510 in September and 13,020 in October. January averages about 41,300, which is not trout water. On September 24, 2026 Salem read 6,790 cfs, the bottom of the summer range, and ODFW's report the same week had the river at about 62 degrees near the falls.
Coast Fork down to Albany, bridge by bridge
The 2026 Oregon regulations split the trout river at three highway bridges, and the rules change at each. From the mouth of the McKenzie up to the Coast Fork, through Eugene and Springfield, trout are open all year with 2 wild trout a day at 8 inches plus 5 hatchery trout, and bait is allowed. From the Highway 99 bridge at Harrisburg up to the McKenzie mouth, the river is artificial flies and lures only, open all year for trout. From the Highway 20 bridge in Albany up to Harrisburg, the limit is 2 trout a day at 8 inches and bait is legal again. All three reaches also allow white sturgeon, 1 a day and 2 a year, 38 to 54 inches fork length.
ODFW's own advice is that trout prefer the cooler water above Corvallis, and that the Albany to Harrisburg stretch can be very good when flows cooperate. This is braided valley water; the river between Harrisburg and Albany was shortened by about 40 percent when it was channelized, so expect gravel bars, side channels and wood rather than a canyon. Most people fish it from a drift boat or raft and get out to wade the riffles.
What the Eugene shop sees hatching
The Caddis Fly Angling Shop at 168 West 6th Avenue in Eugene writes about this water through the season, and its 2026 posts give a fair calendar. March Browns were still hatching heavily into April this year, best on overcast days in long pools with fish sipping in the tailouts. By early summer the main event is Pale Morning and Pale Evening Duns, with a spinner fall most evenings, followed by Golden Stoneflies fluttering in the early afternoon and Yellow Sallies in between. Summer caddis in tan, brown and cinnamon run alongside all of it, and ants, beetles and hoppers matter from July into early fall.
The shop's rule of thumb for hot weather is worth repeating: above about 67 or 68 degrees, stop fishing for trout. Fish the first and last light, or move up the McKenzie or Middle Fork where the water is colder.
Salem to Corvallis belongs to the smallmouth
Downstream of the trout, the same river turns into a bass fishery. ODFW describes smallmouth as plentiful between Salem and Corvallis in summer, with the occasional walleye to 20 inches, and points late-season anglers to the reach from Buena Vista up toward Peoria, particularly around Hyak Park. From Salem downstream, largemouth take over in the deeper, slower water. Two car ferries cross this stretch, the Buena Vista Ferry south of Independence and the Wheatland Ferry north of Keizer, and both are useful landmarks for planning a float. ODFW's tip for fall bass is to get a nightcrawler down near the bottom in deep water during the day.
Below the falls: the spring Chinook months
Willamette Falls drops about 40 feet between Oregon City and West Linn, and every salmon headed up the valley goes through the fishway there. Columbia Basin DART's daily counts for 2025 show 33,099 Chinook over the falls, with 4,584 in April, 10,636 in May and 12,268 in June, then tapering to a few hundred by September. That is the springer season: the fish are in the Portland harbor and Multnomah Channel before they reach the ladder.
From the mouth to the falls, including Multnomah Channel, the river is open all year for hatchery salmon and hatchery steelhead and bait is allowed. Sturgeon are catch-and-release only, and sturgeon fishing is prohibited from the Lake Oswego to Oak Grove railroad bridge up to the falls from May 1 through August 31. The Oregon City wall bank and the Willamette Falls area itself are closed; the regulation booklet has diagrams. A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon.
Coho above the falls, and this fall's two-rod rule
Coho are the fall story now. DART counted 22,521 over the falls in 2025, almost all in September and October, and ODFW says late September to early October is usually the peak above the falls, with fish holding near the Yamhill, Molalla and Tualatin confluences. Above the falls, wild coho can be kept: 2 adults and 5 jacks a day. ODFW suggests trolling 360 flashers or spinners, casting Wiggle Warts, twitching jigs or bobber and eggs.
As of September 24, 2026, ODFW's regulation updates page lists one Willamette change: from August 1 through December 31, anglers with a 2026 Two-Rod Validation may use two rods anywhere above Willamette Falls that is open for coho, except when fishing for sturgeon. The permanent rules for the falls to the Highway 20 bridge at Albany keep that reach open all year for hatchery Chinook, coho and hatchery steelhead. Harvest of wild salmon and steelhead stays prohibited in the Willamette Zone unless a rule says otherwise, so check ODFW's updates page before you go.