Montana Fish Report

The Nehalem Fall Chinook run is an early one and started in July. The early fish have moved up to the head of tide where fishing has been fair. The lower bay has slowed a little but there are still fish being caught and there should be more Chinook coming in. This is mostly a trolling fishery with herring and spinners both being effective techniques. In the upper tidewater bobber fishing bait is a go to technique. The wild Chinook bag limit is one adult per day/two for the season (July 1 to November 30) as part of the overall daily bag limit.

Coho salmon should be starting to show up in the Nehalem basin this month and there is a hatchery release on the Nehalem. In addition, the wild coho retention fishery opened September 10th. Nehalem Bay is open for wild coho three days a week (Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) through October 26th. The bag limit is 1 wild adult coho per day and 3 for the season as part of the daily salmon/steelhead bag limit. See regulation updates online for more details.

The Nehalem Basin offers public access on the Nehalem and its tributaries and there should be resident coastal cutthroat trout throughout the basin. Sea-run cutthroats are in the rivers now as well. Concentrate on deep pools with cover, and you should find success. Many areas have bait restrictions in place so check the regulations for those and open areas before heading out.