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Nehalem river fishing

16K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Rank Amateur 
#1 Ā·
My Dad just moved to the town of Elsie on the nehalem river. He isnt as mobile as he once was so he mainly fishes off his property only. I am trying to learn the river but i dont make it out there too often. He has recently seen fishing rollin in the hole by his house. Anyone have any advice on the river it would be really helpful.
 
#3 Ā·
I had a very fun day on the Nehalem River just in front of Wheeler last Saturday. I talked to a local who informed me to wait until high tide. I waited around and caught a 35 lb silvery beauty. Great advise. There are alot of fish there and the location is easy to get to. Highly recommend it.


Greg
 
#4 Ā·
It's tough getting those fish around Elsie to bite on anything. They have been in the freshwater for weeks now, and are waiting on a spurt of rain to send them upriver for spawning. I'd tell him to just leave 'em be and enjoy the show. Not much good left in those fish anyways.
 
#6 Ā·
I would check the regs closely if you are thinking about fishing salmon or steelhead there. Most (if not all) fish that far up river are wild, so I don't think you can keep them (there may be exceptions, so check the regs). I think there is some good trout fishing in that area though.
 
#7 Ā·
Nehalem River kings are wild, but you can keep them. The rule is 5/year, 1/day, and fin clipped fish are not part of the 5/year, and are not counted as your first fish/day. My point was I've managed those Elsie/Vinemaple area fish, and you wouldn't eat more than a bite. They enter the mouth in July/August, and move up during whatever rains happen, with the intent of spawning in October.

Free plug for the Vernonia Salmon Festival. First weekend in October, Saturday October 4th. Hawkins Park, which is right off Highway 47/Bridge Street at the Rock Creek bridge. You can see those very salmon, black as pitch, racing under the bridge as they push into the home stretch. They spawn the lower 11 miles of Rock Creek, as well as most of the Upper Nehalem River and its larger tributaries.
A better fish for eating can be found much lower in the river, before they've gone on their diet.
 
#9 Ā·
Nehalem River trout is catch and release only. The Nehalem River closes to angling above the Highway 26 bridge at Elsie, September 1st-October 31. The river closure is to protect the spawning salmon run.

The chinook run in the upper Nehalem is a real success story, as a kid growing up we had very few fish up here, now we have an annual event here in town based on the return to spawn of these magnificent fish.

While the temptation is to catch these fish and I have been told that they will smoke, I just as soon not eat wet cardboard.
 
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