Once listed as a top 10 Oregon fishing river the Sandy has been through many changes in management and often the key to learning the river is to learn the current basin management plan first. The river supports runs of spring chinook, fall chinook, coho, winter steelhead, and summer steelhead. In some years the sand flow is so great that many popular fishing holes fill in and you can see the sand boiling off the bottom of the river when it runs with good visibility. When the river is not full of sand it can be very snaggy as the bottom of the river bed is medium size rock throughout most of the middle and upper river. This makes it a good river for bobber fishing of all types. Salmon and steelhead do not like to sit in areas with boiling sand so when there is allot of sand in the river try fishing the tailouts and slower moving holes. Bank fishing the Sandy is easy with many locations to fish from on foot. Oxbow regional park has several miles of fishable water and a boat ramp for drift boats and rafts. Dodge park, Dabney park, and Lewis and Clark park also offer good areas to explore and have boat ramps as well. The sections of river below Highway 84 is also currently public and is often fished by plunkers during the winter and spring. A very well known boat fishery exists right at the rivers mouth where it meets with the Columbia during many months of the year for chinook, coho, and the occasional summer steelhead. Running bait behind plugs used as a diver is a great way to work the lower river from a boat. Magnum wiggle warts and Magnum Hot-n-tots with the hooks removed are the local secret diver or choice. small jet divers are also used often. Backtrolling sardine wrapped Qwickfish 65 feet behind the boat can be a sure bet. Back bouncing and bobber fishing can also be very productive as the spring and fall salmon return. Mepps flying-c and Blue Fox #4 spinners are also commonly used for fall salmon. The upper river is mostly a trout fishery now and even though many of the non clipped native and wild fish reach this point they are to be released unharmed. Marmot dam is to be removed in 2007-2008 by PGE. The dam is also the site of a fish ladder that acts as a collection point for hatchery fish that moved beyond the hatchery at Cedar creek With the dam removed the management of the river will change once again with all of the hatchery fish kept in the lower river through acclimation so that inner breeding with wild and native fish does not occur. Fishing for native trout is fair in the upper river but will take a good knowledge of the rivers aquatic insect life and the trout's preferred holding water in sandy conditions that often occur during the warmer months. Such information should be available at local fly shops. The salmon river also holds a good fishery for small trout and whitefish. Current regulations are catch and release for the upper Sandy and Salmon river trout. No hatchery trout are planted in these upper river areas.

The Sandy river fish hatchery located on Cedar creek has a coho smolt release goal of 700,000 smolts to be released in the lower river each year. Annual returns can very greatly with run between 500 and 5000 depending on commercial fishing catch rate. As with all Sandy river runs created of hatchery stock they return to the cedar creek area. Coho begin to show in September with fishing through October for qaulity fish. Spring chinook are planted in the sandy and seem to return in fair numbers from time to time. Upper basin wild stock rebuilt from Clackamas and Willamette stock are doing well and will become a brood stock for the run in the coming years as the programs shifts once again due to the removal of Marmot dam. The hatchery holes can become very crowded during the time of their return in aprill through July. Fall chinook in the Sandy are mostly a Tule stock. No hatchery programs address these fish and regulations can be stringent. These Tule chinook salmon spawn in the lower river from Big Bend up to the Cedar creek area naturally with the bulk stopping around Oxbow Regional Park. Tules can be observed spawning there in Oxbow in September. No fishing is allowed in Tule spawn bed areas. A second strain of "bright" chinook enters the river some years and are caught by anglers in the Troutdale area. Check regulations as this run can often be closed to retention or angling entierly. Summer steelhead runs are less then 2000 fish and mostly return to the hatchery area. They are caught pretty quickly as they arrive in April and May to the same area heavily fished by anglers looking for hatchery spring chinook. A hike in only area but there is always plenty of savvy anglers willing to make the 1.5 mile trek. 160,000 winter steelhead smolts are also released in the lower river to create sport fishing opportunities. Returning from December through January they fill the area below the mouth of Cedar creek after each rain. Fishing for strays above this point can be good at times for all of the hatchery's runs but the goal is for only unclipped fish to move beyond this point. Often times the area around Revenue bridge will fish well for a few days during the peak of these runs as small pods stray beyond their return point. Sandy river native steelhead are now used for the brood stock to create the hatchery runs. They are later returning fish that run from January to March. These native fish travel well beyond the hatchery and all the way into the upper river tributary's. Sea run cutthroat, rainbow, and whitefish can also be present in the Sandy.

FISHABLE TRIBUTARIES & LAKES
(CH/Chinook SS/Silver ST/Steelhead RT/Rainbow BR/Brown Trout CT/Cutthroat Trout)

• Bull Run River RT, CT, SH
• Salmon River RT, CT
• Zig Zag River RT ,CT
• Still Creek - RT,CT
• Trillium Lake - RT
• Roselyn Lake-Has been removed

FLY FISHING: Fly fishing the lower Sandy is for the most part a spey rod show and for good reason with the annual Spey Clave event held on the banks of the Sandy river each year. Prior to the year 2000 a very good fly rod fishery existed for summer steelhead in the upper Sandy and Salmon rivers however it was decided that this run needed to be kept below Marmot to prevent further destruction to the native winter run steelhead and native trout populations that call the upper river home. Fly fishing for trout is still very popular on the upper Sandy and Salmon rivers for fair size trout. It is hoped that with new management the trout in the upper river will become more plentiful and larger over time. Local fly shops can help choose the correct fly's for this often sand colored river and for the Salmon its hard to beat the elk hair caddis and bead head prince nymphs or zug bugs fished in the riffles./p>

General run timing

Jan

Feb

March

April

May

June

July

Au

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Spring Chinook

Coho Salmon

Summer Steelhead

Winter Steelhead

Trout

Indicates Peak Time

CONSERVATION CONTRIBUTIONS : Sandy Fish Hatchery is a huge part of the success of Sandy river fisheries and are always looking for volunteer help. Kids fishing day events or working with returning fish and even fish collection.

There is also a very well organized Sandy River-Northwest Steelheaders chapter that meets monthly at Glen Otto Park behind Jack's Snack & Tackle in Troudale, Oregon.