Umpqua River Fishing Report Updated 04/14/24
(Bottom Of Page)
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone/tailwater
Species
Steelhead (Wild and Hatchery)
Chinook Salmon
Cutthroat – Sea Run
Sturgeon
Striped Bass
Shad
Size
Ranges from Small, to Medium, to
Large depending on the section
Location
Southwest Oregon
Nearest Towns
Roseburg
Scotsburg
Elkton
Umpqua
Season
Varies by species and branch. See
current regulations.
Access:
Ranges from tough to very good
depending on the section of the river
Non-Resident License
State of Oregon
Weather
National Weather Service
USGS Stream Flow Data:
Check the USGS station found under
the Umpqua River section near the
bottom of this linked page for your
chosen location.
Season:
The season varies by species and by section – North, South and Main Stem. Check current regulations
Spring:
Early Spring fishing for steelhead can be very good. The steelhead season peaks in March.
Summer:
Summertime provides the least opportunities for Umpqua River steelhead. Summer steelhead start entering the Umpqua River in mid-June.
Fall:
Fall is the best time for summer run steelhead.
Winter:
Wintertime is the best time to catch large Umpqua River steelhead.
Mainstem Umpqua:
USGS Real-time stream flow data:
at Elkton
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
For Steelhead and Salmon
Fly Line:
7, 8 , 9 or 10 weight for appropriate typerod, sinking, sinking tip and floating
Leaders:
10#, 12# in 9 to 15 feet lengths
Tippets:
10# and 12#
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly 7, 8, 9 and 10 ft. single hand rods
Fly Reels:
For 7 to 10 weight lines
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
KISS Strike Indicators, Lanyards, etc.
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing On The Umpqua River In Oregon (Main Stem)
The North Umpqua River and the South Umpqua River both rise in the Southern Oregon Cascades. Each one flows for over a hundred miles before joining together to form the Main Stem of the Umpqua River.
The Main Stem of the Umpqua River, also called the Lower Section of the Umpqua, flows for 111 miles in a northwest direction through the Oregon Coast Range and empties into the Pacific Ocean at Winchester Bay. Fly fishing the Umpqua River can be very diverse and the opportunities depends on the section of the river you are fishing.
The North Umpqua River begins at Maidu Lake in the Mt. Thelsen Wilderness and flows through the Umpqua National Forest. Steamboat Creek and Little River join in on the flow along with several other smaller tributaries on its way to meet the South Umpqua River. Fly fishing the North Umpqua River is considered the ultimate challenge by many anglers.
The North Umpqua River is known for its salmon and steelhead fishing World-wide. The river also has sea-run cutthroat. Summer steelhead season generally runs from June to November. The winter steelhead season and the sea-run cutthroat season extends from February to April.
The North Umpqua River is one of only a few rivers where it’s possible to catch steelhead on a dry fly. The summer run steelhead provide anglers that opportunity. Fly fishing the Umpqua River using a dry fly has to be the ultimate undertaking for steelhead.
The South Umpqua River starts near the Rouge-Umpqua Divide and flows for 115 miles to meet the North Umpqua at Roseburg. It’s warmer than the North Umpqua and has less flow, especially during the summer months.
Fly fishing the South Umpqua River for steelhead, striped bass and smallmouth bass is all very popular. Its major tributary is Cow Creek. Te river has a good run of Chinook Salmon but it’s illegal to catch them. The South Umpqua Steelhead season is from December though the first part of March.
Fly fishing the Main Stem of the Umpqua River offers a very diverse fishing opportunity. It has both a winter and summer steelhead run and both a spring and fall salmon run
Flies:
We have a complete line of flies for steelhead and salmon. We have selected them as the most popular flies from thousands of patterns that have been developed over the years. We have some of our own Perfect Fly steelhead and salmon patterns. They imitate the hexigenia mayfly nymph, certain caddisfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs and fish roe or eggs that are found in the river throughout the year. We also have a full line of popular wet flies, egg flies, Spey flies that are very popular.
We also have a complete line of trout flies for the sea-run cutthroat trout.
Umpqua River Fishing Report:
03/16/2020 Steelhead are still being
caught.. Chinook are in the river and will be
getting good by the end of this month.
05/01/20 Fish the north Umpqua. Steelhead
and salmon fishing is done in the main
Umpqua.
05/16/20 The North Umpqua is good for
trout at this time. Smallmouth can be
caught in the lower river.
06/13/20 Smallmouth bass fishing is about
it for now. For trout, fish the NF Umpqua.
06/26/20 We are getting good reports from
customers fishing for smallmouth bass.
Thee are using our crayfish patterns and
our new line of popping bugs.
07/08/20 Smallmouth bass fishing is red hot.
07/21/20 Summer steelhead are being
caught in good numers. Smallmouth bass
fishing is still good.
08/04/20 Smallmouth bass are being
caught by our customers in good numbers.
Our crayfish patterns and popping bugs
are working.
08/20/20 Smallmouth bass fishing has
been very good the past couple of weeks
and it should continue this coming week.
09/12/20 Excellent smallmouth bass
reports are coming in regularily from our
customers.
10/03/20 The smallmouth bass are still
very active and being caught. Salmon
should start moving in any day now.
10/21/20 There are chinook and coho in
the river and being caught by our
customers. Smallmouth bass fishing is still
good.
11/10/20 There are still some chinook
and coho salmon in the river.
Smallmouth bass fishing is still okay.
11/26/20 A few chinook are being caught.
12/13/20 There are some steelhead
being caught in the lower river according
to our customers.
01/10/21 Stream levels are a little high
right now but steelhead are in the river
and being caught when levels are okay.
03/18/21 There are steelhead being
caught in decent numbers. Our
steelhead streamers, nymphs and egg
patterns are working.
04/19/21 The steelhead fishing is about done. Try the Spring Chinook. Send us an email and we will help you plan the next trip.
05/02/21 Spring Chinook and Smallmouth bass fishing is about it for this time of the season. We didn’t receive any reports the past few days.
05/11/21 Smallmouth bass fishing is good. Don’t forget, we have some of our own Perfect Fly smallmouth patterns that really work great here. Call us or send us an email for a recommended fly list.
05/20/21 The smallmouth fishing is red hot. Chinook fishing is still very slow.
05/28/21 The river is low and warm. Smallmouth bass fishing is very good. We have lots of Perfect Fly smallmouth bass fly patterns. Check them out.
06/06/21 More good reports on smallmouth bass fishing came in.
06/17/21 Smallmouth bass fishing continues to be very good. Check out our smallmouth bass flies: https://perfectflystore.com/product-category/flies/standard-generic-other-freshwater-flies/bass-bugs-and-flies-frogs/
07/02/21 We are getting lots of good reports on the smallmouth bass fishing. Our Popping bugs and crayfish patterns are working good.
07/12/21 The river is still turning out some good smallmouth bass catches for our customers. Our popping bugs and crayfish patterns continue to produce.
07/20/21 Smallmouth bass are still the only game due to low, warm water. You should be able to catch plenty of them.
07/28/21 Smallmouth are still being caught in good numbers. Stream levels are still low and warm.
08/05/21 We continue to get a few good reports from customers fishing for smallmouth bass. The water is still very warm.
08/23/21 We continue to get good smallmouth bass reports from customers. Check out these flies. https://perfectflystore.com/product-category/flies/standard-generic-other-freshwater-flies/bass-bugs-and-flies-frogs/
08/31/21 The stream is turning out some good smallmouth catches for our customers. Some Chinook are being caught near the mouth.
09/10/21 Smallmouth bass fishing continues to be good.
09/18/21 The smallmouth fishing continues to be good. They are being caught by one of our customers on our crayfish patterns as well as popping bugs. Click the link two reports above to see them.
09/27/21 Still getting good smallmouth bass reports from customers.
10/10/21 There are a few Chinook being caught. Smallmouth bass fishing is still good. We received one good report on trout from a customer.
10/20/21 Smallmouth bass continue to be the main attraction. Our crayfish patterns are working good. There are Chinook in the river as well.
10/31/21 Smallmouth bass are still being caught in good numbers by our customers. A few Chinook have also been reported recently.
11/07/21 Smallmouth bass fishing is still good in spite state reports. Chinook fishing is over for all practical purposes.
11/15/21 We received one good report from a customer fishing for smallmouth. Our smallmouth bass crayfish fly patterns are working good.
11/23/21 More good smallmouth reports come in. Few are fishing but the “catching” is good.
12/01/21 We didn’t get any reports this past week but conditions remain about the same as last week and you should be able to catch some smallmouth. Our crayfish patterns work good in the cooler water.
12/10/21 We had one report from an angler who just caught one smallmouth. We had another report from an angler who caught six. Fish deeper and use our crayfish fly patterns and you should do good.
12/18/21 Two more good reports came in from customers fishing for smallmouth.
12/26/21 We received one good report from a customer catching steelhead this past week. This should get better as the days go by but okay now.
01/03/22 The stream is in okay conditions and steelhead are being caught in decent number. We received two good reports this past week.
01/11/22 The stream is still in okay shape with more fish in the river. We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week. Let us hear from you.
01/19/22 There should be plenty steelhead in the river but I guess our customers are all fishing the North Umpqua which is good right now.
01/27/22 There are lots of steelhead being caught. We received two good reports from customers. Swinging our streamers and our steelhead nymphs are both catching good numbers.
02/04/22 Three more good reports came in from customers fishing for steelhead. Conditions are good.
02/12/22 The stream is flowing a little low and the action has seemed to slow some but we still received one good report from customer fishing for steelhead.
02/20/22 The river is still low but still turning out a few steelhead for the few anglers that are fishing it. Fish the deeper areas with our steelhead nymphs for the best results.
02/28/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week but conditions are okay and you should be able to catch steelhead.
03/08/22 Two good reports came in from customers catching steelhead. Chinook Salmon are also starting to come into the river.
03/24/22 Winter steelhead are in the river and being caught in decent numbers. Swinging and nymphing methods are both working.
04/01/22 They are still some winter fish being caught but many anglers moved to the North Umpqua.
04/09/22 We didn’t receive any reports. There may be some more winter steelhead coming into the river.
04/18/22 There are still steelhead in the river but for all practical purposes, it is over. Spring Chinook are coming into the river in good numbers and being caught.
04/26/22 Get ready for Spring Chinook and Summer steelhead. The winter run is done.
05/04/22 Spring Chinook are being caught and Summer steelhead are starting to come in good.
05/20/22 A few Chinook and a very few summer steelhead are being caught. Stream conditions are good at this time.
05/28/22 A few summer steelhead are still coming though to the North Umpqua. A few Chinook were caught this past week.
05/11/22 The stream is very high due to recent runoff and rain. Give it some time to drop and clear.
06/18/22 No reports came in this past week due to high water levels but it is down now to just a little above normal level, so let us hear from you.
06/25/22 The stream is still well above normal. We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing it. Most anglers are fishing the North Umpqua.
07/02/22 The stream is down a lot but still above normal level. You might catch some Summer runs or Chinook but would be better off fishing the North Umpqua.
07/09/22 A few summer run hatchery steelhead are being caught. Stream levels are still above normal levels.
07/23/22 We are getting good reports from customers catching summer steelhead. There are a lot of insects hatching.
07/30/22 No summer runs or trout reports came in this past week. Smallmouth bass fishing is good but the trout and summer runs are basically done.
08/06/22 Good reports are coming in on smallmouth bass. Our popping bugs and crayfish patterns are working good.
08/13/22 There are a few Chinook being caught along with good numbers of smallmouth bass.
09/04/22 Smallmouth bass fishing is still very good. Our popping bugs and crayfish patterns are working good.
09/11/22 More good smallmouth bass reports came in this past week.
09/18/22 A few Chinook at the mouth and good numbers of smallmouth bass are being caught.
10/08/22 Chinook and smallmouth bass are still being caught in okay numbers.
10/27/22 The river is still
11/17/22 We are still getting some reports of Chinook.
01/02/23 Stream levels are above normal, but some fish are being caught.
02/08/23 There are good numbers of steelhead being caught. We received two good reports from customers. Swinging our streamers and our steelhead nymphs are both catching good numbers.
02/23/23 The upper section of the river is turning out a few winter steelhead.
03/14/23 We received a few reports of winter steelhead being caught this past week but it seems to be slow.
03/26/23 Steelhead are still available but we didn’t get any catch reports this past week. Let us hear from you.
04/07/23 Winter Steelhead fishing is over for all practical purposes.
04/21/22 Spring Chinook are being caught in decent numbers.
04/28/23 A few Spring Chinnok are being caught. There are still some steelhead in the river but for all practical purposes, it is over.
05/14/23 Spring Chinnok are still being caught but the numbers are low. Water levels are on the way up.
05/25/23 Give it some more time.
06/07/23 Some Chinnok are still in the stream.
06/15/23 The stream is turning out a few Chinook.
06/24/23 Conditions are affected by an algae bloom. Suggest you hold up until the water gets into better shape.
07/02/23 The conditions are poor due to the algae bloom. Give it some time to clear.
07/12/23 Some improvement in the bloom and reports of a few Chinook being caught.
07/20/23 More good reports of summer steelhead being caught.
07/31/23 The stream is still turning out some good catches of summer steelhead and a few Spring chinook.
08/05/23 The stream is still producing some catches of Spring chinook and a few summer steelhead.
08/21/23 Good conditions exist. Summer runs and Spring Chinook are running.
08/28/23 More good reports on summer steelhead and Chinook have come in.
09/12/23 We are getting reports of some Chinook being caught.
09/05/23 The stream is still turning out some catches of summer run steelhead and Chinook but it is slowing down some.
09/19/23 The river is in good shape with lots of Chinook. Coho are starting to come in as well.
10/03/23 The stream is still below normal level but has a good population of both Chinook and Coho.
09/26/23 Coho and Chinook are being caught in good numbers.
10/12/23 Rain has raised the stream level and should bring more fish into the river. We have been getting good Coho and Chinook reports.
10/27/23 A few Chinook salmon are being caught.
11/10/23 Chinook are being caught in good numbers.
11/17/23 More good Chinook reports. It is a thrill on a fly rod.
11/27/23 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone this past week. There’s still some Chinook in the river.
12/09/23 The heavy rain that recently fell should be bringing a lot of steelhead into the river. Fish it as soon as the stream levels are okay.
12/26/23 The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear. We are getting good steelhead catch reports from customers.
01/10/24 Steelhead have been caught in okay numbers but the river is on the way up as we report this. It should be good again when it drops and clears.
01/23/24 Stream levels are high and the water highly stained. There are good numbers of steelhead in the river and it should be very good as soon as the water drops and clears some.
02/19/24 The river has plenty steelhead in it but is currently a little muddy from the heavy rain. It should be good again when it clears up.
02/26/24 Conditions are still poor. Give it some more time to drop and clear.
03/08/24 The river has lots of steelhead in it. Our steelhead nymphs work good in the cold water. When it warms up some, swinging our steelhead streamers should pick back up.
03/14/24 We are still getting some good catch reports of steelhead.
03/21/24 The stream has been high most of the past week but falling back down fast and almost in good shape. You should be able to catch steelhead.
03/28/24 The stream is still high and stained. Steelhead are spread throughout the river. Wait until it drops and clears some.
04/04/24 The stream is still flowing above a normal level with steelhead in all sections of it. We didn’t get any catch reports from the past week but you should be able to catch steelhead.
04/14/24 We received on catch report on steelhead. It is about over for the steelhead. Spring Chinook are in the river.
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies: