Troutline

Clackamas River

Oregon·Mount Hood·45.35° N, 122.40° W
Flow
753 CFS
Clackamas River at Estacada
Water Temp
66°F
Clackamas River at Estacada
Condition
Well Below Normal
Weather
57°F
Partly Sunny
near Damascus

Insights

Wind
Wind 1 mph — calm
Easy casting and clean surface presentations.
Flow
Low flows at 753 CFS
Fish are spooky. Lighten tippet and lengthen leaders.
Water Temp
Water 66°F — warm
Fish low-oxygen areas only. Land fish quickly and keep them wet.

The Clackamas is Portland's home river, and it lives a double life. It falls 83 miles out of the Mount Hood National Forest, pools behind three PGE dams above Estacada, and then runs the last 20-odd miles through the suburbs to meet the Willamette at Oregon City. That split is the whole story. Above North Fork Reservoir it's a clear, boulder-strewn mountain freestone full of wild cutthroat, rainbows, and mountain whitefish, where the rule is fly-angling and catch-and-release only. Below River Mill Dam it's an anadromous river — one of the closest genuine winter and summer steelhead and spring Chinook fisheries to a major West Coast city. Roughly half its length carries a National Wild and Scenic designation, which is unusual for a river you can reach from downtown in under an hour.

For the swing-and-drift crowd, the lower river is the draw. Winter steelhead show from mid-December, the wild fish push through late January into May, and a smaller summer run overlaps March into June; spring Chinook arrive in April and coho light up a fall fishery from September. The lower river fishes best from a boat — the classic runs are the drift-boat and jet-sled floats between Milo McIver, Feldheimer, Barton, Carver, and Riverside, with Barton-to-Carver the most popular and most crowded stretch. The Estacada gauge is the number everyone watches: locals like the river between about 10 and 13 feet of stage, and it blows out and browns up fast after Cascade rain. Up top, the trout water around Three Lynx and Big Bottom is genuinely good, wadeable pocket water that sees a fraction of the pressure.

The trade-offs are honest. The lower river is busy — jet boats run up from Carver, bank anglers stack on the popular runs, and it fishes as much a put-and-take hatchery fishery as a fly one. Clarity is weather-dependent; a warm winter storm can take it out for days. And this is a river with a real conservation history — wild winter steelhead and spring Chinook here are ESA-listed, PGE's relicensed dams now pass fish, and the fly-only C&R rule above the reservoir exists for a reason. Come for the convenience and the shot at a metro-area steelhead; don't expect solitude on the lower runs.

Species

  • Steelhead (winter run)
    Primary · Dec-May · 6-12 lb

    The signature fishery on the lower river. Hatchery fish show from mid-December; wild winter steelhead peak February through April and are ESA-listed. Hatchery (adipose-clipped) steelhead are open all year; wild-steelhead retention is allowed only July 1–August 31, otherwise release. Swung flies and side-drifting from a boat.

  • Steelhead (summer-run)
    Common · Mar-Jun · 4-9 lb

    A hatchery-supported summer run that overlaps the tail of the winter fish. Smaller wets and skated dries in lower, clearer flows.

  • Chinook Salmon (spring run)
    Common · Apr-Jul · 10-25 lb

    Springers arrive as early as April and peak May–June. Only adipose-clipped hatchery fish may be retained; wild spring Chinook are ESA-listed. A big-water fishery on the lower river.

  • Coho Salmon
    Common · Sep-Nov · 6-12 lb

    Fall coho (silver) salmon can put on a strong fall fishery from September, a mix of hatchery and wild fish.

  • Chinook Salmon (fall)
    Present · Sep-Oct · 10-20 lb

    A smaller run than the spring Chinook, secondary to coho in the fall.

  • Coastal Cutthroat Trout
    Primary · May-Oct · 8-14"

    The dominant wild trout in the upper river above North Fork Reservoir — clear-water pocket fishing on attractor dries and nymphs. Fly-angling and catch-and-release only up top.

  • Rainbow Trout (wild)
    Common · May-Oct · 8-16"

    Wild rainbows share the upper basin with cutthroat, mainstem and tributaries; some juvenile steelhead are present. Best on summer baseflow in the freestone reach above the reservoirs.

  • Mountain Whitefish
    Present · Year-round · 8-16"

    Common in the upper river; a nymph bycatch that's fun on light tackle and a reliable cold-season target.

Ideal wading flow700–3,000 CFS
Blow-out>6,000 CFS
Ideal water temp48–60°F

Winter and spring (February–May) is prime for steelhead — wild winter fish peak February through April in cold, cleared water. Spring (April–June) adds Chinook; fall (September–October) brings coho on the lower river plus October Caddis on the upper trout reach; summer (June–September) is the upper-river dry-fly trout window on low, clear baseflow. The lower river is watched by stage at the Estacada gauge — locals target roughly 10–13 feet, and below about 12 feet favors drift boats over jet sleds. Warm Cascade rain spikes and browns the river fast; when the Estacada stage climbs well above 13 feet and the water colors, give it a few days. Summer water temps climb into the upper teens Celsius in the lower river, warm enough that summer trout fishing and low-water ethics belong on the cooler upper reaches.

Sections

4 sections on this river

River Mill Dam to Barton (McIver / Feldheimer)

FloatSteelhead · Salmon

The uppermost anadromous water, below the PGE dams — riffles, gravel bars, and steelhead runs. Milo McIver State Park sits just below River Mill Dam with upper and lower ramps; Feldheimer is a drift-boat-only gravel launch. A McIver-to-Barton drift is an easy 3–4 hour float and less crowded because of the longer drive to Estacada.

Best for: Winter and summer steelhead and spring Chinook — swinging, side-drifting, and nymphing runs from a drift boat, with some bank and wade access at the parks.

Barton to Carver

FloatSteelhead · Salmon

The most popular float on the river — classic side-drifting and swing water with gravel bars above Carver, and the most crowded, with jet boats running up from the Carver ramp. Both put-in (Barton Park) and take-out (Carver) are developed county-park ramps.

Best for: The signature Clackamas run for winter and summer steelhead, spring Chinook, and fall coho salmon — side-drifting, swung flies, and plugs. Drift boats favored at lower flows.

Carver to the Mouth (Riverside / Clackamette)

FloatSteelhead · Salmon

The lowest reach — the longest runs on the river and the best side-drifting water, with fewer houses than the reaches above. It ends at the Willamette confluence at Clackamette Park in Oregon City, and two-rod validation is allowed downstream of the Highway 99E bridge.

Best for: Winter and summer steelhead, spring Chinook, and fall coho salmon on long side-drifting runs — the closest steelhead water to Portland proper.

Upper Clackamas — Big Bottom to North Fork Reservoir

WadeCutthroat · Rainbow Trout · Whitefish

Clear mountain freestone through the Mount Hood National Forest — boulder pocket water, riffles, and pools, much of it National Wild and Scenic. Highway 224 parallels the river, with access at Forest Service campgrounds and pullouts around Big Bottom, Riverside, and Three Lynx. This is the wild-trout river: fly-angling and catch-and-release only above North Fork Reservoir.

Best for: Wild coastal cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, and mountain whitefish on attractor dries and stonefly nymphs — low pressure relative to the lower river.

Regulations

Current fishing rules and restrictions

The Clackamas is an anadromous river with an ESA conservation history: wild winter steelhead and spring Chinook are listed, so retention is hatchery-only for most of the year and the upper river above North Fork Reservoir is fly-angling and catch-and-release only. Falls under the 2026 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations, Willamette Zone — verify current rules before fishing, as anadromous seasons change in-season.

  • Oregon angling license required for anglers 12 and up; a Combined Angling Tag is required to fish for or retain salmon, steelhead, or sturgeon.
  • Above North Fork Reservoir the upper Clackamas is fly-angling and catch-and-release only; wild trout are catch-and-release, general trout season open roughly May 22–October 31.
  • Hatchery (adipose-clipped) steelhead and salmon open all year; combined daily limit of 3 hatchery salmon or hatchery steelhead. Wild steelhead may be retained only July 1–August 31, otherwise release.
  • No angling from a floating device between River Mill Dam and the ODFW markers about 100 ft above the Clackamas Hatchery water intake.
  • Two-rod validation permitted downstream of the Highway 99E bridge. Bait is allowed in the lower river.

Wild winter steelhead and spring Chinook are ESA-listed; PGE's relicensed dams now pass fish. Confirm in-season salmon and steelhead rules in the current Willamette Zone booklet before you fish.

Source: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife — Willamette Zone. Regulations change annually — verify before fishing.

Access & Logistics

Getting there, fly shops, and lodging

Getting There

Estacada, OR

30-45 min from downtown Portland to the lower river (Carver/Barton); ~45 min-1 hr to Estacada; ~1.5-2 hr up Hwy 224 to the upper trout water

Camping & Lodging

Milo McIver State Park has camping and boat ramps just below River Mill Dam. Barton, Carver, and Riverside county parks offer day-use and ramps on the lower river; Forest Service campgrounds line Hwy 224 in the upper canyon (Three Lynx, Big Bottom, Riverside). Most anglers day-trip from Portland, Oregon City, or Estacada — there are no fishing lodges on this metro river.

County and state park day-use or launch fees apply at Barton, Carver, and Milo McIver; a NW Forest Pass is needed at some upper-canyon FS sites. PDX airport is ~30-45 min from the lower river.

Conditions data is live from public monitoring networks. Regulations change annually — always verify current rules with your state fish & wildlife agency before fishing.

More in Oregon

View all 24 rivers

Mount Hood

Hood RiverOR

A glacial wild-steelhead river off the north face of Mt Hood, running about 25 miles to the Columbia at the town of Hood River, an hour east of Portland. Winter steelhead are the draw — wild fish (the hatchery program was suspended in 2021) that push up on rain-driven freshets and fish best as a high river drops back to green, November through April. The catch is glacial melt: from July into September the mainstem runs milky and largely unfishable. A wade-and-walk fishery of a short list of runs, with small East Fork cutthroat and a sliver of West Fork summer-steelhead water as the sidebar.

Sandy RiverOR

Portland's home steelhead river — a glacial stream off Mt Hood that runs to the Columbia at Troutdale, 40 minutes from downtown. An anadromous fishery first: wild and hatchery winter steelhead (Jan–Mar), summer steelhead, spring Chinook, and a strong fall coho run, mostly floated and swung. Glacial melt clouds the mainstem June–September, so it fishes best in the cold season; resident trout and whitefish are a distant second and fish better in the clearer tributaries.

Other regions

Ana RiverOR

A seven-mile spring creek in the Summer Lake basin that boils out of the ground at ~58F and fishes twelve months a year — wild redband rainbows rising to dry flies in February when the rest of Oregon is frozen. A small, clear, match-the-hatch stream in the high desert, one of the few Southeast Zone waters where bait is legal.

Chetco RiverOR

A short, steep, undammed rainforest river dropping out of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness to the Pacific at Brookings — winter steelhead and some of the largest fall Chinook on the West Coast, plus an underrated summer sea-run cutthroat game. A gear-and-drift-boat fishery at heart; the fly opportunity is swung flies for steelhead and searching flies for cutthroat, keyed to the falling, clearing limb after rain.

Chewaucan RiverOR

A small high-desert freestone off Gearhart Mountain in Oregon's Outback, holding wild native Great Basin redband trout in a lightly fished ponderosa canyon above Paisley. A nymph-first, wet-wade small-stream fishery with solitude as its calling card.

Crooked RiverOR

A high-desert tailwater below Bowman Dam, loaded with abundant wild redband trout (mostly 8-12 inches) and mountain whitefish. Roadside walk-and-wade access along Highway 27 and year-round midge and BWO fishing on dam-controlled flows.

Deschutes RiverOR

Central Oregon's marquee water — the Lower Deschutes below Warm Springs runs cold and big through a desert canyon full of wild redband trout, a summer steelhead run, and a heavy salmonfly hatch in late May. You float to access but must get out and wade to fish.

Fall RiverOR

A pocket-sized, gin-clear spring creek near La Pine that boils up cold and runs a stable ~100 cfs year-round. Technical, fly-only sight-fishing for wild and stocked rainbows, wild brookies, and big browns below the falls.