Elk River

The Elk is a small, clear river that runs out of the Grassy Knob Wilderness to the sea near Cape Blanco, just north of Port Orford. It has one main drift: from the Elk River Hatchery, about seven and a half miles up Elk River Road, down about eight miles to the ODFW access at Iron Head near Highway 101. It is drift boats only, with no motors, and full of holes. Bank anglers fish the water near the hatchery and along the road.

Fall Chinook are the big draw. They come in from November into mid or late December, average 15 to 20 pounds, and run past 30. They need rain to move in. Winter steelhead follow from December through March. Unusually for Oregon, wild steelhead may be kept here, one a day and three a season.

The Elk is slow to blow out and quick to clear, so it often fishes the day after a storm, when bigger rivers are still muddy. Read the flows at the gauge near Sixes. As a rough guide, set from the gauge's seasons, it fishes from about 300 to 1,500 CFS, and past about 3,000 it is high. In a dry fall it can sit near 50 CFS until the first big rain.