Too hard of a call Aunty, with all this bankfull water. I don't like to talk about even semi-zippers, but the Necanicum near Seaside on the north Oregon coast is one of the very fastest dropping clearing smaller rivers, with a decent run of steelhead. The prob with it is that the bank access has been choked off by an increased glut of No Tresspassing signs in recent years. And for the limited driftboat run, floods have put new fallen trees to portage around. Difficult but do-able (a sunk driftboat near a logjam is a stark warning of the 'adventure that awaits). I ran it with Kevin before X-mas and we got into multiple fish, with very few boats to compete with. Not far away is the non-zipper crowded NF Nehalem, which also drops and clears very fast. It does get great runs of fish, especially for a smaller river - due to good hatchery returns and re-cycled steelhead. But it gets too crowded for me! If you look around, there are many small quick clearing streams with steelhead in very NW Oregon. Similar to very SW Washington. ...

As for the Siltez, it will be a good while before that big coastal river is ready. A good smallish medium river that clears fast and gets good runs is the Kilchis River just north of Tillamook. Best fished from a driftboat, it still has some decent bank angling. Don't overlook the very upper areas of the medium sized rivers such as the Wilson or Nestucca. A hot spot during the slow drop from high water is to fish the clearer water of smallish Three Rivers (name of the Nestucca trib with a steelhead hatchery on it) or the clear water line it puts out over stacked up or fresh moving fish just out into the Nestucca that will enter that small but fish filled little stream (good parking and bank access - expect crowds). Lots more, including the real zippers - so e-mail me before you come down this way for some suggestions Marsha.

Steve

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: RT ]

[ 01-12-2002: Message edited by: Bob ]