River levels best for fishing are at or below 3,000 cfs, and the river is currently running at around 1,640 cfs at the gage in Mehama. Fishing for spring chinook is now closed. The summer steelhead run is also complete for the most part, although fishing continues into October. About 4,900 summer steelhead have passed above Willamette Falls as of Sept 10. A bobber and jig set-up or drifting a cluster of salmon eggs is the usual technique, but flies and spinning lures will work as well, depending on flow conditions. Over 1,200 coho salmon have migrated above Willamette Falls so far and they will begin to migrate into the Santiam basin over the next few weeks. These numbers will almost certainly increase sharply over the next few weeks, especially once the rains begin.

There are several large, downed trees in the river creating some dangerous hazards for boaters in the lower river. For more information check out the Oregon State Marine Board website.

Fishing for steelhead is open year-round, but the use of bait is not allowed between Nov. 1 and April 21.