The Nehalem fall Chinook fishing has slowed a little recently but there are still some Chinook being caught. The majority of harvest has been from Nehalem to the confluence with the North Fork. There should be some fish pushing into the lower River at this point as well.

The Nehalem gets a return of hatchery coho salmon that are in the bay and starting to return to the North Fork Nehalem as well. Oct. 23 was the last day of wild coho retention on the North Coast and NO retention of wild coho is allowed in the Nehalem for the remainder of the year.

Trolling with flashers and spinners seems to be the go-to technique for this fishery in the bay, but trolling herring is always a good option for Chinook as well. In upper tidewater bobber fishing bait can be effective. The bag limit for wild adult Chinook is 1/day and 5 for the season from July 1 to Nov. 30. See the regulation updates for more details.

There are cutthroat trout throughout the Nehalem basin. Most of the sea-run cutthroat are up in the rivers and tributaries by this time of year.