Siletz River Fishing

Fishing along the Oregon Coast allows for some of the best salmon and steelhead fishing in the world. Many of Oregon's coastal rivers and tributaries hold amazing treasures for fishermen to sink their hooks into.
One favorite of mine is the Siletz River, located northeast of Newport, along Siletz Highway 229. There are many great riffs and holes along the highway to catch both salmon and steelhead. Many drift boat fishermen take advantage of this river's curving nature.

In the town of Siletz, where one can buy sandshrimp and eggs at local markets, there are two boat ramps–one to put in, and one to take out. This convenient feature in Siletz is just awesome. Imagine putting your drifty in at the wee hours of the morning, and after fishing nearly 3 miles of the best steelhead fishing you'll ever encounter, you simply pull your boat out only throwing distance from where you put in at. That's right, you just spent half or all day fishing 2.7 miles on the Siletz, and now with no need for a shuttle, you drive a Red Man chew spit over to get your boat. You just did a huge loop around the town. What the hay, go make another drift if you released too many fish the first time.
Fishing techniques for the Siletz River include slide bobber (with salmon/steelhead eggs, sandshrimp or marabou jig), pencil lead drifting (eggs, sandshrimp), spinners (blue fox number 4), and Hot Shot lures. If you're the guy behind the oars, don't let that stop you from fishing while under way. My salty old man taught me this one: just simply throw a Hot Shot lure out the stern of the boat (about 12 to 15 feet), set your clicker and row away (doing a lot of back rowing) until something hits. I've caught more fish using this technique while piloting the drifty than any other!