Astoria, OR Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Astoria, OR fishing report

The Columbia River mouth near Astoria offers year-round action, but the targets shift with the seasons. Spring brings the first push of Chinook salmon moving upriver, drawing serious attention from trollers working the shipping channel edges. Summer sees another strong Chinook run, often mixing with jack fish and early fall coho. Winter and early spring are prime time for white sturgeon, which stack in the deeper holes and channel bends throughout the estuary. Steelhead pass through during winter months, often mixed with other species, and can surprise anglers targeting salmon near the river's tidal influence.

Fish hold along the edges of the main shipping channel, around the sand bars near the river mouth, and in deeper scour holes where currents slow. For Chinook, troll herring or anchovies at depth using a flasher-and-bait rig, or run cut-plug setups behind a diver. Sturgeon respond well to smelt, sand shrimp, and cured salmon roe fished on the bottom during slack tide, when bait sits naturally without drifting off structure. Watch the tide closely here — the Columbia mouth has powerful tidal swings, and incoming tides push baitfish and salmon up toward the estuary while outgoing flows concentrate fish in predictable current seams. Water temperatures in the low to mid fifties generally signal the most active salmon and steelhead bite.