Winter Steelhead Season has come to a close on most of our smaller coastal streams in Oregon. All in all, it was a very good season up and down the coast. There were stellar days on many systems and folks in Lane County had some fantastic days on the Siuslaw and Lake Creek. We now look forward to the arrival of our summer steelhead that are already entering the Willamette System bound for the mighty McKenzie, the Middle Fork Willamette, and the Santiam Rivers. Chrome-bright summer steelhead have already been caught in the South Santiam! We can only hope that the 2009 summer steelhead fishery rivals that of last year's. Spring Chinook are just starting to move over Willamette Falls. The upriver Springer Season in the Willamette tributaries remains a bit of a question as we wait for final rulings regarding harvest quotas based on projected numbers. For now it's a 'Wait & See' situation. Meanwhile, Spring Chinook fishing on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam had some fast and furious action this past week as a run of 300,000 is projected. Last season proved to be a memorable one for Columbia River Springer fishermen. Spring Chinook & Summer Steelhead fishing here on the McKenzie River tends to begin to heat up around mid to late May and the same fish tend to show in fishable numbers by the first week of May on the South Santiam and Middle Fork Willamette. All of these rivers can be enjoyed via reasonably short drives from the Eugene area. The Willamette actually flows right through Eugene itself and, in recent years, has establised a bit of a reputation for having an excellent urban fishery for summer steelhead. These fish are taken on a variety of gear, and if water conditions permit, respond very favorably to a well-placed wet fly or nymph.