Freestone · Glacial · Oregon, US

Sandy River

Wild and Scenic Sandy River

The Sandy is Portland's home steelhead river — close enough to fish before work, glacial off the flanks of Mount Hood, and free-flowing again since Marmot Dam came out in 2007.

Tomorrow · About as good as it gets
Sculpin Streamer
Forecast · Tomorrow
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% projected
Today's fly
Sculpin Streamer
Sculpin Streamer
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Steady
2.30 m
Water temp10.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather10°C
WindN 11 km/h
Pressure1022 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Steelhead
Ideal
10°C est.ideal 4–13°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Steelhead
When
Winter steelhead Dec–Apr on the drop; summer fish through summer into autumn.
Where
The Sandy is Portland's home steelhead river — close enough to fish before work, glacial off the flanks of Mount Hood, and free-flowing again since Marmot Dam…
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Chironomids
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 9pm

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 59%
Also:Black Midge33%
Peak emergence window4 food groups active

Peak activity at 9pm — Brown Dun (Brown Dun, 3 food groups active)

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Green DrakeHatch
2
2
Flav (Small Western Green Drake)Hatch
2
3
2
Mahogany DunHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Steelhead fly box
MT
Marabou Tube
8–10 · Salmon fly
Swing it through the holding lie at a steady pace.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Retain hatchery steelhead, release wild (ESA-listed Lower Columbia DPS)
  • Run-, reach- and season-specific rules — verify ODFW Northwest Zone.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 1
Clackamas River
18 km
82
Steelhead · Chinook salmon · Coho salmon
Gallery · 2
  1. Wild and Scenic Sandy River
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Sandy is Portland's home steelhead river — close enough to fish before work, glacial off the flanks of Mount Hood, and free-flowing again since Marmot Dam came out in 2007. It carries both winter and summer steelhead in a hatchery-and-wild mix, with salmon through the season, and it's where a lot of city anglers serve their swung-fly apprenticeship. Being glacier-fed it has a temperament: it bumps up fast on rain and can run milky-gray in summer when the high snow melts, so the read here is always the hydrograph plus the color — the prize is the falling water as it clears back to a fishable green. Keep the hatchery-versus-wild distinction clear, because the wild fish are ESA-listed and belong back in the water, and check the rules, which shift by run and reach. For a river inside a metro area it fishes with surprising wildness.

  • Glacial
Conservation note

Lower Columbia River steelhead (the Sandy's fish) are ESA-listed threatened. There is a legal fishery on hatchery fish — retain fin-clipped fish, release wild steelhead in the water. We read whether the river is in shape and whether the run is in; we never score wild fish as a harvest target. Chinook and coho present, hatchery/wild mix; targeting rules vary.

Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Impaired
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Sandy River' (OR_SR_1708000107_02_103616), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Not Supporting. Listed impairment causes: Temperature, pH Acidity Caustic Conditions, Metals Other Than Mercury. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · OR_SR_1708000107_02_103616

Why this score · for Steelhead
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time8013% weight
  • Pressure757% weight
  • Insect activity6212% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts