BEND, Ore. (AP) — Those anglers who have yet to catch their first steelhead of this season — or even the first steelhead of their lives — should not give up hope just yet.

Based on the numbers of steelhead that have passed over The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River this year, fishermen should have a far better chance to land one of the revered oceangoing rainbow trout in the Lower Deschutes.

As of Tuesday, 506,822 steelhead had been counted going over The Dalles Dam this year, the highest annual number since the dam was completed in 1957, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' fish passage reports — and there are still some 70 days left in 2009.

Typically, steelhead fishing winds down after Thanksgiving. But this fall and winter, excellent fishing could extend all the way through January 2010, according to Rod French, fisheries biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in The Dalles.

"Fishing remains really good in the Deschutes," French said this week.

"I expect it to remain good up into January. Steelhead are notoriously tough to catch, but there's been a lot of people who caught their first ever this year."

Steelhead returning to the Deschutes River from the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia must make their way over Bonneville Dam and then over The Dalles Dam before they can turn south into the Deschutes.

The numbers of steelhead over The Dalles Dam this year are staggering, French said, especially considering that the predicted run over Bonneville Dam was about 350,000 steelhead.

French monitors creel data on the Lower Deschutes below Sherars Falls, near Maupin, and he noted that the catch rate has been high. But he added that he has also received reports that fishing has been excellent as far upstream as Warm Springs.

"Fishing can be really good upstream of Warm Springs all the way to (Pelton) Dam," French said. "The fish are dispersed throughout the river. There's good numbers from Warm Springs all the way to the mouth."

French observed that fall is a great time to fish for steelhead on the Lower Deschutes, where crowds have generally thinned out as outdoorsmen move on to hunting and other activities. But this fall could be different, because the word is out that 2009 could bring the best steelhead run in years.

French said that more two-salt fish — steelhead that have spent two years in the ocean — enter the Deschutes at this time of year. Because those fish have had more time to feed in the ocean, they can be quite large.

"This is the time of year to catch those," French said. "The biggest fish of the year are getting caught in the fall."

A reduction in direct sunlight is also a benefit to anglers during the fall. Steelhead become wary during periods of high sun in the summer, so steelhead anglers typically fish early in the morning or in the evening. But fishing can be better for longer periods of daylight during the fall.

"There's a lot more shadows on the river because the angle of the sun has changed," French explained. "Sometimes, the fishing can be good all day."

The Lower Deschutes has cleared since glacial melt from the White River — which flows off Mount Hood and into the Deschutes near Sherars Falls — muddied the river in late summer and made fishing difficult.

"We don't have a lot of glacial melt anymore (this fall)," French said. "The only thing that can (change that) is warm rain, which will become rarer and rarer as we go. Right now, it's excellent: real low water, not very turbid, and clear all the way downstream."

Steelhead will become less active as the weather becomes cooler, French said, and they will not travel as far for a fly or a lure. French said anglers are advised to fish the water a little more thoroughly, rather than moving quickly from spot to spot.

As anglers have heard about the record numbers of steelhead, they have flocked to the Lower Deschutes in numbers large enough to lead to some reported conflicts among anglers and guides.

"I've heard a few more complaints than I've heard in the past," French said. "All anglers should have good angling etiquette: not coming in on runs where people are clearly fishing ... within a few hundred yards would be considered unethical.

"If anglers just talk and communicate, that seems to go a long way. Setting up upstream of others is generally the rule of thumb, or well downstream. When it's crowded, you have to share the run."

That might be the price for perhaps the best steelhead fishing on the Lower Deschutes in some 50 years.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.