The Wilson River is one of Oregon's most popular rivers for fishing. It sports great runs of chinook salmon (both spring and fall run salmon), chum salmon and some coho salmon. The coho and chum salmon are currently only open to catch and release fishing but the spring and fall run chinook salmon are present in high enough numbers to support consumptive fishing.

The Wilson River parallels Oregon's Highway 6 from the top of the Oregon Coast Range to the city of Tillamook where the Wilson enters Tillamook Bay. All along the river is great bank access for Wilson River fishing and watching salmon spawn during their migration periods. Peak times for salmon are April – June for spring run chinook and October – December for fall run chinook, chum and coho.

For the famed run of winter steelhead, December - January for the hatchery run fish which are catch and keep and January - April for some broodstock steelhead (catch and keep) but mostly wild fish ranging upwards of 20 pounds!

Other area rivers: Trask River, Kilchis River, Tillamook River and Tillamook Bay.