phillk6751

I'm curious where people fly fish near Portland area. A few years ago I went down to McKenzie to fly fish but it is too far of a drive for me to go fishing as often as I like. I would prefer something fairly clean (I.E. not the Tualatin or Willy) and somewhere I can wade in as opposed to boat/shore. I know the McKenzie is the closest river for keeping trout, but this year I've got tags and might muster up the $$$ for a salmon fly rod and gear. But I'd still like a good spot for trout even if it is C&R only.

Hanapaa

While fishing the clack, I would always see fly-fisherman wading out and hitting the riffles and center chutes that bankers couldn't reach. They seemed to do pretty well compare to bankers, too. The two main areas would be McIver Park and Barton Park.

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~Geoff~
The seemingly eternal student

phillk6751

I do live not 15 minutes away from Feyrer park in Molalla here. But from what I've seen I didn't think the Molalla River this far upstream really has much, but I may hit it up and try for trout to see if it's worth trying for salmon. There's supposedly a "wading beach" in Feyrer park.

http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/ncprd/...ges/feyrer.gif

Hanapaa

Been to Feyrer park a few times, but never to fish. I do know that farther down the Molalla holds fish. One spot is just north of Arrowhead Golf Club on the east side of Hwy 213. There is a big gravel parking lot and a clear walking path to the rocky bank. Lots of people fish the bend that can be seen from 213. There is more spot farther up from there. I know that some people drift/float from Hwy 211 down to Hwy 213. Never done that, but I am sure that there are some good spots that are not accessible except by traveling down the river. Good luck...let us know.

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~Geoff~
The seemingly eternal student

chris61182

If you're interested in C&R all of the coastal rivers are really clean and have nice low flows in the summer months making them quite wade-able. I guess the only down side is that it's still a couple more months until they even open up for C&R trout.

phillk6751

My main reason for river fishing is mostly because the only ponds/lakes I've seen with trout in them (i.e Hagg and St.Louis ponds) are just not my cup of soup for fly fishing due to the sharp looking dropoffs at Hagg(which make it difficult to wade, unless someone knows a good wading area to catch trout) or where you're not allowed by law to wade in the water. If there's a pond/lake that's fairly close (2 hr max drive) where I can wade, that's my ultimate goal. Since as of now we still have a little over a month until trout season opens on the McKenzie, Santiam, Drift Cr., and Silver Cr., and 2 months for Clackamas & Molalla rivers. I guess I'm really edgy to start early, lol.

willfishforfood

If you head east, the rivers flowing down the west side of Mt. Hood should provide good fly fishing. The Sandy is a good choice or if you're up for a longer drive try the Zigzag or Salmon river.

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Catching fish or just fishing?

phillk6751

I checked out zigzag and salmon rivers on google maps. I'm not too sure what to look for or where to find info on where to go exactly when a place is so far away. I'm so afraid that I'll go down to a place like that and not find a spot to pull off and fish, let alone a spot worth trying(I.E. Wadable for example). Are there better resources for places out in the middle of nowhere where there's no actual "park", or zoomable(non-pixelized) maps to scope out spots?

nointrntrprts

have you ever fished from a float-tube? when i was learning to fly fish a few years ago (little over ten years) i found that i was pretty limited fishing from the bank. i learned in central oregon and wanted to hit more than the crooked, fall river, and upper d. found that once i got a float-tube i could hit way more water.
if you must hit just creeks and rivers, from your area you have eagle creek - the mo has some fish in it as well.
if your interested in a float-tube set up, drop me a line and i'll part with one of mine.

Oncorhynchus

The trask,wilson,and nehailum have good numbers of big coastal cuts and the wilson and trask get summer steel as well.

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