New member saying hi, and looking for tips

D
dub
Just stumbled across this site and thought I'd join. I've been an off an on fisherman for a while now, but havent fished much in a few years. Kids are now at that age where they want to learn, and we're about to be very close to the Tualatin River by River Run park in LO. I'll have access to get out on the water via kayak/canoe, so would love to get some tips on what kind of gear I should invest in, where to fish in the river, when, etc. Would love to get my kids interested early.

Thanks all.
 
S
stanster
Congrats on finding us. You're doing a great thing getting the kids interested in the outdoors. Get them away from cell phone and computer!Not sure how old the kids are, but bluegill is a great way to start. I caught my first one at age 11 in boy scout camp and have been a fisherman of one kind or another for 57 years! Now I concentrate mostly on fly fishing. But with kids, keep it simple, keep it fun. Don''t over instruct!!
 
D
dub
Junior high aged. The screens, thankfully, arent an obsession with them...so any chance to get outside and fish, especially if we're catching, and they'll be all over it.
 
B
bubs
Hi dub! I think I may have seen (what I assume was) your post on IFish that was similar the other day, meant to respond there but slipped my mind...

The mid/upper Tualatin is one of my main stomping grounds so my advice may be a bit off for the lower river down there. If I had a boat though I'd fish weightless nightcrawlers (the fish can be oddly spooky in that river..I'd bet lots of money weightless presentation would slay em) and weightless plastics (eg whacky rigged Senko)...guaranteed to pull something out. Watch out though, there are some big carp that can take you for a ride.! If you find some vertical structure you'd be fairly safe in assuming you'd find crappie (I've caught some behemoths in deep water structure there..one well-over-a-pounder just two days ago while fishing spoons for coho!). A simple jig (I do well with black & green) will do the trick.

I've caught suckers, pikeminnow, catfish, yellow perch, bluegill & pumpkinseed, small & largemouth bass, and cutthroats - these are residents where I fish it. Coho this time of year as well travelling through (season open through the 31st), but I would only bother going for them in large holes in low water conditions, as I think they shoot through the river very quickly (esp when it's high) and these are the only spots they feel comfortable enough to bite (my theory)..either way they don't seem to act like coastal salmon. A medium action spinning outfit will get you into all these fish. 4-6 test for smaller fish, and I'd go 8-15 for carp and coho.

Lastly, I don't know anything about the boating, but I vaguely remember hearing there's a check dam or something down in the lower river that is a hazard to boaters...hopefully someone else can chime in about that. I think sapo fishes down there...maybe something to Google before you take a boat out, nice to know where the hazards are if you get drifting down towards the Willamette by accident or otherwise..

Feel free to shoot me other questions!
 
D
dub
Hey bubs...yes, that was me. We're in the process of buying a house that sits on the river. So I'll be fishing from my bank, plus launching kayaks/canoes to explore. Years and years ago I was fly fishing a lot, then working on steelies and salmon. So now I need to figure out what I'm doing, and what I need, to target the warm water fish.
 
S
sapo
Hey dub, I fish the lower stretch of the tualatin quite a bit, and I have also kayaked the lower couple of miles (as well as the middle/upper stretch). I've never been to River Run city park, but it looks like it's on what I call the crappy part of the Tualatin (not that it's bad fishing, just much dirtier and slower). River Run is probably a few miles above the dam which separates the slow part from the fast part of the Tualatin. If I were you, I wouldn't go too far down from that park because the dam, from what I've seen on google maps, doesn't look passable. For above the dam, refer to bubs post, but you're only a 5-10 minute drive from the lower T, so I'll let you know all I can about that...

The main parks on the Lower T are Fields Bridge, Swiftshore, and Willamette (in order from higher up all the way down to the mouth). The visibility is much higher and the water moves a lot quicker on this part of the Tualatin. It's mostly just rapids and big pools (with a lot of 2-3 foot deep riffles), and coming from someone with experience, a kayak doesn't really help you get that much access. Most of the good holes are accessible by bank. Not to mention, unless you're used to kayaking in faster water, this one is tough, with a couple 5-6 foot drops and some rapids. As far as fish go, I have only seen bass and coho in this stretch of the river. I'm guessing it's too warm for trout, but it looks like it could hold them and I might try sometime. In comparison with the upper T, there are fewer species of fish, but there's a lot of them. I've had luck fishing senkos for bass and I've seen others fish nightcrawlers effectively too. The coho fishing should be just picking up in the lower T, but it does get somewhat crowded at some of the parks, and taking a kayak down to the mouth at Willamette park is your best bet if you're coho fishing (or just going up to one of the many parks on the mid/upper T, I know bubs fishes around Hillsboro).

Anyway, good luck!
 
L
Lancep51
If you wanted to fish a bit further out and would be great for kids then I would suggest Harriet Lake or North Fork reservoir. If you wanted to do a camping trip then Clear Lake, Trillium or Timothy would be good spots too. Upper T is a great trip too and I used to fly fish it. I know its not the Mid or Lower T but might be good ideas for this summer or spring weather permitting.
 
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