Willamette Independence

L
Lonnie
I was wondering if anyone knows how the boating/bass fishing is around Independence? Can I safely take a bass boat up and down the river for a few miles? Can I catch smallmouth on current breaks, largemouth in the slews? Any info would be great
 
T
TJR_84
Get real shallow in the summer time around the river front park around the old boat dock. There is a channel the far side of the river. Lots of great water and lots of shallow spots watch your depth finder and find the channel. Also catch fish!!
 
troutdude
troutdude
You might want to try heading up the Yamhill River. From the mouth--at the Willy--up to the locks, is good water for smallies.
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
The best fishing I have found around that area is launching from Buena Vista park and motoring up into the Luckiamutte! KILLER smallie fishing once you get into the creek, and killer smallie fishing the mile and a half ride up.
 
brandon4455
brandon4455
Ditto on the above post. Go to buena vista and head upstream. fishing for smallies is best in areas near the mouths of sloughs, and areas with a rock bottom ,or pilings/logs. motoring up the luckiamute you will catch both largemouth and smallmouth, tons of woody cover in there.



if you head downriver it can be dangerous when the water gets low, as the current pulls your boat towards the trees overhanging the bank in just inches of water. i found out the hard way. ive caught multiple smallies in the 2-5lb range just fishing at the boat launch when i was younger and still get a few every once in a while. good structure there.
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
brandon4455 said:
Ditto on the above post. Go to buena vista and head upstream. fishing for smallies is best in areas near the mouths of sloughs, and areas with a rock bottom ,or pilings/logs. motoring up the luckiamute you will catch both largemouth and smallmouth, tons of woody cover in there.



if you head downriver it can be dangerous when the water gets low, as the current pulls your boat towards the trees overhanging the bank in just inches of water. i found out the hard way. ive caught multiple smallies in the 2-5lb range just fishing at the boat launch when i was younger and still get a few every once in a while. good structure there.

:thumb:
 
troutdude
troutdude
GraphiteZen said:
The best fishing I have found around that area is launching from Buena Vista park and motoring up into the Luckiamutte! KILLER smallie fishing once you get into the creek, and killer smallie fishing the mile and a half ride up.

Great idea! That river probably gets overlooked, and underfished!
 
M
Modest_Man
There are lots of larger smallmouth in the vicinity of the new boat launch in Independence. Fish off the rip rap directly across from the ramp, we caught a lot of large ones around there. The first slough downstream from there has some decent smallmouth. Looking at the data we got 6 fish between 10" and 16" fork length in the slough. Near the boat ramp we got some in the 17.5" and 18" fork length range. These would be over 20" total length, somewhere around 5lbs.

I wouldn't run the stretch with a prop though, you'll be fine with a pump.
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
Modest_Man said:
There are lots of larger smallmouth in the vicinity of the new boat launch in Independence. Fish off the rip rap directly across from the ramp, we caught a lot of large ones around there. The first slough downstream from there has some decent smallmouth. Looking at the data we got 6 fish between 10" and 16" fork length in the slough. Near the boat ramp we got some in the 17.5" and 18" fork length range. These would be over 20" total length, somewhere around 5lbs.

I wouldn't run the stretch with a prop though, you'll be fine with a pump.

AWESOME! Thanks for the info!!
 

Similar threads

O
Replies
5
Views
848
EOBOY
EOBOY
jamisonace
Replies
7
Views
878
jamisonace
jamisonace
bass
Replies
1
Views
505
troutdude
troutdude
O. mykiss
Replies
8
Views
2K
DonF
D
RiverWalker
Replies
6
Views
1K
TheKnigit
TheKnigit
Top Bottom