jkeek9

which mill creek are you guys talking about

i live in the salem keizer area and love to fish small rivers, creeks, and stream

do you know of any quality ones within an hour??

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tight lines - jkeek9

chris61182

From Salem you have tons and tons of options, all the tribs to the north santiam, the north santiam itself, the luckiamute, the yamhill, and probably lots of others I don't know about.

As far as Mill Creeks go, the one I think Wilsonriverfisher was talking about is a tributary to the south fork yamhill river, you can see it on the Willamette zone map in the regulations.

There's also a Mill Creek that runs right through the heart of Salem. It looks quite fishy up where it flows through the Cascade Gateway park, and some of those pools formed by those mini-dams in town look promising as well. At some point it looks like it splits where one half runs north and empties into the Willy a little ways north of the old railroad bridge, while the other half comes out at the southern most edge of the water front park. I've never fished it but it sure looks like it has some potential. Oh and apparently way back in the day they supposedly stocked salmon in there but because of in adequate spawning grounds they never took hold and they eventually stopped the stocking program.

chris61182

Oh and Silverblade, I was mostly interested in a tackle shop in Cherry grove or Gaston for the local knowledge more than anything not to mention trying to spend a little money in the small local towns.

chris61182

Well I tried to get to Lee Falls on the Tualatin yesterday, but was greeted by a gate just outside of Cherry Grove in the vicinity of where Nixon Dr turns off.

It looks like the Tualatin is far from a big river at this point and the fish would definitely be restricted to the deeper pools like those formed by the water falls. Now I just need to find a place to park the car (signs all over the road saying no parking) and ride my bike in.

I also tried making my way to Barney reservoir from Cherry Grove as well but the there's a gate on Roaring Creek Road in the town so that was quickly put to a stop.

In the end I went to Hagg lake and played with lamprey and caught some tiny perch.

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Wilsonriverfisher

The mill creek I am talking about can be found by driving threw mcminnville out towards lincoln city and you will cross the river on that hwy i think its 8, but the hwy park spot kind of sucks its a little shallow there and there is alot of traffic from that being the only sani-can for miles. You can also get there from hwy 22? the ones that runs from salem out to lincoln city. this is the better way? and following the signs to mill creek county park i think it says. There is alot of good Hike Fishing to be had here, but the fishing does get loads better LATER in the year. There is some good fishing to be had right at the park or you can go a little farther down to the gate which is open on the weekdays. They close it weekends to prevent teenager parties but if you get past the gate you are going to be in pocket water heaven in some places with some very nice pools.

I found this description here on the internet "Any pleasant day would be a nice time to stop and picnic at one of the parks in our area. Mill Creek park is located two miles from highway 22 on, what else, Mill creek road. There are picnic tables and facilities. Lots of green grassy open space makes it a nice place to let the kids run off some of their extra energy. You should look for the Buell sign on highway 22. After crossing mill creek bridge take the first left. A mile past mill creek park is a smaller more secluded picnic area. This one is tucked under tall trees and is sheltered from the direct sun"



As far as cherry grove and the tualatin and lee falls you need to park around cherry grove someplace and walk into lee falls. There is like one place on the road to park without a sign that says no parking. The jist of it is you really should bike into the upper tualatin.


enjoy
-cheers

chris61182

Do you happen to have any hints on where might be a good place to park in Cherry Grove? I wasn't exactly looking for parking spots as I drove through the town the other day.

Crap, and to think I just got rid of my bike rack when I moved a couple of months ago!

Wilsonriverfisher

Just look around you will find a place I have seen peole parking on that road but I dont think I would do it.

Silverblade

I was up there last year looking for a place to park within reasonable walking distance that didn't appear to be covered by a no parking sign and didn't find any. That doesn't mean there were none so obviously do go check (and tell us if you find one! ). The only other option I can think of would be to ask one of the land owners nearby if you can park at the end of their driveway or something. Yes, bike would be great, don't know about the fishing but you'd probably have the whole area to yourself.