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GardenTools28
New member
Just a kid from Texas looking to get into good warm water fish around Corvallis. Anybody have good recommendations on where to have good chances at catfish in western Oregon?
Catfish in western Oregon
plumbertom
Active member
Your best bet for channel cats is most likely the John Day river between the Columbia and the falls. The closer to the Narrows the better. Good numbers of fair sized cats are to be had. Hard to get access to away from the confluence park without a boat, but there is an undeveloped BLM campground accessible overland. High ground clearance vehicles would be best, it's a fairly long dirt road to get there.
A little closer to home for you would be the Willamette River, again below the falls at Oregon City.
I've read of channels being caught from the river above the Willamette Falls, but they are few and far between.
Just up river from you is Bond Butte Pond. It is a small borrow pit just off I-5 that is occasionally stocked with a few channel catfish by the ODFW. The limit there is two.
Now, if you're thinking about them flatheads, you're gonna want to head to eastern Oregon and the Snake River on the Idaho state line, I read Brownlee is the good spot to launch.
I've also read that flatheads and channels can be caught from anywhere on the Columbia River above Lake Umatilla.
I can't say from experience about catfish east of the John Day. That info is only what I've read.
I'm sure there are channel cats in other places around the state.
Blue and/or white catfish in Oregon I have no information on.
Bullheads can be caught in almost any waters you can dip a worm in.
You want to know that other than bullheads, all catfish west of the Rocky Mountains are introduced species.
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A little closer to home for you would be the Willamette River, again below the falls at Oregon City.
I've read of channels being caught from the river above the Willamette Falls, but they are few and far between.
Just up river from you is Bond Butte Pond. It is a small borrow pit just off I-5 that is occasionally stocked with a few channel catfish by the ODFW. The limit there is two.
Now, if you're thinking about them flatheads, you're gonna want to head to eastern Oregon and the Snake River on the Idaho state line, I read Brownlee is the good spot to launch.
I've also read that flatheads and channels can be caught from anywhere on the Columbia River above Lake Umatilla.
I can't say from experience about catfish east of the John Day. That info is only what I've read.
I'm sure there are channel cats in other places around the state.
Blue and/or white catfish in Oregon I have no information on.
Bullheads can be caught in almost any waters you can dip a worm in.
You want to know that other than bullheads, all catfish west of the Rocky Mountains are introduced species.
.
troutdude
Moderator
A 50 pounder was caught where the Mary's River spills into the Willy, by the skate park / dog park in downtown Corvallis. It was caught, measured and weighed, with a pic in the newspaper back then. So yes...50 pounds is correct. I don't recall the exact specie; but a catfish nonetheless.
plumbertom
Active member
Maybe so, but this is the Oregon state record for channel and flathead catfish.
Considering the IGFA all line class world record for Channel catfish is 58 lb 0 oz,
Caught from Santee-Cooper Reservoir, South Carolina, on 07-7-1964, I'm pretty sure a 50 Lb catfish, particularly a channel catfish would have really raised some eyebrows.
Now a Blue catfish that size or even a flathead (Which is all but impossible to mistake for a Channel) would be a big fish but not that rare in some places. Except the state of Oregon has no records of Blue cats here that I can find.
| Catfish, Channel | 36 lbs, 8 oz | 1980 | McKay Reservoir | Boone Haddock |
| Catfish, Flathead | 42 | 0 | 1994 | Snake River | Joshua Kralicek |
Caught from Santee-Cooper Reservoir, South Carolina, on 07-7-1964, I'm pretty sure a 50 Lb catfish, particularly a channel catfish would have really raised some eyebrows.
Now a Blue catfish that size or even a flathead (Which is all but impossible to mistake for a Channel) would be a big fish but not that rare in some places. Except the state of Oregon has no records of Blue cats here that I can find.
plumbertom
Active member
I did, however, find this story;
https://www.spokesman.com/blogs/out...gon-catfish-gives-anglers-pause-swimmers-too/
https://www.spokesman.com/blogs/out...gon-catfish-gives-anglers-pause-swimmers-too/
troutdude
Moderator
The 50 pounder was in the Corvallis Gazette Times. I couldn’t find the story on Google but I have a clipping of the story and a picture of the angler with his fish. But it’s tucked away and I’m not going to dig out just because you don’t believe it.plumbertom said:
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Snopro
Active member
Are you noodling?GardenTools28 said:
plumbertom
Active member
No reason to get testy.troutdude said:
I'm just trying to get the most accurate information available.
I was a hardcore cat man when living in SoCal, and would often hit the lower Colorado River chasing flat heads.
Fact is I'd be more than happy to chase channels in the Willamette if I felt a reasonable expectation of catching them.
plumbertom
Active member
I can't imagine trying noodling in this cold water here.Snopro said:
I get chilled at this old age, and it feels like I'll never be warm again.
DOKF
Active member
From the "Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service.
"And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door.
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."
"And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door.
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."
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Snopro
Active member
Cold? Most good Oregon cat water is above 70° in the Summer.plumbertom said:
DOKF
Active member
Some friends once tried to take me noodlin' in Oklahoma.
I begged OFF when they mentioned the snapping turtles ...
I'll stick with rod and reel methods.
I begged OFF when they mentioned the snapping turtles ...
I'll stick with rod and reel methods.
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Snopro
Active member
I'm with you. Now we have invasive snappers in Oregon. Eliminates any desire to try noodling I might have had.
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GardenTools28
New member
We don’t do that, that’s for the OkiesSnopro said:
Diehard
Most Featured
Plenty of channel cats around sauvie island if you know we're to look
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DonF
Active member
Pond out by Adair I've heard has channels in it but limit of two. You seem to be new to Oregon. To get to Adair go south on 99 and watch on the right. You'll find a huge block building that at one time was Hdq for 26th Air divison. Go past it to next left I think it was and pond is just in there on the right. Stationed at Adair two years and never fished that pond! Fishermen in Oregon that fish for cats are pretty closed mouth about them!
plumbertom
Active member
I believe I've read about that pond having Channel cats in it, but I've never read any direct report of anyone who has caught them there.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6668684,-123.2205179,234m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4
Make sure your license is up-to-date because the ODFW office is right next door.
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6668684,-123.2205179,234m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e4
Make sure your license is up-to-date because the ODFW office is right next door.
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DonF
Active member
I seldom find anything about catfish fishing in Oregon ttill I found this site!
plumbertom
Active member
Yeah, not a lot of interest from what I read.DonF said:
I'm a warm water area transplant that grew up and spent my younger years fishing the lower Colorado River and the lakes in the desert southwest. As such, catfish were one of the main target species for most trips.
Also Striped bass, Crappie, and large-mouth bass.
You can get some limited information from The Brotherhood Of Catfishermen forum, but even that has little to say about Oregon Waters.
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