Caught a few smallies on the Willamette in Keizer

S
schnur07
Caught a few smallies tonight with the two biggest ones being about 1.5 - 2 lbs. What's a decent size for these guys on the Willamette in the Salem/Keizer area? I've just started bass fishing so I have no idea.

thanks

steve
 
troutdude
troutdude
I've caught 3 & 4 pounders, in the Long Tom. That river is just one of many tribs that, feed into the Willy. So, there should be some larger fish in that river too. I would think that, there would be even bigger ones as well. The state record, is just a tad over 8 pounds (record caught in Henry Hagg Lake).

Also...according to "The Complete Angler's Guide to Oregon", by John Shewey, the best stretch is from Minto-Brown Park south to the mouth of the Luckiamute River. So it sounds like, that's where your best bet will be. "Fishing in Oregon", by Maddy Diness Sheehan, states that smallies [in that area] are found primarily at the mouths of sloughs...and the edges of main current. It also states that the largest fish are taken, in early Spring (March & April). But, that doesn't mean that you still can't find some--before the water temps drop too much.

Good luck; and let us know how you do.
 
S
schnur07
I'd love to catch some bigger ones. The ones I caught were along some rip rap in a back eddy in about 10-15' of water. But the hole gets as deep as 30'. Should I try deeper for some bigger ones? I was just using a wacky worm, no weight and found it difficult to get real deep. I've read a little bit about drop shotting (I think it's called). Maybe that would be a better option? 2014-10-02 001 013.jpg
 
troutdude
troutdude
I'll defer to others; and drop shotting, wacky worms, etc. All of my fish were caught along rip rap, but with surface chuggers, plugs, and poppers (late afternoon - dark).
 
T
TJR_84
Try all depths. Get some weight and go deep and try a variety of techniques till you find what get bites. Try slow water and fast water. My biggest smallie was 4lbs near keizer. I have had lots of large mouth over 4lbs. Good luck let me know how you do.
 
S
schnur07
The last couple nights I caught a few in the 2-3 lb range. Got skunked tonight though. I don't understand how one day in the same spot, same lures you can do well and then the next day nothing. Maybe they get spooked or used to the lure? There was another guy fishing there that really got into them the same two days and then he had no luck either. And he actually looked like he knew what he was doing. I'm just a noob...
 

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