Fishing near the Willamette Falls locks

[pdxflyguy]

Has anyone tried doing this? I've head you can get some decent bass and bluegill out of there. Where specifically on the locks do folks fish? Can you get to the actual Locks canal (green arrow) and is it productive or do you have to off of that dock by the red arrow?

 

[bass]

The red arrow is pointing to a public fishing dock (sign on google maps says thats what it is). I would guess that the lock itself (green arrow) is off limits for shore access but I don't know for sure. You could call the army corps of engineers to try to find out.

 

[pdxflyguy]

The red arrow is pointing to a public fishing dock (sign on google maps says thats what it is). I would guess that the lock itself (green arrow) is off limits for shore access but I don't know for sure. You could call the army corps of engineers to try to find out.

Thanks. Any advice on what to throw off that thing to target bass and bluegill? not a lot of rocky structures to hit from it so you're sort of casting into the abyss of a huge river. Wondering if trying to get a swimbait deep & keep it moving would be one strategy.

 

[bass]

I would think for bass or bluegill fishing you would want to toss towards the bank where it looks nice and rocky and not towards the middle of the river. Maybe dropping straight down around the docks is also good but I have no idea how deep it is under the docks. Something like a Ned rig, drop shot or a swimbait should catch bass. A trout magnet will likely catch everything.

It looks like you could fly cast towards the bank since your back cast would be out over the river. Maybe a clouser pattern for bass and small nymphs for bluegill.

 

[pdxflyguy]

Thanks Bass. that spot seems like spinning is the better bet than fly fishing. Navionics shows it as ~5 feet at shore, ~18 feet around the doc and 36 if you cast out to the river. Appreciate the tackle advice.

 

[fromthelogo]

With the current there, seems like a drop shot with a shad shaped bait would be good. Let us know how you do.

 

[pdxflyguy]

I would think for bass or bluegill fishing you would want to toss towards the bank where it looks nice and rocky and not towards the middle of the river. Maybe dropping straight down around the docks is also good but I have no idea how deep it is under the docks. Something like a Ned rig, drop shot or a swimbait should catch bass. A trout magnet will likely catch everything.

It looks like you could fly cast towards the bank since your back cast would be out over the river. Maybe a clouser pattern for bass and small nymphs for bluegill.

With the current there, seems like a drop shot with a shad shaped bait would be good. Let us know how you do.

I had the same thought you guys did about casting toward the shore, and it's an utter sh*tshow of snags in that direction. I casted three times in three different spots and got snagged all three times. There is a little more room to operate if you can get the upriver end spot in the dock and cast straight upriver, toward where the old locks spill into the river. In about 1.5 hours of casting i got maybe one or two bites. You can never tell for sure in deep water with current. Was throwing a 3" white swimbait on a 1/4 oz painted jig head, letting it sink and then pulling it slowly back in. This was at about 6pm. I also tried just letting dropping into the water and letting it fall right next to the dock but no luck there either.

i should say that my 1.5 hours was also with my two little boys and with all the helping them it was probably more like 30-45 minutes of real fishing. they were dropping salmon eggs, power bait and a spinner lure in and didn't get any bites, but both of them were using bobbers (they are very little) and were only 2-3 feet below the surface.