Fishing the "Lake on the Willamette" i.e. Cedar Island Park

[PTownAngler]

So first of all, I have to say that I am a rookie fisherman. I started fishing about two weeks ago, I've gone about 9 times in those two weeks tho lol. I've fished this perfect little spot out in front of my buddies house on the willamette. It's pretty much a lake, its a big horseshoe, look it up on google maps just search "Cedar Island Park, West Linn, OR" in google maps and you'll see the horseshoe I'm talking about. It is the exact place i've been looking for. There is fishing piers that are perfect to fish from. The river drops off to about 12-15 feet about a foot and a half from the shoreline. I only was able to fish for about an hour my first time going there and only had one kind of bait, and it wasn't my preferred color. But I stopped at Fisherman's Marine on the way home that day and got some Pink Powerbait Nuggets, Red sparkle Powerbait Nuggets, Red Salmon Eggs, Orange Salmon Eggs, Turbo Powerbait in Rainbow, Turbo Powerbait in American, Some treble hooks (which I think I got them too big, I got size 8. I've heard to use size 18.) and they kid working at the store told me to get the Eagle Claw Single Hook Salmon Egg Size 6, so I got those as well. So I'm heading back today for a few hours hoping to catch my first trout. I'll definitely get back on here when I get back and give you guys a report. Wish me luck!

Happy Fishing! -Mitch

 

[ninja2010]

good luck out there...

 

[perfectg03]

Hopefully something grabbed the end of your line. There aren't really any trout to speak of in the willamette where you are fishing. I would recommend using worms with a couple split shot and casting as far as you can. Let it sink for a while (lots of strikes occur during this time) and then very slowly retrieve. You will get bass, squawfish and other panfish with this method. You can also get a 1/8oz sliding sinker and run that on your mainline. Connect a swivel and run about 2 feet of leader to your bait hook and plunk for anything that will bite. Corn works well for carp and squawfish and worms work for just about anything. Throw some bobbers in as well.

Spinners, crankbaits and assorted jigs and tube baits will also work well for bass.

Leave the powerbait at home, there are no trout.

 

[bass]

The advice that perfectg03 gave above is definitely spot on for fishing that lagoon. Here is a bit more information.

I have been swimming in there with my kids a few times this summer, including this past Sunday. If you were fishing on Sunday late afternoon you probably saw us. I was in a lime green Nucanoe Frontier and my daughter and her friend were on a white and blue paddle board. We love that lagoon for hanging out and goofing around.

I have made a few casts in that lagoon and had some tiny nibbles on a small beetle spin. Here is my take. It is a good spawning habitat for bass, but after the spawn they mostly move out into the main river. I have seen folks catch some bullhead in the lagoon and there are a lot of bass fry (~2" long) swimming around. An osprey was hunting in there so there must be some decent sized fish. I would guess mostly carp, suckers and bullhead. The slough/channel between the island and the West bank (skinny channel) definitely holds some small bass and panfish. It does have running water even now with the levels being as low as they are which makes it attractive.

Much better fishing for bass is to be had along the Eastern bank of the Willamette in that area (if you have some type of boat). If you do not have a boat I would recommend hitting the rockpiles just upriver from the island along Mary S. Young park. You can get there from the island using the walking bridge at the upstream edge of the island.

Best of luck. If you see me out there either in my lime green Frontier or my yellow Hobie Outback give me a shout out and I will try to point you to some specific spots.

 

[PTownAngler]

Oh and the report for the other night. I fished forever with no action til it got dark. Then I change to my only bass lure and got a strike on the first cast. The fish came out of the water when it struck my lure, which was a floating crankbait that dives to about a foot deep maybe two that looks like a grasshopper, it's pink silver and green and really shiny, but it didn't get it in its mouth it just hit it and swam away. Then I casted that lure for about another 20 min with no action

 

[Moe]

You'll never get bored dangling a crawler in the willie, great fun for kids

 

[PTownAngler]

I'm on my way out to the "lake" again. I'm going to start off fishing for bass and see how that goes. I went to the store today and got a brand new "Brad's Wiggler" Crankbait. Its the BW-74. Then I'm going to try for catfish and / or carp. I will give a report when I get back.

 

[bass]

Good luck, looking forward to your report.

 

[Gettin' Jiggy Wid It]

Hi Ptown,

I just fished cedar oak island for smallmouth this morning from 7am to 11am. Skies were overcast/gray with a light wind that put a tiny bit of chop on the water that made for good fishing. I started off with drop shotting soft plastic worms, but an hour and half of that with no bites left me scratching my head. I marked a few fish in 15 to 25 feet of water on the fish finder, but no schools of fish, and those i marked didn't bite for whatever reason.

So... i went back to trolling crankbaits and landed one smallie downstream from cedar oak island on a deep-diving cray pattern.



I didn't get enough action on the cray pattern, so I switched to rainbow trout pattern Rapala and that was the ticket, landing 4 more smallies in a little over an hour. The smallies ranged from 1/2 lb to a 1 lb, and the larger ones put up a good fight. The fish were stacked up around the rocky cove just upriver from cedar oaks island, and all of them were caught in 4 to 8 feet of water within easy casting distance from the shore. I was surprised the bass were that shallow already. Water temp was 65 degrees F.

At any rate, there is something about the rainbow trout pattern that just seems to work when nothing else does. I missed several other fish as well as landing these:







If you don't have a rainbow trout Rapala Orginal Floater in your arsenal, you might add one. That lure has kept me from getting skunked on more than one occasion.

Good luck!
Jiggy

 

[bass]

Interesting to hear about the rainbow trout pattern plug and the fish being so shallow. Last time I was out (a few weeks ago) most of the fish were in 15-20'. Great job figuring it out and great report!

 

[Gettin' Jiggy Wid It]

Thx, bass, and thanks for all the tips on drop shotting as well. One of these days it will all "click" and the bass will cooperate and slam the soft plastics near the bottom.

I was surprised at how low the Willamette is right now. Boats were having a hard time launching at the cedaroak ramp, though i hear there is a big grant worth hundreds of thousands $$$ to fix the ramp in 2014 so it becomes more accessible year round.

One nice thing about rapala original floater is that it only dives about 3', so it doesn't hang up often and stays above the weeds and such. I'm guessing the rainbow trout pattern is so deadly for bass (and trout) here in the northwest because of all the artificial stocking going on. It must look like a wimpy, wounded rainbow trout. Anyway, the more i fish it, the more i like it. I may have to pick up a few rainbow-colored rapala countdown lures for days when bass are deeper. I'll bet they produce just as well.

 

[bass]

Thx, bass, and thanks for all the tips on drop shotting as well. One of these days it will all "click" and the bass will cooperate and slam the soft plastics near the bottom.

I was surprised at how low the Willamette is right now. Boats were having a hard time launching at the cedaroak ramp, though i hear there is a big grant worth hundreds of thousands $$$ to fix the ramp in 2014 so it becomes more accessible year round.

One nice thing about rapala original floater is that it only dives about 3', so it doesn't hang up often and stays above the weeds and such. I'm guessing the rainbow trout pattern is so deadly for bass (and trout) here in the northwest because of all the artificial stocking going on. It must look like a wimpy, wounded rainbow trout. Anyway, the more i fish it, the more i like it. I may have to pick up a few rainbow-colored rapala countdown lures for days when bass are deeper. I'll bet they produce just as well.

Sounds like when the bass are active that the rapala is a great choice for covering water. I used to fish those a lot in small lakes in NC and PA, but I have not used them much out here for bass (I love floaters and the countdowns in a smolt pattern for steelhead fishing). I will definitely have to give one a try next time I am out - especially if my normal tactics are not producing.