Fishing Mary's river in Corvallis

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fishudedmeet
any1 fish the marys river in corvallis?
 
C
chris61182
You can wade the Marys river almost the entire length of Avery park this time of the year, though I've never caught a whole lot, just some small bass and pikeminnow. You can also get to the mouth of the Marys from the skate park area too, similarly I've never caught much but I have seen some monsters, both trout and bass.

I forgot to mention but there's also a park on the Marys in Philomath, somewhere near 10th street I believe. I've never been there but would love to hear back what it's like.
 
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GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
Several times this year I have put my Kayak into the Marys at Avery Park and paddled upstream. The fishing for smallies is GREAT. Once you get about a half mile up from the park there is some great water. Deep holes with rocks and and a lot of downed wood. Eventually you will find a deep hole that is right off the edge of Marysville Golf Course and I have landed several nice smallies there.
But don't bother looking for golf balls. My father and I already cleaned it up with our diving gear (250+ :dance::dance:) along with a 5 iron that apparently didn't have enough stickum on the handle :rolleyes: I just need to find people to sell them to haha :D
 
H
Hawk
When i was a youngster i used to dive fer balls at the Fort Ord CA golf course ponds...............................................:lol::lol::lol:.............................Ft Ord also had ponds stocked with fish..............................some out by Laguna Seca..................................:cool:
 
C
chris61182
Where do you put in at GraphiteZen? I assume you guys have karts and take your kayaks down the nice path behind the buildings, otherwise the nearest launches are either Crystal lake or Michael's landing.
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
chris61182 said:
Where do you put in at GraphiteZen? I assume you guys have karts and take your kayaks down the nice path behind the buildings, otherwise the nearest launches are either Crystal lake or Michael's landing.

Yeah if you are talking about the parks and rec building, that's where I put in. If you are dragging a kayak it's not to far. Just paddle up-stream, but when you get to the golf course stay to the right and cover your head if you hear any crashing sounds from the left... :rolleyes::rolleyes: I guess I'm a lucky guy....
 
F
fishudedmeet
ok check this out: i got a personal message from anatoliy that went somethin like this: fishing Mary

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi fishudedmeet,

when are you going to Mary? I't not like I can advice something - I have never fish there, but I would love to go together. Let me know if you don't mind to go together."

so i responded and said: "hmmmmmmmm... ill have to talk to my dad. and just so u aint surprised i'm 12 years old. that dont decrease my fish catchin abilities tho"
__________________

and then he says: "I bet it doesn't.
But I didn't expect that you are so young. It makes things more complicated. Maybe let's just forget about my PM? No offense. OK?"

hes right tho. i hav'nt gone on a fishing trip in 3 years and not caught anything, so logically, i could definetly screw up something like a little trip on the marys. :mad: :protest:
 
Admin
Admin
It looks like someone got offended. :think: Sorry if I offended you. It's not like I have doubts about your ability to catch fish. The thing is that I'll feel responsible for you during our fishing time. And if some bad guys will attack us - I will not be able to protect us - I'm an old unhealthy dude. Plus I speak English with very strong accent, so they will not even understand me if I'll try to tell them to F. OFF. :lol:
But if you manage to take your father with you for a fishing trip, I'll gladly join you guys (if you invite me). We'll catch a lot of fish, post a photo report, and everyone will be so jealous. How about that?
 
F
fishudedmeet
actually, i get that a lot:lol::rolleyes:. i always go fishing with my dad too ( more like he goes fishing with me, i introduced him to fishing). its fine. ill contact you anatoliy and we'll set up a date, ok? :):D;)
 
Admin
Admin
Sounds like a plan :dance:
 
F
FishSchooler
Yay, another kid on the board! Awesome! I'm 11, so we can be buddies... except were around 2.5 hours away from each other... You lucky that your dad fishes with you... I'm lonely over here... :lol::(:rolleyes::D My dad dont know anything about fishin... hes like , "why do you need more baits? all fish eat worms! You need a bob... there is no fish there cause you didn't catch anything..." :lol::mad::lol:
 
C
chris61182
So I was down in Corvallis for the Fall Festival and my wife was kind enough to let me go have a day of fun on the river(s). I got dropped off at what should be 1st and B street and started off at at some concrete downstream of the Philomath hwy bridge. I was initially excited because I could see fish rising everywhere but I quickly realized that they were just minnows and fingerlings. As a matter of fact the Willamette and Marys were both absolutely full of tiny fish, about equal parts 1/2" fry and 2"ers swimming around trying to eat the fry.

Anyways, I started off by trying out a couple of spinners but after having no luck I switched to some soft plastics, primarily some small leech patterns but even those weren't doing the trick. I eventually even tried a popper, and a stick bait but with similar results.

Feeling frustrated I headed over to the footbridge that crosses the Marys next to the highway on ramp. From my vantage point up top I can finally see some fish below. Using a stick bait from 40ft in the air is a trick in itself but apparently the fish didn't seem to mind, I saw a silver flash and finally had something tugging on the end of my line! Or at least I did; as I started to hoist my catch to the bridge it shook the hook and went back on it's way. After that fish they lost interest in my stick bait and I switched back to a 1/8oz lead jig head and a tiny plastic worm but the fish would have none of that. And eventually I started tossing a red rooster tail and got a couple of good hits but no hookups, so I moved on further down the trail.

A short walk later and under the 4th st bridge I finally landed my first fish of the day, and another, and another! The pikeminnow were apparently hungry this afternoon!

Eventually the bite died and I moved on, the rail-road bridge didn't produce, but I did find a semi-freshly made trail to the river. Apparently some locals found a great place for a rope swing into the river and I was able to capitalize on their hard work clearing a path :). I worked the hole with no luck, and as I moved upstream I was greeted by an angry otter, but even it went away and in no time at all I hooked into something, only to suddenly have my retrieve come to a screeching halt! "Oh crap the otter has my fish!" I thought to myself, but fortunately/unfortunately that wasn't so, instead I had simply gotten snagged on a log and my fish escaped on it's own merits.

By this point I had arrived at Avery Park and started working my way through the various trails and river pools, some of which looked absolutely wonderful and I absolutely expected to pull a big trout out, but alas the river gave up no fish. That is of course until I got to the big pool behind the parks and rec building. On nearly every retrieve through a particular slot of water I'd see a fish flash but no bump or a tug. First thing I usually do in a situation like that is downsize, so I went about retying and in the process was presented with a black berry bush full of the most delicious succulent berries I've had since about a month ago :). So now finished retying and feeling slightly refreshed with the berries I made my first cast and was rewarded with a solid hookup into a feisty smallmouth! It wasn't huge but gave up a fight worthy of a much larger fish, it took a little line, it darted left, it darted right, the fish fought for every last inch of it's freedom, and that's evident in the only picture I got. I could feel the fish was about to get out of my grasp and instead of dropping it on the rocks and berry vines, I got an action photograph of it mid-release!

By this point my time was up and my ride was likely waiting for me, so I grabbed a few last berries and headed home.
 
Admin
Admin
Great report. :clap: I feel like I was there with you.
 
Troutski
Troutski
Nice way to wait...

Nice way to wait...

Nice post...the pictures gave it the perfect touch. That water would have made me cast a few hundred times... The thing is you never know what you are going to find until you wet your line.

Chuck
 
H
Hawk
Beautiful pictures Brother Chris..........................yuu had a Great Day......................................:D:D:D...............................:cool:
 
F
FishSchooler
Great report, that river kinda looks like... the tualatin... :lol:
 
C
chris61182
Oh but looks can be deceiving, the Marys is a much smaller river and has substantially lower flow. In my first picture one could wade at least half of the length of the river shown without getting deeper than their waist.
 
F
Fishtopher
Sweet post!:clap:
 

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