Minto Brown Island Park, Salem

[OregonNative]

I'm thinking about trying out the ponds next spring at Minto Brown Island Park in Salem. I've read several posts, but I'm not sure which ponds to head for first. The main parking area from Minto Island Road? Or maybe go in the back way from Homestead Road? Is there a decent place to launch a canoe (I have a cart so I could get it to most places that have a trail)?

Also, how is the crappie fishing there?

 

[brandon4455]

the pond you can see while entering the park area has nice bass there is also (idk which pond ) a large one which would work good with a canoe has bas ive seen up to 5 lbs decent crappie and carp.


-brandon

 

[ryan808]

The back pond is where to go, its a 100 yard walk from the parking lot, so putting the canoe in is no issue. Let me know when you go, ill brave the cold with you.

 

[willson]

i've fished minto a lot. The pond when you first pull in off river road has a lot of bass in it but they are not very big. If you go to the back of the park you can get access to a couple slews that have bigger large mouth back there. You can also park at the first parking lot when you walk in, than walk down the train tracks towards downtown for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile and there is some other good fishing back through the trees down there. there are dozens of spots all around that park and a few miles in either direction of that park where you can catch decent size large mouth and from what my friend has told me small mouth as well.

 

[Bobby Brown]

I'm thinking about trying out the ponds next spring at Minto Brown Island Park in Salem. I've read several posts, but I'm not sure which ponds to head for first. The main parking area from Minto Island Road? Or maybe go in the back way from Homestead Road? Is there a decent place to launch a canoe (I have a cart so I could get it to most places that have a trail)?

Also, how is the crappie fishing there?

I used to live not far from there and all of those ponds are worth exploring. The slough that you can see from River Road used to actually be accessable from the river with my bass boat. Now without much boat traffic back there it should be great for some big largemouth. There is a path leading right to it and I carried my raft back there before. Let me know when you are heading there in the spring as well and maybe a few of us can get together and have a "bragging rights" big fish tournament that day and help each other get our stuff to the water and back. I have a 10 foot kayak that I would like to fish out of a little more.

 

[willson]

bobby, the "homeless camp" you refer to is closer to minto than where the picture is taken right? its basically down the tracks along river road into the trees down from minto? my friend and i caught some bass this summer there that were very nice. the spot im talking about has like a duck blind on one side of the water.

 

[Bobby Brown]

bobby, the "homeless camp" you refer to is closer to minto than where the picture is taken right? its basically down the tracks along river road into the trees down from minto? my friend and i caught some bass this summer there that were very nice. the spot im talking about has like a duck blind on one side of the water.

Yep! You know the spot. The picture was taken from weigh in at Wallace Park but I released the fish back in the slough. Now I can't even get my bass boat back in there. Most of my fish back there came on a jig but I know guys have done pretty good catching smallmouth on crankbaits around the rockpile in there. I would love to see what big bass still live back in there. Good luck!

 

[willson]

water too low to get back there now? i know it was super low and weedy towards the end of the summer. i caught a couple of pan size fish back there on yamamoto grubs this year. nothing large. its nice to see there are some bigger fish in there. can't wait for this spring!

 

[Simon]

I'm thinking about trying out the ponds next spring at Minto Brown Island Park in Salem. I've read several posts, but I'm not sure which ponds to head for first. The main parking area from Minto Island Road? Or maybe go in the back way from Homestead Road? Is there a decent place to launch a canoe (I have a cart so I could get it to most places that have a trail)?

Also, how is the crappie fishing there?

there is not very many crappie but there is so many types of bluegill and sunfish I personally like to fish in the Oxbow Slough but Minto brown right now the Oxbow Slough is really low. personally I like this but I have caught trout bass bluegill carp