Moving to Portland

B
bmoreout
Hello, all. This is my first post on this forum and I am looking for a little insight into the trout fishing near Portland.

My wife and I are planning to move to Portland this summer and I would like to get a gauge on fly fishing for trout near Portland. I've been reading up on it, on this forum and elsewhere, but haven't been too excited by what I've read. From what I understand steelhead and salmon are the mainstays. I know that Oregon has amazing fishing throughout the state but I'd like to know if there is good consistent year round trout fishing within an hour of the city. Having to drive two and three hours every weekend to get to good fishing is likely not possible.

Currently I live in Baltimore and can be on the water in a beautiful tailwater full of native trout in 45 minutes. While I'm not catching pigs there, I am chasing wily, smart native trout (browns, brookies & bows). I work in a very stressful field and greatly depend on fishing at least once a week to maintain my sanity; often times I'm out both Saturday and Sunday. I have no experience with spey rods, floating a river or fishing lakes and ponds. I throw dries, nymphs and streamers with a five weight and wade exclusively in mostly freestone and tailwater rivers. The idea of having to only fish lakes and ponds for stock trout depresses me (I hope this isn't the case).

I really look forward to hitting some of the notable rivers on weekend trips (Umpqua, Deschutes, etc) but am also hoping that there are some quality places to hit on the reg every weekend that don't require a ton of windshield time. Am I destined for disappointment in Portland?

Thanks in advance.
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
welcome to OFF and soon to Oregon! you will love the fishing here and I predict some great replies will appear soon on your Portland area trout question...cheers, roger
 
T
TimberTodd
For year round trout fishing on rivers and streams I believe you will be looking at the Deschutes area. The streams and rivers from Portland to the coast have a trout season. A copy of the fishing regs. will help out here. Mix up the winter fishing with trips both to the coastal tribs for steelhead and the big D for trout. You wont feel like there's so much windshield time then. Welcome to the forum. To echo Roger, your gonna love the fishing here.
 
S
sapo
I live in Portland area, Tigard to be exact. Glad to hear you're coming here this summer! For trout fishing within an hour, you won't get beautiful tailwater full of browns and rainbows and brookies, etc. but the coastal streams about an hour away are good for cutthroat when they're open...These are small cutthroat though, unless you fish for the sea runs starting in mid summer. Also, there are some really nice streams around mount hood to explore. For year round trout fishing, you'll have to drive at least two hours to fish the Deschutes, Fall River, Crooked, Metolius, all of which are gorgeous rivers, amazing to explore in the winter, and excellent fishing all year round. Weekend trout fishing trips in the winter will be, well, tough, if you're going for an hour or less away. But getting up an hour or two early for the deschutes or fall or crooked or metolius is definitely worth it, can catch 12+ nice trout in a day there (they're a bit smaller on the crooked tho). pm me for more info. hope that helped.
 
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S
sapo
But, you will definitely love the fishing here. Salmon and steelhead are very abundant in almost all of our streams, some year-round, just excellent fishing.
 
Irishrover
Irishrover
Welcome to the forum. There are some nice lakes up on Mt. Hood which is just about an hour east of Portland. If it's still in print, see if you can pick up a copy of "Lake Fly Fishing Guide" by Jim Bradbury and Beverly Miller, Frank Amato publishing. It list all the lakes in the area, how to get there, where and when to fish and which flies work well. Most of the rivers and streams in the area like the Sandy and Clackamas are managed more for salmon and steelhead. If you go online you can check out the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife web site. Go to the Willamette section for the area around Portland. If you enjoy fly fishing you may end up looking to land some steelhead on fly gear or even end up with a spey rod. Both the Sandy River and the Clackamas offer a good opportunity for the spey style of fly fishing. Good luck and again welcome.
 
J
JonT
Just get ready to pay a lot more attention to regulations, and you'll be fine. And most importantly, don't hook a steelhead.
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
JonT said:
Just get ready to pay a lot more attention to regulations, and you'll be fine. And most importantly, don't hook a steelhead.

or get steelhead fever and target them relentlessly....:D:thumb:
 
troutdude
troutdude
Welcome to OFF.

The upper Clackamas, would be worthy of exploration (an hour, or so, from Portland). There is also the Salmon River, near the town of Welches. Neither river has huge fish. But the scenery, and solitude, is nice.

Also...get yourself a copy of "Fishing in Oregon", by Maddy Sheehan. It contains a wealth, of helpful information. The 11th, and most recent, edition is on the shelves.
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
x2 on Maddy's book, we use it to get initial fishing and boat launch info on any new area that we head for..
 
D
DrTheopolis
Welcome.

But I have to chime in -- no, you're not fishing for native browns or rainbows anywhere near Baltimore.

And the Upper Clackamas sounds like your spot.
 
B
bmoreout
DrTheopolis said:
Welcome.

But I have to chime in -- no, you're not fishing for native browns or rainbows anywhere near Baltimore.

And the Upper Clackamas sounds like your spot.
? Did you mean Portland or are you saying I'm currently not fishing natives? Maybe 'native' is the wrong word, but where I fish the trout are not stocked and are in a self sustaining habitat where they thrive and are abundant. Apologies for the semantic error.

Thank you, everyone for the very helpful information. I am very excited about this move!
 
T
TimberTodd
Let us know when you are settled in Oregon. Someone should be able to point you in a good direction for that time of year.
 
D
DrTheopolis
bmoreout said:
Apologies for the semantic error.


Just bustin the newbie's chops. But the correct terminology for your fine fish is "wild." "Native" implies indigenous, whereas "wild" implies self-sustaining, but possibly not "native." It'll probably come up when you start interacting around here.

BTW -- you'll be fishing for native rainbows and cutthroat. Keep in touch, the OFFers will hook you up.
 

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