Hillsboro/Beaverton area fishing

PhoFish
PhoFish
Just moved here from MN to Hillsboro/Beaverton. I haven’t noticed many lakes? Is it mostly river fishing? I have not done much river fishing, its the same basically... lol right? Any good tips on a close spot where I can take my som from shore? Any tips for bait/lure? Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
troutdude
troutdude
Welcome to Oregon and to OFF. My mom's family moved here from MN, right after WWII. My grandpa was stationed at Camp Adair (Adair Village), a few miles north of Corvallis. And he liked it better out here; so he moved his family here after the war.

While we are not the land of 10,000 lakes. We do have many lakes which OFFer great fishing opportunities. I always recommend Maddy Diness Sheehan's book "Best Fishing in Oregon". Reading that book will bring you up to speed, the fastest. As it is chock full of valuable information including tips, maps, directions, types of species to be found and more. Get yourself a copy from any Fly Shop or Sporting Goods store or department. You will be glad that you did.

I also highly recommend Jed Davis's book "Spinner Fishing for Steelhead, Salmon, and Trout". Jed's book is specifically devoted to fishing right here in Oregon. His scientific approach will also bring you quickly up to speed.

The third book that I suggest is Bill Herzon's "Spoon Fishing for Steelhead". Which also applies to trout fishing; as steelhead are simply sea run rainbow trout. You can cover a lot of water with spoons.

The closest lake to you--with great fishing opportunities--is Henry Hagg Lake. It is now open year round and features stocked rainbow trout (up to 12 pounds), state record smallmouth bass, native cutthroat trout (which locals prefer to see safely released back into the lake), crappie and bluegill. Here is a map which will help you figure out where to go. NOTE: there is a daily fee of $7.00, to enter the park (or you can get an annual pass if you wind up going there a lot).

Also stream fishing for trout just opened up yesterday. So it's time to give that a go as well. Little Cleo spoons and Fire Tiger patterned Rooster Tail spinners, are my "go to" lures. And if you head over to fish coastal stream--especially for Bluebacks (sea run cutthroat trout), which will enter the rivers in July--take small brown Rooster Tails. Which mimick crawdad fry that those fish gorge on.

Good luck and tight lines. Let us now how you do!

P.S. Get yourself a copy of the 2020 regulations book. Game Wardens/OFFicers expect you to know the laws; before you wet a line. If you have questions, just ask.


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Gulfstream
Pick up a copy of "Fishing in Oregon" Has info on every lake and river in the state.Very good book. And welcome!
 
Hooked Up
Hooked Up
Welcome. I have family in the twin cities area. One plus about OR, you won't miss the MN "state bird" :)
 
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pinstriper
Not a lot of ice fishing here. Not a lot of saltwater fishing back there.
 
PhoFish
PhoFish
Thank you for the awesome replies! That is a lot of reading, but I suppose I got the time now :)

It appears I have to live here for 6 months or pay non-resident fee for licensing? Might have to way until that passes.

Very excited for some different species of fish and some new locations to do that!
 
troutdude
troutdude
You're welcome. The only way to learn is to read and/or get out there and see what works.
 
A
Anotherdude
You're here just in time for Shad fishing. It gets nuts and you can catch them EVERY cast too. Look it up and get yourself some shad darts.
 
PhoFish
PhoFish
This is a late reply and perhaps I should have started a new thread, but I can finally get a license for resident prices! So this late in the season, still good to hit Hagg lake? How about some workable rivers that i might be able to use some of the techniques I learned about in the books I read over the past couple months? Thank you in advance - any help is greatly appreciated!
 
troutdude
troutdude
Hagg will be best for warm water species now. Trout will be out in the middle in the deeper/cooler water. Which means you'll need a boat to find them. Now is the time to hit the coastal streams for sea run cutthroat trout. Small brown Rooster Tails with gold blades will fool 'em.
 
PhoFish
PhoFish
any specific coastal streams? I am most apprehensive about doing something wrong or spending my time in the wrong place.

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your help!!
 
troutdude
troutdude
Get a copy of the book that Gulfstream suggested, read about each stream, then go.

You can also type "sea run cutthroat" into the search field at the top right of this page, and find archived threads too.
 
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case.bolt
hey Pho, i just moved here last year, been slowly figuring out my favorite places the last 6 months or so, figured i'd throw what i've learned so far.

one of my favorite trout lakes is Lake Harriet. it's a bit of a drive from Beaverton, about 1.5hr, but it has decent bank access along a floating dock at the east end, and a few good bank access spots all along the north side down to the dam. if you have a small watercraft, you can really get to some great water near the dam and along the south shoreline. great trout lake, stocked with rainbows and has native browns. might be a little slow with the heat this time of year, but it should pick back up once it starts to cool down a bit here in a month or two. it's also just super pretty and peaceful there, so even if you don't catch anything, you'll still have a nice day in the Mt. Hood wilderness. Bonus: if you're into camping, there's TONS of undeveloped (no fee) campsites all around that area within a few minutes drive of the lake if you wanted to make a weekend or more of it.

more generally, if you like trout fishing in lakes and are up for a bit of a hike, there's TONS of hike-in lakes in the Mt. Hood area that are usually within a 1-3 mile moderate hike, and almost all of them have some sort of trout, whether it's native browns, cutthroats, or bulls (always release bulls), or stocked rainbows/browns.

Hagg lake is nice too, but i've always felt like i'd do better there with some sort of watercraft to access some deeper water. i had some good luck fishing for trout there this spring, and caught a few smallmouth and one largemouth back in June. there's also bullhead cats in there if you're into catfish, but i've never bothered. there's decent bank access to deep water near the dam and a few other spots, but Hagg is pretty big. i'd love to have a boat so i could get to some of that deeper water in the middle.

trolling seems to be really popular around here, nearly every lake i've been to has had a gaggle of boaters trolling around. makes me jealous for not having a boat :(

as far a rivers go, the Wilson will be the closest from Beaverton/Hillsboro, only about a 1/1.5 hr drive. there's TONS of bank access along the Wilson as rt 6 follows the the river from Elk Creek into the tidewater at Tillamook. Just look for the pull-outs along the road and follow the trails if you can't see the river from the pull-out. I've been on the Wilson a few times this summer trying to land my first steelhead with no luck (yet!). Cutthroat trout are also in the Wilson, and are pretty easy to catch once you find them. Biggest problem with fishing the Wilson in the summer (and especially right now) is the swimmers. not that i have a problem with them, but the fish do, so get there super early (sunrise) or go right before sundown once the swimmers have left for the day. swimming pressure should ease off in the next month or two as well.

i'd suggest spending a little while on google maps with sat. view to scout rt. 6 for pull-outs along the Wilson before you go. some of those pull-outs will sneak up on you if you're just cruisin' by, and some people like to drive fast on that road, so just be careful pulling in/out from the road. Good Luck!
 
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PhoFish
PhoFish
Case, first, thank you so much for the help - I appreciate it more that you know.

I have been looking at the hike in lakes in the Mt Hood area. I have never caught a trout, and this seems to be the state to do so. Plenty of bass, walleye, pike, and other warm water fish in Minnesota.

So needless to say, I am very excited for the opportunity for some mountain fishing. I see Lake Harriet on the map, but since I want to go tomorrow and I do not have a watercraft (someday, right?), would there be a lake or stream you could recommend near to there that is a short hike (1 or 2 miles one way) in and cold enough to produce trout from the shore? I have never camped before, though that is on my list of to do this year... hopefully. You can PM me if the locations are secret or whatever :)

I will have to check out the Wilson - though it sounds a bit crowded during the day for my "new to the area" status at this time.

Again,. thank you for your help!
 
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case.bolt
No problem man, glad to help! I haven't been here long enough to learn any 'secret spots' of my own yet, so i'm happy to share anything i've learned! Lake Harriet still might be a decent bet if you can be there before 10am or after maybe 6-7pm once the sun's off the water. it's at a decent elevation, and the oak grove fork of the clackamas river is what feeds it coming out of the mountains, so it still stays fairly cool as far as i understand.

i haven't explored that many of the hike-in lakes yet, but for hike-in lakes, start here: https://myodfw.com/articles/stocking-oregons-hike-lakes

if you poke around on that page, ODFW also has links to google maps pins of ALL of their stocking locations, hike-in and otherwise. poke around a bit more and there's a spreadsheet buried somewhere on their site that actually shows the most recent stockings of each hike-in lake by species and year. they normally also post the stocking schedules/dates for ALL locations, but didn't this year to reduce crowding due to COVID. they only stock the hike-ins every few years, so that schedule is still on their site somewhere.

the two hike-ins closest to Harriet would probably be Hideaway and Shellrock Lakes. Hideaway actually has a campground, pretty sure you can actually drive to it this time of year, and Shellrock is within about a mile or so hike from Hideaway. Shellrock would probably be the better for fishing right now, Hideaway is probably getting some recreational/camping crowds since you can get to it by car this time of year. Hideaway becomes a hike-in later in the year when it starts getting some snow, or early in the year before all the snow melts off, so it's still stocked as a 'hike-in'. also, these are forest roads that get progressively rougher after you leave rt 226/clackamas hwy, so take a vehicle with a bit of clearance if you can. there's a few other lakes in the same general area, but these are the two i've been to.

the other hike-in that i've been to is Burnt Lake. this is up closer to Mt. Hood, and the road to it is paved pretty much the whole way until the last mile or so to the trailhead. think it's about a 2 mile hike or so, not to bad, but there are a few steep sections that'll get your blood pumping. i was there in early mid-june, and was just throwing spinners, but couldn't keep the cutties off my line. none of them were big enough to keep, but it was still fun just pulling them in, one after another. there's a really nice rock cliff/outcrop on the NE side that makes for great bank fishing, and a number of other spots around the lake if that one's taken.

i'm originally from ohio, and moved here from NC, so, like you, most of my prior fishing experience was with warm-water species, LM bass, catfish, crappie, and the like. OR seems to definitely be a trout/steelhead/salmon state, and i've had a ton of fun learning the trout. steelhead and salmon are my next targets, then i'll feel like i've successfully assimilated (y)
 
PhoFish
PhoFish
well, I have a Civic, so this should be interesting! Lake Harriet it is, than maybe up to shellrock if that is a no go!

**Edit didn't realize that its 2 hours from harriet to shellrock TH.
 
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