New to the area -- lots of questions

[tmattevans]

Hi, All --

I just joined the forum, but I've been reading the archives and trying to get up to speed for a few weeks now. I recently moved to Corvallis from NC and it looks like I need to learn how to fish all over again. In NC, the majority of my fishing was in the surf, the sound, farm ponds, and finger lakes. I've also fished brackish water bays a bit. I don't have a boat, float, etc. What I do have is three small spinning rods (in NC, we just called them 'bass rods') and three surf rods (9'-10', throwing 3-8 oz. of weight). At this point, I'd like to avoid buying a bunch of new gear, but I am prepared to buy lures, rigs, bait, etc.

So, there's a ton of info here, but it's scattered about a bit and often involves specific answers to specific questions -- e.g., where to go and what to throw for a specific weekend. What I am looking for is a more broad education. For example:

1. Where are some good places to go right here in town for a couple of hours after I get off work? How do I fish those areas?
2. Are there some specific locations/directions that folks could provide for places a little farther away? Maybe for half-day trips?
3. Places to go for a weekend of camping and fishing?
4. I've never really fished fast moving water before -- any general pointers?
5. What about saltwater fishing? Is the surf fishing good? Where? What kind of setup do you use? Bait?
6. How should I be stocking my tackle box? The standards? Rooster Tails? Minnow jigs? Plastics? Spoons? Colors? Weights? How do you rig your plastics? We used to use a 'Carolina rig' -- is it similar here?
7. What about baits? Worms? Power Bait? Live minnows? Shrimp? Squid? I've seen several folks talk about eggs -- are these just the jars of little red eggs you can buy in tackle shops and sporting goods stores? How do you rig/fish your bait?

As you can see, I have a lot of questions. Clearly, I don't expect that someone would take the time to answer them all in detail, I'm just hoping a few folks could chime in and offer some advice to get me started. I've fished my whole life, but never in conditions or waters like these -- and most of the species are new to me, too.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to learning. Tight lines.

Matt

 

[C_Run]

Too many questions for me but one thing you could do about the locations is get a copy of Fishing in Oregon. It describes practically every body of water in the state and what species are present. Lots of maps. I've lived here all my life but, any time I travel to an unfamiliar area, I read up on it in Fishing in Oregon.

Surf fishing here is primarily for surf perch and there are some threads on here about that. Jetties and rocky headlands have a variety of other prized species you can fish for.

Other than that, all I can say is that fishing in Oregon is pretty diverse and you can see that from all the headings on this forum.

Good luck to you.

C

 

[tmattevans]

Too many questions for me but one thing you could do about the locations is get a copy of Fishing in Oregon.

Thanks for the tip! Didn't know that book existed, but I will track it down.

 

[Big3d]

I too can only begin to answer 1 or 2 of these questions, the eggs they mention are not the jars of single eggs, though those can work for trout and sometimes more. The eggs are salmon roe, you can buy roe at most bait/tackle shops, but the serious folks tend to cure their own from their catch I believe. Fast water tactics vary, but I like to swing spinners and spoons, which basically bounces them off the bottom until it swings and starts spinning fast toward the end of the cast. You will usually get your bites before or when the lure first hits bottom, it's kinda spendy, especially when you are learning to so it effectively, I am ok at this presentation and my spinner box is always lighter at the end of the day. Good luck with your new adventure. Welcome to Oregon, and OFF

 

[tmattevans]

Fast water tactics vary, but I like to swing spinners and spoons, which basically bounces them off the bottom until it swings and starts spinning fast toward the end of the cast.

Thanks for the kind reply and the tips. To be clear, what you're talking about here is standing on the bank, throwing the spinner/spoon upstream a bit, and then letting it drift with the current? When the line goes tight and the spinner drifts up, you pull in and re-cast?

 

[Big3d]

Yes indeed.

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Hi, All --

1. Where are some good places to go right here in town for a couple of hours after I get off work? How do I fish those areas?
   
   The Willamette, Calapooia, and Luckiamute Rivers all have bass and are near corvallis. Search google maps for places that might have public access and go fish them. You'll mostly find smallies in the rivers. In the winter Try the Alsea for Winter steelhead. Might want to upgrade your bass rod then but it wont be that bad especially on the North Fork. I got one up there last year on a blue fox type spinner but a locally made brand.
2. How should I be stocking my tackle box? The standards? Rooster Tails? Minnow jigs? Plastics? Spoons? Colors? Weights? How do you rig your plastics? We used to use a 'Carolina rig' -- is it similar here?
   
   For bass I mainly Texas rig my soft plastics, some times wacky. Just depends. Id stock your box seasonally, or for what your gonna target.
   
3. What about baits? Worms? Power Bait? Live minnows? Shrimp? Squid? I've seen several folks talk about eggs -- are these just the jars of little red eggs you can buy in tackle shops and sporting goods stores? How do you rig/fish your bait?
   
   Again this also depends on what your targeting. All of those baits are used in the waters around here except for live minnows. Live bait is illegal here in Oregon except for in the ocean. You'll see signs at lakes that state. "No live fish in, and no live fish out". Its to protect the waters.
   

As you can see, I have a lot of questions. Clearly, I don't expect that someone would take the time to answer them all in detail, I'm just hoping a few folks could chime in and offer some advice to get me started. I've fished my whole life, but never in conditions or waters like these -- and most of the species are new to me, too.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to learning. Tight lines.

Matt

Best advice is get the fishing in Oregon book and look over google maps for possible places. Good luck!

 

[bass]

Welcome to the forum. I lived on the East coast most of my life (NC for 5 years) so I understand how weird it feels out here compared to back East. I would recommend getting a book or two on steelhead and salmon fishing to build up some foundational knowledge. You will learn the general techniques from the books but the difference between success and failure is usually in the details that you pick up with experience and practice. If you can get someone who is experienced to mentor you a bit that would probably help accelerate things.

Since you are from NC and a bass fisherman let me explain moving water fishing this way. Just like bass fishing it is structure fishing. The added variable is that the moving water itself is another form of structure. Salmon and steelhead relate to breaks just like bass, but often the breaks are current breaks rather than a drop off. Figuring out which locations hold fish under which conditions takes some practice, but eventually you will develop a feel for precisely where to fish under a given set of water and weather conditions.

The most frustrating thing is that you can be doing everything perfectly, but not catch anything because there just do not happen to be any fish in the section of river you are fishing on a given day. Then you start to question your technique. Once you get some success of course this is easier to handle, but while you are learning it can drive you nuts.

I live up in Portland and did not fish much when I lived in Corvallis so I can't give you much in the way of locational advice. One thing to not forget about is that there is some pretty fun surf fishing not too far from you. Newport has a good jetty fishing (search for old posts) and the beach just south of the jetty sometimes has a lot of surf perch.

For bass fishing, I am mostly fishing for smallmouth in deeper, rocky waters up here in Portland. I have had a lot of success using crankbaits (crawfish color), spinnerbaits (mostly white) and on soft plastics (mostly drop shotting). I am not sure of your situation but I think that most folks will agree that if you get a pontoon or a kayak it will open up a lot of opportunities!

 

[tmattevans]

Thanks for the information, y'all! The Urban Hog Map is pretty sweet -- I'll have to check some of those places out next time I'm in/near Portland.

Also, I appreciate the info on live bait -- that's very different from NC and VA. There, some of the best fishing for crappie and largemouth is using live minnows.

 

[tmattevans]

Bass -- fantastic! That makes a ton of sense to me now. A pontoon or a float would be great -- I'll think about it, but my first purchase will probably need to be some hip or chest waders.

 

[halibuthitman]

Bass -- fantastic! That makes a ton of sense to me now. A pontoon or a float would be great -- I'll think about it, but my first purchase will probably need to be some hip or chest waders.

no hip waders... hip waders are for bush pilots and moose hunters, fishermen wear waders, hip boots have drowned a lot of fishermen-