Summers and springers on the north

[brandon4455]

okay, since this is one of the closer rivers to home and i have fished it a little bit before i thought this river would be good to continue my hunt for steelies.. mostly with my fly rod but i will be fishing yarnies..and jigs etc too.
i don't know to much about the river.. i have heard there is some access in the stayton area? ive onlyfished this river at fishermans bend and somwhere when i was little can't quite remember. can anyone point me in the general area of good access? not looking for your honeyhole or anything just somwhere i can explore and whip some flies around. and wanted to see if anyone had some tips on fishing for the steelies and springers here or if my general knowledge of the fish is good enough. thanks for any input


brandon

 

[SantiamDrifter]

There's already a pretty good thread about bank access on the North. There is good access at the bridge in stayton, park on the north side and you can walk up or down river.

As far as tips go, early season use pink, late season go peach. Black always produce's some. Colder water wait till the sun comes up, usually bout 9-10 am is when the bite turns on. When it starts to get low and clear, it turns into a first light bite. Oh and make friends with someone who has a DB, you can get at sooooo much more water that way.

 

[C_Run]

The bridge at Stayton has access. Also up from the bridge at Lyons is some access as well as John Neal Park in Lyons. North Santiam Park has a good hole by the walk-in camp.

 

[SALTYFISH]

On another note if i lived in Dallas, I would be hitting up 3 rivers. There fish are a lot fresher (never had to swim in the Willamette )and there springers show up earlier. And both runs are very strong and worth fishing,Just a thought.

 

[JeannaJigs]

Im curious about Info on floating the north in a driftboat. I was gonna do it last June but then my ca wreck axed that. Pretty familiar with the south but I like the north better just based on what I've seen from the bank. It's a lot more like the mckenzie.

 

[troutdude]

Brandon, this early you might want to work the bank of the Main stem. Start under or near the I-5 bridge and work your way downstream. Lots o' bank access. Go get 'em!

 

[SantiamDrifter]

Im curious about Info on floating the north in a driftboat. I was gonna do it last June but then my ca wreck axed that. Pretty familiar with the south but I like the north better just based on what I've seen from the bank. It's a lot more like the mckenzie.

I would look into the LTR drifts. They did the Greens Bridge one already tho, sunk one boat above the confluence. Next float in line is the log jam, Hopefully they cancel it. I believe they lost 2-3 DB's and a pontoon and that drift last year. But from Stayton to Shelburn is a pretty easy drift. Then Anything above that I would advise you to go with someone who know's the river. I know Santiam338 was interested in floating some of the water. If you dont want to go down with 20 other boats on the LTR day, maybe we can make a group float on some of the upper strecthes.

 

[brandon4455]

wow! a lot of helpful info. thanks so much everyone. and saltyfish, i do fish three rivers for springers and summers. did that last year and plan on it again. jeanna, maybe ill see you out there this year and we can bank fish or somthing. im dying to try those jigs out that you told me about. i will be hitting up the north atleast three times this summer and thats at a minimum. so if anybody wants to join me sometime id be glad to fish with a fellow OFFer. i will definitely start at the i-5 bridge as jay stated. and work my way upriver as the season goes on. im gunna wait atleast a week or two to try for some steel and a bit longer for the springers.


brandon

 

[JeannaJigs]

Good lord that's nuts, 2-3 boats capsized. Jeeze. I'd be down to do a group float on some of the upper stretches. 20 other boats though would irritate the crap outta me I think.

I would look into the LTR drifts. They did the Greens Bridge one already tho, sunk one boat above the confluence. Next float in line is the log jam, Hopefully they cancel it. I believe they lost 2-3 DB's and a pontoon and that drift last year. But from Stayton to Shelburn is a pretty easy drift. Then Anything above that I would advise you to go with someone who know's the river. I know Santiam338 was interested in floating some of the water. If you dont want to go down with 20 other boats on the LTR day, maybe we can make a group float on some of the upper strecthes.

 

[SantiamDrifter]

The boats that sunk lagged behind the group. And when they came to the braids they picked the wrong channel. We had a pretty nasty wind storm just before the LTR drift where a bunch of cottonwoods washed in the river. All the boats ended up getting stuck under the same tree.

 

[steelhead1]

FYI, there are some nasties right before the confluence this year,lots of down trees and strainers.Another bad turn to watch out for about halfway through.Last time I drifted this section (Greens bridge) the water was a little high,so it wasn't too bad sqeakin by some of this stuff,but as the water drops it will be more challenging

 

[bigsteel]

Im curious about Info on floating the north in a driftboat. I was gonna do it last June but then my ca wreck axed that. Pretty familiar with the south but I like the north better just based on what I've seen from the bank. It's a lot more like the mckenzie.

lets go

 

[Kenjamin]

Was just at the brigde in Stayton and ghost town as far as any action.

 

[brandon4455]

Was just at the brigde in Stayton and ghost town as far as any action.

thers some fish in there. just not a lot of them. give it a few weeks and there will be some more. thanks for the update
brandon

 

[SantiamDrifter]

FYI another boat was sunk sunday in the greens bridge drift. Sounds like everyone made it out, but the boats lost.

 

[JeannaJigs]

Sketch