Willamette bass fishing?

[mustardthetrout]

I am interested in fishing the Willamette one of these days for bass but have no idea where to start. The river is just so big haha! Does anyone have some good general areas that have produced for them in the past for me to start in? And what do you even use for fishing such a big river lure wise?

 

[troutdude]

This Urban Hawg map, should help.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=45.468318%2C-122.590942&spn=0.28026%2C0.576782&hl=en&msa=0&z=11&ie=UTF8&mid=14ILz0jL_fWAIIFwaHnum5S66N7c

 

[Fishpdx]

try 3-4 inch senkos, or mepps #1-2 spinners. I've had so much luck on mepps this year, out fished worms

 

[bass]

A good place to launch is George Rogers park. It is a bit of haul to the water but there is a paved path the whole way. I roll my kayak on my cart but if you are carrying it might not be as nice. The area from Wiley's seaplane port all the way up toe Cedaroak is mostly rocky shorelines that hold bass. There is more water than you can fish in a month of Sundays there.

My summer pattern is that I typically keep moving and switch between a Hot Lips express (12-15') diver, a 3/8oz white spinnerbait with tandem gold willowleaf blades and a dropshot with a wacky or nose rigged senko.

I have not hit the Willamette yet this spring but I would assume the fish are spawning or still near spawning areas. Look for backwaters, calm waters and fish them with shallower running baits: Switch the hot lips express for a shallower running square bill bait, spinnerbait is still good and I will usually switch out the drop shot for either a shaky head or a weightless wacky rigged senko.

This section of the navionics chart shows you the area. The west bank has a lot of good spawining areas. Both banks have a ton of good summer time spots. I like the steep banks with tumbled down rocks and boulders in the summer.

This should be more than enough to get you started. Mostly it is just beating the banks and moving to find fish. If you catch one stop and beat that area hard. Smallmouth are often schooled up. The interesting thing is that often the fish move from week to week. A spot that is good one week is dead the next. There is just more good water than fish in that area so fish everything and keep moving.

 

[portlandrain]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, just a quick question... What is the current like for a Kayak in that area, pretty easy going? Would it be ok for a novice Kayak fisherman? Also, do small mouth typically hit similar lures as largemouth? Seems like that's what you alluded to about, bass.

 

[pinstriper]

Check the stream velo. 1mph = ~.7 fps

It moves faster above the falls since there is no tide pushing upstream against it.

Paddle upstream from your launch point. The last thing you want to do is find yourself below your launch trying to overcome current and too tired to make it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[portlandrain]

Paddle upstream from your launch point. The last thing you want to do is find yourself below your launch trying to overcome current and too tired to make it.

Very good tip. Very logical, yet I didn't imagine that issue sitting here thinking about it. Thanks!

 

[pinstriper]

This gives you the Willy below the falls. You can see the velo and depth move with the tides.

This is the Willy above the falls. No tides.

For reference, I can paddle about 3 mph and sprint up to 4-4.5. I can pedal my Hobie 4-5 with little effort, and sprint 6-7.

Neither is one where I'd want to be fighting 3 mph of current. One I'd get away with and the other I'd be in trouble.

Being fundamentally lazy, I try to make the tides and current work for me instead of against me. I also check wind forecasts before making the go/no-go decision.