Willamette River in Corvallis

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Today I decided to recon the Willamette Park (it's just 5 mnts away from my house).

It looked very promising, however I had hard time fishing with lures - river is fast and I just couldn't make my lure go deep. :(

Well, I decided, let's leave a boat ramp for guys with boats.

About two minutes away I found a little 'bay'. That's better, it looked more like my beloved Junction city pond. :lol:


And the very fist cast - FISH ON! :dance: Well, baby fish, but still fish, right? ;) And he was hungry - he almost swallowed my lure. :lol:

However that was the only catch today.
 
Nice job! He was hungry haha that's pretty deep for a Blue Fox. Keep exploring there are some great spots around Corvallis.
 
I sure miss that place, I used to run over there after class on days I finished early. :( Unfortunately I've just moved away from Corvallis.

For those not completely familiar with the area, that location is also known as Crystal Lake park and there's a second entrance into the Willamette park area off of Goodnight Ave.

And that little bay area you found is a great place! When the weather gets nicer the area you took that picture from becomes popular for dog walkers, but if you follow the trail along the slough you'll see a couple of places you can get down to the water. And now would probably be a good time to find them and familiarize yourself with them as they are hard to find once the plants green up and fill out a bit :).

I'd also suggest you explore those trails a little bit, there are a few small ponds back there that have huge bluegills in them, and there's also a nice gravel bar back there on the Willamette itself with some very nice holes and current seams :).

Edit - Pictures: Eventually the water will drop and you can do a fair amount of wading back in that slough you found.

Oh! And I forgot to mention there are some BIG carp that love that general area from my second photo.
 
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Wait, wait, wait.. Ponds?? North, south, east or west!?!?!
 
*reading the post again* hehe Anatoliy don't you just love it when you walk up and ho-hum plop a lure in and WHAM :lol:. I always walk up expecting I will have to refine my approach or try several lures but then BANG first cast hahah love it like that. Makes the rest of the day fly by even if you don't get any more. You just know they are there and are biting, makes it so much more intense. :dance::dance:
 
GraphiteZen said:
Wait, wait, wait.. Ponds?? North, south, east or west!?!?!
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They're all very small, but at least the one I have centered has tons of big bluegills, and a few small bass in there. Small Pond


Oh and it's called crystal lake for a reason, Crystal Lake but I've never taken the time to try that one out.
 
WoW!! Of all the times I bought grass out of that complex I never knew there was a pond behind it!! But that was a long time ago :cool: :D
 
Lol!
 
err I thought I deleted that ooops.... lol.. :rolleyes:
 
chris61182 said:
I'd also suggest you explore those trails a little bit, there are a few small ponds back there that have huge bluegills in them
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Thanks for the info Chris. I didn't see huge bluegills but for sure it's full of them. I tried it today.
 
So today I came back with worms. In about 15-20 mnt I caught this guy.

I'm not sure who it is. :lol: Chub?

Benton county sheriff has a nice boat. I wonder if he's allowed to troll while patrolling? :lol:

And I was not alone today. It's alway better to fish in a company.

Later I finally caught something big. It pulled hard and I was thinking maybe I'm so lucky to hook a salmon? :pray: Nope. :(
 
Nice job :clap: Yeah the marine patrols have nice rigs. Nice jet skis too that sneak up on you. Got me last summer for not having a life vest on board. $160 but they gave me a free whistle to lessen the blow.. :rolleyes:.
 
It's hard to tell from the photo but there's a good chance that's a peamouth, and a good sized one at that. Not to mention the good sized pikeminnow you caught as well :clap:!
 
Whatever the heck that thing is, I've caught a couple in Jefferson on the Santiam. I caught it's much uglier cousin,too. :confused: It had a mouth big enough to suck up softballs and was not able to close it at all. Talk about UGLY,yech! :shock: And no, it was not a bass, although we have caught and released quite a few bass there also. I think the big UGLY was a carp,even if it was only about 14" long. Nasty thing!
Barb
 
Today I found a spot that looked promising. Rocks, logs - fish love them.

The water in the river is incredible clear.

But in an hour I realized two things. First - my lures like logs too. :lol: They chose to stay there. :( Second - fish don't like my lures. No single bite. :(

So I changed my spinning rod to my fly rod.
While I decided what fly should I use I spotted a creature so I tied a fly that looks kinda similar :lol:

Nope, fish didn't find similarity. :lol: So I opened a hunting season for this creature, and after some time I had it on my hook. :D

First cast ... was it a strike?... no, it can't be so quick... or can?... Yep, it can. The hook is empty. Hunting for "creature" again and u-la-la! Big mama!

Cast, hit, come to daddy... :dance:

Chub? Pikeminnow? I don't know. But I don't remember when I had such a great time - fish just didn't give me time to smoke a cigarette, they were just crazy about the "creatures". And not only "ugly" fish. But beauty, too. :dance:

it was more difficult to catch a "creature" than to catch a fish with the "creature" on a hook. Only when it got so dark that I couldn't see "creatures" I had to stop fishing. And I realized that several hours just gone as a minute.

What a day....

So I have few questions for you guys. Who are those "creatures"? Is it their season or they are around all year? Are there flies imitating them?
 
Oh how I do miss that particular stretch of the river, thank you for the report and bringing back fond memories.

I believe the bugs are stone flies, but I bet that there are some fly fisherman around here who could correct me if I'm wrong.

I also believe that fish is a peamouth, or possibly a white fish, though there are definitely no shortage of pikeminnow in that stretch either, though I've found they tend to favor the slower water at the down stream end of the gravel.

Now I have a question for you, did you catch any fish by those concrete blocks? I've seen plenty of fish there, but the high volume of bathers, dog walkers, etc... has always made them skittish for me.
 
Thanks for your reply and info, Chris. I'm gonna read about stone flies. And yes, I was catching fish by that concrete block. Dog walkers, you said... I think they don't walk dogs. I think they hide with dogs in bushes and wait for me. And as soon as I cast all of them jump in water and compete who does it closer to me and who will make more noise. :lol:

P.S. Found out that yes, there are flies imitating stone fly nymph. And some of them REALLY imitates. :shock:
 
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i live about 5 mins from there too! i should give it a try. oh and yes that a nice peamouth:clap: where did you find the stonefly larva?
 
fishudedmeet said:
i live about 5 mins from there too!
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It makes us neighbors. :D
where did you find the stonefly larva?
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I think those are adults, not nymphs. Find a little bush close to water, they are sitting under river rocks around a bush. By the way - they move fast :lol:
 
Fishing in New Port Bay area great Cat Fish miniture

Fishing in New Port Bay area great Cat Fish miniture

Dear Friends

I was known among my friends in Corvallis Oregon as the 2 inch cat fish king in New Port Oregon.
It seem to be about all that I could catch.

Fishing story;

Get this, I bought a 32 snub nosed pistol.
I traded it for a used Fishing pole the previous owner said the pole was fiberglass home made.
I used the fishing pole for about 2 years and caught more fish than the 80 dollar pistol trade its self.
So on a value of money in trade.
I lost nothing and gained more than the pistol was worth new.
Moral of the story is, If your love of fishing is strong enough.
Trade a new or used pistol for a new or used fishing pole.
And go catch your limit.
I caught a lot of fish with my pole and still have the pole it has not been in the river since 1991.
at New Port and Bend and Corvallis Oregon.
I still have pole and live in Texas now.
Which I intend on moving back to Corvallis oregon in January of 2010 if possible.
I lived south of Corvallis Oregon when I moved in 1992.
I've caught mostly trout fishing.
with pole I traded for.
JM
 
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