L
Letemgo
FYI The old man that used to live in the house next to Goods Bridge passed away last year, and the house has been sold to a very environmentally conscientious man. I met him in person last March and he seemed like a nice enough guy. He has put considerable time and effort into re-planting his section of shoreline with native plants and trees. I politely informed him that in the summer months, that particular spot is very popular with swimmers and the like. He was not happy to hear this. He understood that he did not own any of the river, but was very adamant about deterring trespassers. Last time I went there to fish he had constructed a "natural" fence consisting of small logs and sticks combined with blackberry vines. You can still access the river on foot from the South East side of the bridge, but unless the water is low enough to cross there isn't much steelhead water there.I knew I would get a comment about the net. I only carry it in case we get into a situation where we cannot access the bank. I only use cotton netting because it is way easier on the fish than poly. And rubber netting does not lay flat and tends to get tangled with everything. We put in at the slide at the Meadowbrook bridge (hwy211) and drifted to Wagonwheel Park (hwy 213). The gates just opened at both of these access points on Jan 1 and we were there on Jan 3 so we hit it about as early in the season as we could. My first steelie from the Molalla was in 1977. Back in those days there was a lot more access for boaters. I'd like to see Goods Bridge area opened up again but the resident at the end of the road on the north side of the river is very protective of his heavily potholed road and even chased my wife and me off just for driving down and taking a look. We used to be able to put in on the south side of the bridge but years ago they blocked off vehicle access with a guardrail. The argument was that 4-wheelers were driving in and tearing up the river bottom. Dang their hides anyway. The good news is that within the last couple of years, the area at Knight's Bridge is opened back up to the public. Steve
Count me and my milk crate yak in if you do!I feel an organized flotilla being planned.
I have been thinking of 'tooning the Feyrer Park - Wagonwheel section this winter.