Upper Willamette

Upper Willamette River Float Trip

Show#:	3006
Host:	Trey Carskadon Special Guest: Pat Connelly - Host of N.W. Outdoor Report - 910 A.M. (KFXX) in Portland, Oregon
Location:	Overnight drift on Oregon's Willamette River from Harrisburg to Peoria (just north of Eugene to just south of Corvallis) using drift boats. (Approximately 20 miles.)
Species:	Multi-species trip. Cutthroat trout, largemouth bass, whitefish, northern pike minnow, and others.
Tips:	This trip was particularly memorable. The fishing, surroundings, solitude, and camaraderie made this outing noteworthy. Starting at Harrisburg, the river is a classic, large trout stream with lush riparian vegetation and resident cutthroat trout well-distributed throughout its length. The float down to Peoria presented only a few waterway challenges, and is best fished from a drift boat, though a raft or even a canoe will suffice. Pay special attention to the many downed trees along the way. Most hold fish, but also can be very dangerous if you get too close. This is really a two day trip if you want to fish it thoroughly, though it could be floated in a long day, if you don't make frequent stops. In July, the time this trip was taken, there is good fishing for chinook salmon (the run's winding down at that time), summer steelhead (the run's getting started), smallmouth and largemouth bass, whitefish, jack salmon, rainbow trout, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and a variety of "rough" fish. The techniques we used started with casting a variety of single hook Vibrac Roostertails. These spinners have a shaft-through-the blade design that spins instantly, and a large body profile that works exceptionally well and allows the spinner to drop quickly into the strike zone and work along the bottom where the fish are. With caddis in the river, it quickly became clear that the 1/8th ounce size in a green or brown body with a matched hackle hook was the ticket. I still think I would include black and red bodied patterns as well, just in case the bite changes. There's leeches, crawdads, several minnow species, and a number of insect species these other colors might better represent. Drifting and casting these spinners to the bank, particularly through shoreline eddies, behind fallen trees, along grassy banks, and under overhanging trees was most productive. The fish seemed to be located closer to the bank in water that was generally less than 8 feet deep. We also cast a variety of F4 sized Flatfish in the Natural Scale, Perch Scale, and Frog finishes. These worked best with a size 3 split shot pinched about 20" ahead of the lure. We'd simply quarter cast these upstream, allow them to drop for a couple of seconds, and work them along the bottom. Most of the backwater sloughs that have any depth (8" or more) harbor either smallmouth and/or largemouth bass. We only spent about an hour fishing bass, and caught a couple fish that were about a pound and a half each and spotted several bigger fish cruising the shoreline. A more concentrated effort would have yielded more fish. For fun we chose to fish a top water (Hula Popper) bait and a small minnow-type shallow running stick bait. We also fished a variety of plastic worms landing on Berkley Power Grubs in the motor oil as the bait of choice. Especially in the lower river, plastic worms and grubs fished with either a split shot approach or sliding sinker are very effective. I recommend baits that are in the 4" range to capitalize on both largemouth and smallmouth that are in the river. Salmon and steelhead were in the river, and we spent just a few minutes backtrolling plugs. Again, a more dedicated effort would have been in order. There's a number of islands along the way. These are public and available for use. You're encouraged to make every effort to reduce your impact on these areas by practicing strict "no trace" camping techniques. Take a sleeping pad (I forgot mine), the beaches are largely rock or sand, both of which make for some uncomfortable sleeping without a pad. There's an abundance of opportunity down river from Peoria, especially bass, which thrive throughout the river, but especially from Corvallis to Salem, the river's checkered with prime backwater areas that, at times, hold large schools of largemouth and smallmouth bass. A great resource for planning your trip is the Willamette River Recreation Guide that was developed by the Oregon State Marine Board. This guide lists launches, camping areas, facilities, historical points of interest, important phone numbers, navigation hazards, and a variety of useful or noteworthy comments. You can get a copy of this guide by calling the Oregon State Marine Board and asking for a copy of the Willamette River Recreation Guide at (503) 378-8587.