Bethany Lake (pond)

[MarlinMark]

Has anyone been up there lately? I was thinking about taking the fly rod up there today and stalking around. Has anyone ever seen any carp in there? I'm thinking it might be time to try the carp on a fly thing. I hear that there are blue gills in there too. I love gills on my 3wght.

Mark

[Greenheadhunter]

I havent fished their this year yet but have caught both carp and bluegill. The carp get rather large in that pond. Have even caught the occasional bass and catfish. Good Luck, Chris

[Sandz]

theres a lil of everything in there, trout, bass, cats, blue gill, even caught a few crappie outta there...

[john montana]

anyone mind pointing me in the direction of bethany pond? i can't find it's location...

if you are looking for good carp spots for the flyrod, hit the columbia slough downtown...tons of carp in there to chase.

[PDXSteelhead]

It's on the corner of 185th and West Union out in Hillsboro/Beaverton - north of hwy 26

[john montana]

thanks! i'll have to check it out some day...

[McKenzie]

I've taken 20+lb carp from Bethany - and there's bigger fish in there. In addition to the normal carp, there's some white koi and orange koi that have grown to the 5-7lb range. If you're looking to hook up carp, fish the western end of the pond by the dam. They cruise the shoreline near dusk and roam in packs. I've never gotten one to take a fly yet - but i've caught plenty of them on dough balls. I also admit to taking a number with a flyrod & reel but using a #6 Gamakatsu + a ball of bread...those are the only times I've seen my backing while fishing!

The bass can be good - they range from 1/2 to 2 lbs average, but usually I wind up tossing rubber worms or tubes for them. When I'm flyfishing bethany I'm targeting panfish 90% of the time. There's LOTS of gillies, crappie, and warmouth in that lake. If you've got a float tube, canoe, or kickboat I suggest you use it - it'll get you to a LOT more fishable water than your feet can.

Standard dries & nymphs will take all the panfish & smaller bass you can handle. No need for special warm water patterns.

If you don't feel like walking a quarter mile from the main parking area to get to the dam, take Rock Creek Blvd. west from 185th to Columbia Av, head north till it dead ends. There's a couple parking spots, and access to the western end of the pond. It's a short walk from your car to the dam and the awaiting fish.

I freely give this info out because it seems like everyone and his brother already knows it, and frankly it'd be nice to see more flyfishers out there, and more carp fanatics. most people roll their eyes when I tell em I'm fishing for carp, at least till they see how BIG those fish are.

[john montana]

thanks for the tips mckenzie...a carp addict i am! i'm always looking for local fishing options, and while bethany is a bit of a drive, it sounds like it is worth checking out. i'll try to get out there this weekend and see if i can get one of those big carp to take a fly!

[Sandz]

Yeah, most people consider that thing a mud hole... its alot better fishing then some places around thats for sure. Can catch a limit of trout pretty quick usually as well.

[Hunt'nFish]

Mark,
How'd it go??
3wgt!!!! Yikes, that outta be fun. I gotta a new 5wgt I need to get out. Page me some time (# in profile) I'll join ya some morning. Would like to shake hands and put a face to your moniker.

Would a Senko on a fly rod be cheating?? :grin:
Hunt'nFish

[Sandz]

ive seen it done in Vernonia. A 5wt rod with a 2in senko on the end

[MarlinMark]

Well, as it turned out I only ended up with an hour in the middle of the day to check it out. So, that's what I did. The trout fishermen were struggling. One woman landed a catfish (about 3lbs.) I walked along the entire south shore and couldn't spot any cruising fish. I will have to get back out there at dusk and see if I can't raise some blue gills on dry flies. Hunt'nFish, I will send you a pm or call when I'm headed out. As far as "cheating" goes....well I've got a buddy who says "Win if you can, lose if you must. But, always, always cheat!" :smile:

[john montana]

i was there yesterday, saw a couple of big carp, and hooked one really big monster. didn't see a lot of carp, maybe 4-6 fish total, but the ones i saw were good size. the big boy i hooked broke me off when he headed for the lilly pads and i tried to stop him. i was fishing a 6 wt rod and size 12 hare's ear.

i did see a nice bass in the shallows, but he wasn't interested in eating anything. good sized fish though.

[MarlinMark]

Thanks John,

What time of day were you there?

Mark

[john montana]

i was there from about 11-1...give or take a bit. i met another fly fisherman named Dave...nice guy. did you see any carp? i only saw a few, but they were big fish. most of the guys i saw were catching some stocked trout here and there. i didn't try for trout or bass, just cast at the couple of carp i saw...

[3riversBob]

How big is Bethany? :shrug: Is it bank access only? :shrug: Would a 10' pontoon work in there? :shrug: Lots of questions, huh? :shrug:

Thanks,
Bob :smile:

[Maddie'sDaddy]

Very small, long and narrow, i have seen a float tube in it. But you can pretty much cast to the other side in most places. The west end opens up some but not sure of the depth. Dont think its real deep anywhere bait hits bottom in about 2 seconds :shrug: By the way anyone got a good recipee for dough balls. Want to catch some carp for the fun of it. :smile:

[McKenzie]

Bethany isn't a very deep lake. It's generally in the 3-5 foot depth range, and I think out in the very center it *might* have a spot 8-10 feet depending on the water level-- in the summer it can get low -- with only 6 inches or so of water at the dam. It does harbor some unusually large fish - I've seen largemouth in the 5lb range pulled out, there's channel cat & bullheads in there (for the adventurous souls who dare try the park after dark, I've heard of large catfeesh from that pond) and of course, our beloved carp. The trout are all dead by the end of june, or they're hiding in the coolest hole they can find and stop eating. Water temperatures push 75-80 degrees in the summer, and it can get warmer in the shallows. I figure by mid june the place is going to be overrun with hydrilla & algae, and fishing in that gets interesting. That's about the time i usually switch to an ultralight spinning outfit and chuck 4 inch worms or 3-4 inch tubes rigged weightless and weedless, and work 'em up on top during the early evening or morning when the water temperatures are tolerable to the fish. Dropping a dry fly & dropper setup in the open pockets can produce a huge array of sunfish - I've caught bluegill, pumpkinseed, warmouth and crappie all in the same areas.

John - I reeeally need to fish with you sometime, as those carp have refused everything I've thrown at them fly-wise -- you've got to be doing something different than me -- and i'm dying to learn the secret >:)

As far as floating devices go - THPRD guys I've talked to say there's no regs against putting a boat on the water if you can get it in there. Float tubes, 'toons, canoes, rowboats...whatever. You could even put in an electric motor powered rig if you want. Basically if you can carry it to the edge of the water, you can put it in. You just can't swim in the lake (not that i'd want to)

One word of caution -- as the weather warms and the water warms, the bacteria levels in the lake rise dramatically. I had one of the parks guys emphatically tell me NOT to touch any food, or my eyes & mouth (or other mucus membranes) without disinfecting my hands first after touching fish or the water. The lake draws a large number of waterfowl, and they poop in the water a LOT + the algae blooms. You couldn't pay me to take & eat anything from that water. And if you're taking a lunch, eat it before you cast, or take a good size bottle of hand sanitizer & some wetwipes, lest catch something you don't want!

[FastAction]

Its only 3'deep I waded out across in numerous spots last May when teaching my lab pup to swim. Mud and guck!! and Lots of Algea!!!

I always wore waders!!!

[john montana]

good info mckenzie...i'm game to head out after carp pretty much anytime. i'm a sucker for big carp!

[bass man]

Can anyone give directiopns on how to get there from portland. I tried looking on the web but no dice. :wave:

[McKenzie]

bass man,

Take Hwy 26 west from Portland to 185th Ave. Head north. You've got two options - you can turn west (left) at Rock Creek Blvd, and go down a block to Columbia and follow Columbia to it's dead end (dead ends at the west entrance to the park) or you can continue north on 185th to West Union Road. The eastern entrance and main parking lot sits right on the west side of 185th about half a block down from West Union Road - you can't miss it. I usually take the Columbia route - because that's the end of the lake with the dam, and I've always had more success there. Not to mention Rock Creek flows there, and in the summer time I've caught carp and bluegill in the creek itself immediately below the spillway of the lake. THPRD guys say there's a population of trout in the stream, but I've yet to catch one. I did rescue a couple big carp last fall though - they washed out from the lake and got stuck in a run only about 50 feet long. Pulled em out of the little run and put 'em back in the lake where they came from. No sense seeing such a big fish wind up dead. I could only imagine that some kid would've wound up catching one or two one way or another and killing them. The kids I've run in to fishing there weren't overly concerned with the wellbeing of the fish or other wildlife in the area... :depressed:

[cullinaire]

There's so much algae in the pond, that almost anything I cast out there comes back as a green blob. Any suggestions? Am I just fishing the wrong area? (Dam side by the lily pads)