willamette river around corvallis fishing

[dane52]

I've just moved to Corvallis and am waiting for the March brown action to begin! I don't have a boat so any suggestions on good wadable stretches of the Willamette?

[Chris61182]

I've just moved to Corvallis and am waiting for the March brown action to begin! I don't have a boat so any suggestions on good wadable stretches of the Willamette?

You might want to have a look at Michael's Landing, it's near 1st and Tyler. I imagine that if you have a pair of binoculars with polarized lenses it might be interesting to go out on the HWY34 bridge and scope out the river from that vantage point, though I haven't bothered doing that yet.

And now what's this I hear you talking about browns in the Willamette? I've not heard that before, but I'm always interested in catching something new.

[Beaver1]

Try Willamette park south of town. Take 3rd street south a few miles, it turns into hwy 99. Take a left at the sign. Explore the park. Lots of river access. Or try the Mary's river. right in town, Just south of OSU on 15th street. These aren't great options, but thats what is in town. Santiams or the Mackenzie are better rivers for trout fishing.

[Chris61182]

Try Willamette park south of town. Take 3rd street south a few miles, it turns into hwy 99. Take a left at the sign. Explore the park. Lots of river access. Or try the Mary's river. right in town, Just south of OSU on 15th street. These aren't great options, but thats what is in town. Santiams or the Mackenzie are better rivers for trout fishing.

I would have suggested the Mary's river but most of the access is only really do-able at extremely low water, and has a great deal of overgrowth. Though if anyone is still interested you can get fair access to it from Avery Park.

Also Quartzville creek out past Foster and Green Peter reservoir might be worth a look to.

[Rosco]

Chris-

March Brown= insect, not fish.

[Chris61182]

Chris-

March Brown= insect, not fish.


Well you learn something new everyday, thank you.

P.S. I'm not actually a fly fisherman, but I did spend a lot of time wading the Willamette last summer.

[Snapset]

Try from Harrisburg upstream. Just below the Harrisburg bridge on the East side has been good in the past.

[Slow and Low]

Santiams or the Mackenzie are better rivers for trout fishing.


Yep head south and don't waste your time. 30 to 35 minutes you can be at armitage.

[Thomas Gilg]

The main Willamette is good for rainbow and cutthroat between the McKenzie confluence down to Harrisburg, and half way between Harrisburg and McCartney boat ramp (off Cartney road) is where crap is first pumped into the river and there is a noticable dropoff in water quality, insect activity, and sizable fish. And if you stand on the Harrisburg bridge, you will also quickly realize where the Army Corp of engineers halted their channelization of the Willamette long ago. An OSU researcher once told me how much channel and spawning/rearing habitat was eliminated between Portland and Harrisburg due the channelization, and its an impressive (and sad) figure.

Look on a map and you'll find some access points, although I personally have not tried much bank fishing. A boat really helps.

Wrt Corvallis. When I first moved from Montana to Corvallis Oregon, I tossed some spinners at the Willamette and Marys confluence. I kept getting slammed by some funny looking fish, and as two local ladies walked by, I held the latest catch up and asked "what it is". Without hesitation they responded "how should we know, we're vegetarians". To this day the image of vegetarians and squawfish are central to my description of Oregon.

--tg