bigger bass

[motocross5646]

this past summer iv been fishint the tuallitian river a few times. i use worms, small buzz baits, plastic worms, white zoom plastic swimm baits, small jigs, tubes, live minnows, spoons, rooster tails, and a small crawdad crank bait. iv caught and released over 80 fish since july in the river. but the biggest bass ive caught was about 11 and 1/2 inches. i see pictures of guys catching 2-3lb bass in this river.do you guys have any tips to get me catching bigger fish? and i always c&r... oh and i dont have a boat. i like to use light tackle i use a 6.5 ft ultralight rod with a small spinn reel and 2lb line. ive caught a couple 18 in squaw fish with it so i think i should be able to bring in a 2-3 lb bass with it... or do i really need a heaver setup? if i need to use big baits i guess i could bring out my medium action rod but it is a really cheep combo so i dont like to use it. anyways please help. thanks

[Jon55]

Welcome to ifish! I have been bass fishing for a few years now and am still learning how. My advice is throw the line where the big fish are with what they want to eat. Also: put 6 lb test on. Then after you learn how to catch the big ones, you can teach me. :cheers:

[Crainkbait]

I have been checking out the Tualatin. I have scouted out several bank areas, and soon I will drop in a line. It certainly is an interesting river with some serious potential. Trees down everywhere. I will post after I go.

[Super Fluke]

Use heavier line and bigger baits.

[fishnfun]

most the fish in that river are about that size you are catching, at least above the dam, below it I've heard that there are some larger fish

[Ingraham]

hey motocross,
I just started bass fishing last spring and fish two rivers near Canby that are quite similar to the Tuallitin. I had been using smaller line, lighter rods, and smaller crank baits all spring and winter long. I could catch tons of fish but never could get big fish. I put a post up a week or so ago and got some good advice about using bigger baits including plastics which I had never used. There is a ton of archived posts you can search for with a bunch of good help but the interesting thing for me was, after purchasing a bunch of plastics and larger baits this morning I went out today for a few minutes and fished a hole from the bank I have fished many, many times. In fact, yesterday I got skunked on this hole that I normally pull a lot of fish out of, small but still fish. Today I used those bigger baits and soft plastics and pulled out 2 3# smallies (My first ever) which were significantly larger than any other fish I have caught. You could call it a fluke but my hunch is that these baits will continue to produce fish of a much larger caliber than I have been catching thus far. This was a good quote I found from an old post (i think it was exbassguide:

My top small mouth lures:
#1. 3" Senko 95% of the S.M. bass I get are on this lure.
#2. 4" zoom lizard 3%
#3. 4" Tube w/ jig head 1%
#4. crank bait 1% There was also a good post a while back about fall fishing I think from BuKuBass:

Why dredge the bottom? Until the frost kills off the big grasshoppers and such, buzz a paddletail worm across the surface with enuf speed so that its tail spanks the surface. Want to go a little deeper? Twitch unweighted Zoom Flukes and Madtom's Sinkin' Salty Shads. Fall is also a good time for drifting Senkos and their ilk; I like baitfish colors.I also used a baby torpedo today and got some really big hits but didn't land them, its a really weird retrieve.

Here is a simple but good link for rigging plastics: http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/soft-plastic-fishing.shtml

Anyway, I hope things pick up for you and this falls brings many 3#+ smallies!:cheers:

[Jade Monkey]

Use heavier line and bigger baits.

Agreed bigger baits, bigger fish....... i run 12lb test line with med action rods ( Ordella's } the least i go is 8lb for smallies, DS mostly .... 14lb line on most my casting rods ......cranks and spinners some football jigs ... ive never fished on that river but TONS of great fishing with in miles of each other :grin:
Cheers Jade

[Dave Smith]

You're deciding to catch small fish before ever leaving the house. Get some real gear and it couldn't hurt to get away from the river systems, too- you're size will about double if you can get over to "the willy", but get away from current completely and fish start growing.

[MXRacer105]

You can find big fish on the Tualatin, just keep looking. Its a great river for someone with only bank access too, much easier to fish than the Willy when you are so limited to where you can fish. Go below the dam and find anything that breaks the current, a big rock, lay down, etc... Just don't try it until you get some bigger line on that reel!!!

Since getting a boat I have not fished it nearly as much, but I have made a couple trips to the banks this summer. One of my biggest fish of the year so far has come from the Tualatin, they are in there for sure.

[SailCat]

No one else seems to have mentioned this ....

You might want to leave the leave the live minnows in your aquarium at home. They're illegal to use, See Fishing Regulations, page 7, Use of fish for bait.

Good luck finding the big fishes.

~MT

[motocross5646]

thanks for the tips guys looks like i need heaver line and bigger baits. i fish below the dam in the rapids. ive never fished the slow spots are those any good? and thanks for the info SailCat, i didn't know. ill try out some bigger baits today and let you know how i did.

[motocross5646]

thanks guys you were right i used some bigger gear and a big crankbait in a bigger hole and and first cast caught a fish close to 2 lbs my personal rechord. on the last cast of the day i hookinto something big i fought it in but for some reason it felt like a log or a branch. anyways i got it in and it wasnt a fish but a fishing reel. some hor i snaged it out in the middle of the river. it was fun catching bigger fish. i cant wait to try some different types of bait

[1bigfish]

Congrats on the personal best.:cheers:

[Jade Monkey]

woooo hoooo nice job ..... now lets find some bigger better fish.... dang i love these fish!!!!:cheers:good job and congrats

[Ingraham]

WELL DONE! What a good feeling to pull in a fish about twice as big as what you have been pulling in! I'm sure there will be many more to come!

A few of you guys said there is good bank access from the Dam down... Are you putting starting at the park where it meets the Willamette and walking up? Or is the park area over fished?

[MXRacer105]

... Are you putting starting at the park where it meets the Willamette and walking up? Or is the park area over fished?

There are a few parks and access points below the dam, and like you mentioned you can walk/wade most of it regardless.... The newer park off Willamette Falls Drive (the one with the baseball fields just south of the road) probably has the best river access from what I have found. You can walk quite a ways up river from there in the water and never be in more than 2' of water.... Nothing is better when the temps are over 90....

[motocross5646]

i usually fish the new park on willamett falls drive withe the baseball diamonds but now that im after bigger fish i don't fish there. there are lots of fish but they are small.
i heard Lm bass fishing is pretty good above the dam. there are alot of fallen trees for cover. what do you guys think?
i bought some sanko's today but i realized i dont know how to fish them lol . i know the different ways to rig them though. can someone tell me how to fish them.... thanks