IFish Fishing Forum banner

Tualatin River???

14K views 35 replies 24 participants last post by  Small Fry 
#1 ·
Hey I'm staying up in Sherwood for the weekend.
Does anyone have any info on the tualatin river.
What to fish for ect.

Thanks,
-Joe
 
#2 ·
yes since you are in sherwood you should go down to the tualiton city park and fish for small mouths and large mouths or dive down river a little ways and there is a better park that is just across I-5 and there is dock you have to walk in aways but just fish for large mouth there people do well plunking worms. there are also good size cats in there. just use worms.
 
#4 ·
I've been paddling, fishing, and acquiring after-work mental therapy in the Tualatin for about 30 years now.

And most of the "yucky poisonous water" ranters have, I'd guess, never been on the river.

It has a fairly high phosphorous content, as a result of fertilizers running off the the largely agricultural valleys it drains but there are plenty of swimming docks in the Tigard-to-West Linn reaches and I wouldn't hesitate to let my kids smim there. (It's certainly much more attractive than the green algae coating they'll get from swimming in Oswego Lake.) The water is mostly clear in the summer, depending on recent rainfall, never smelly, and you simply don't get the message "polluted." (Certainly nothing like the Willamette when I fished for spring chinook in the 60s.)

The flow is also augmented in low water season by extra water from Hagg Lake, so it's surprisingly cool, clean, and clear in late summer. Heck, during one hot and seemingly-endless July canoe race, when my water supply ran out mid-race, I scooped Tualatin water into my mouth with my hand (without missing a stroke, I hope.) No, nothing horrible happened to me but, no, I don't think I swallowed. :grin:

My catch on the Tualatin has mostly consisted of largemouth bass. I've landed them to about 4 pounds and did an almost-in-hand-release of one which I honestly think was nearly twice that size. I've heard rumors of smallmouth in the fastwater, lower section of the river, but never seen one above "the dam," the massive 4-foot-high diversion which sometimes shunts horrible Tualatin River water to feed glamorous Oswego Lake.

Yes, I've eaten some of those bass.

And when I cleaned them, every single one had been thriving on a diet consisting primarily of crayfish, which, based on what I've read, are a pretty good indicator of decent water quality.

If you're trailering, you can launch at Cook Park in Tigard, Tualatin City Park, or even Rivergrove boat ramp if you like tiny ones. We hand-carried boat guys can also take advantage of Brown's Ferry Park, the new dock at Jurgens Park, and directly under the Hwy. 99W bridge, along with a few less formal places, like below Stafford Road.

Bank access is tough, in terms of covering much water. You can use all those places mentioned above.

All in all, a much maligned but very nice little river.

Hope you get the chance to try it out.
 
#5 ·
I drive by the Tualatin river sometimes when I'm avoiding I-205, and I've thought many times about putting my canoe into the river maybe down by that little West Linn park with the baseball field and rowing upstream a ways, fishing as we floated back down, and taking out at the same park. Now I know there's bass and cats in there... any trout?

Just curious, since I don't know the river... Anybody know if there are dangerous rapids between I-5 and that little West Linn park? It always seems kind of slow moving (and probably OK for a canoe) to me. Are there any public places to park and put a canoe in further upstream, but on the East side of I-5?

One last thing: Good Luck, jfish986! Let us know how you make out! :smash:
 
#6 ·
I drive by the Tualatin river sometimes when I'm avoiding I-205, and I've thought many times about putting my canoe into the river maybe down by that little West Linn park with the baseball field and rowing upstream a ways, fishing as we floated back down, and taking out at the same park. Now I know there's bass and cats in there... any trout?

Just curious, since I don't know the river... Anybody know if there are dangerous rapids between I-5 and that little West Linn park? It always seems kind of slow moving (and probably OK for a canoe) to me. Are there any public places to park and put a canoe in further upstream, but on the East side of I-5?

No rapids but there is a low head dam that will get you in trouble. Its between I-5 and West Linn. You could put in at Brown's Ferry Park off of Nyburg Rd or at the luanch on the LO side off of Childs Rd. You would be upstream of the dam, though. There are rapids downstream of the new park in West Linn, too.


 
#8 ·
I know for a fact that very large trout migrate up the Tualitan clear to Gales creek in the Spring and Fall, cause Ive caught them. Locals in the Cornelius area make a regular sport of it in the Spring and Fall. and there are good numbers. Also a pretty good steelie run in the March-April time frame. There are some surprises in that river. :eek:
 
#9 ·
The Tualatin has had a past of pollution, I'm sure it continues today. But likely less than the past. Home sewers are directed into treatment facilities and there is less, albeit more eco friendly agriculture, so presumeably less pollution.
Right now I would put a canoe in at Elsner bridge(north of Sherwood) and take out at 99W bridge. Makes a good day-half day trip. Expect to catch primarily crappie also perch, warmouth, bass, and cutthroat. For crappie use jigs. tip with a worm and expect anything to bite.
This river gets a bit more use than when I use to fish it regularly 15yrs ago.But it was not uncommon to fish it all day and see one or two others. Most use today seems to be canoe/kayakers just out chillin'.
Cutts spawn in the trib creeks, but the real pretty trout water is below Lee Falls to Cherry Grove. A nice pebble bottom trout stream. However, very limited access up there.
 
#10 ·
More than you ever thought you wanted to know about the Tualatin:

"The dam," which provides a diversion of Tualatin River water to Oswego Lake, is, perhaps 1/2 mile downstream from I-205. Be prepared to paddle upstream, hard, if you approach it during high, winter water.

Originally, freight was steamboated up the Willamette to Sucker Creek, (now prettily known as Oswego Creek,) the outlet of Oswego Lake. From there, merchandise was portaged up to the lake, then transported via apparently very skinny steamboats across the lake and through the artificially created narrow diversion canal to the Tualatin and, from there, upriver to Hillsboro, Forest Grove, etc. Unfortunately, this engineering scheme was accomplished just about the same time that railroads arrived and made it all economically non-competitive. Reportedly, between the endless oxbows and snags, walking was almost faster than riding the boat. Check out the book "Willamette Landings." Fun reading if you enjoy exploring the area's history.

Every year or two, some yahoos boat over this dam intentionally or accidentally. During late summer low water you can paddle up to it from upstream and step over it. During higher, winter water, you'll discover how deadly low-head dams and their reversal waves can be. Oregon and the West don't seem to have nearly as many of these as the Midwest and East Coast. I don't recall any fatalities but I guess we've been lucky. It's only been a year, I think, since the last pair of Darwin-wannabes accidentally tried it. There's a fish ladder around it. There's also private property all around it and no good, safe, legal way to pass it.

Downstream from the dam, toward "the ballpark" and West Linn, the river is hit-and-miss flat water and rapids. I've seen a gorgeous Wonacott wood strip canoe crunched shortly downriver of the dam during low, rocky water. That same stretch is bouncy and fun during the winter. There's a reasonable takeout on the left bank at Borden Road, but where do you put in, safely and legally? From there downriver to the mouth it's mostly rocky during low water. It's mostly big waves with unforgiving intervals in-between during high water. The first two canoe teams I know who tried it ended up swimming. One of them had their new canoe rescued by a powerboat just before it went over Willamette Falls.

With advanced skill levels and bomb-proof "Tupperware" plastic boats it's probably not as "deadly" as it once seemed but it's still not a place for the inexperienced.

Coho salmon, steelhead, and trout all inhabit the Tualatin system. "Nowadays," they're pretty much all protected from fishing as endangered populations and illegal to pursue but I see them now and then on the river and keep cheering for their resurgence. I suspect the main Tualatin (Can you say "Lee's Falls?") and Gales Creek are the primary spawning tributaries but Dairy Creek, McKay Creek, Johnson Creek, Beaverton Creek, what's left of Scoggins Creek and, certainly, much-abused Fanno Creek and Tualatin's Hedges Creek are original homes to some of the most gorgeous, big, black-spotted cutthroat trout you'd ever hope to meet. ("I've seen 'em." ) :wink:
 
#11 ·
I've actually done quite a bit of fishing in the Tualatin river. I have a friend who used to live near it, and I'd go to the small park near where 99W crosses it (I can't think of the name to save my life, but it's the one that has a newish concrete dock you can walk to.) and fish there every time I'd visit him. I've caught perch, bass, and a lot of decent size catfish. I've actually eaten the fish I've caught there, to no ill effects, although I generally relese them.

I personally love fishing there, it's scenic and peaceful and I never fail to catch a bunch of medium sized fish.

Just my 2 cents on the river.

Pat
 
#12 ·
Bill caught all of those cutts, though, Paddlefish.
You and Bill should get together and talk about Sucker Creek. It's his favorite childhood memory.

Jen
 
#13 ·
The Tualatin is very mis-understood. I've lived adjacent to the river for 15 years. I own the most southerly home in Lake Oswego proper city limits, backing up to River Run Natural Area and the Tualatin. My kids grew up swimming and fishing in the Tualatin. I attended and participated in many planning meetings on the future of the watershed, specifically planting of native vegatation and release of storm drain water into the Tualatin. My son's Eagle Scout project (which he completed) was the removal of non-native vegatation and planting of native vegetation along the Tualatin. The Tualatin has a naturally recurring incidence of phosphorus, as much from natural soil from the valley floor make-up as much as farm runoff. In my humble opinion the best way to look at the Tualatin is a "misunderstood, fairly urban river with huge potential for public recreation (canoeing, fishing, etc)if properly managed"
My thoughts now turn to Netarts Bay as I close on a home there June 1, and close on our LO home on the Tualatin June 16.
 
#15 ·
If you are running a boat out of Cook Park, beware... The water is not as deep as you think as it is. I have customized a prop on my boat in that area. The current is slow enought to row a driftboat upstream in most areas. It really is quite pretty. There are some huge carp in there.

D.
 
#16 ·
I have been fishing the Tualatin and its tribs since I was about 10 years old. I primarily fish upstream of highway 219 out in scholls clear to the base of hagg lake. Rainbows and cutts over 20" are common if you know what you are doing. (Indiana spinner with a worm is the old standby).

There are five rivers that have good trout fishing in this drainage:

Upper Tualatin (Highway 47 thru Cherry grove)
Scoggins creek (good when the other rivers get to warm)
Gales Creek (early spring and late fall only through entire drainage)
Dairy creek (Mountain dale to the tualatin)
McKay creek (North plains to the Dairy Creek)

If you are nimble on your feet and don't mind getting muddy and wet all of these can be outstanding in a small canoe. There are lots of log jams, poison oak, stinging nettles, and black berries with very little banks access unless you know someone.

Thunderstruck.
 
#18 ·
Oh, I forgot another "target species," though my youngest son will likely want to kill me for giving it away.

In late summer or fall, we typically spend a couple of hours and "fill the canoe" with errant golf balls from the river, along the Tualatin Country Club.

I clean them up and give them to my golfing friends, who, before long, probably hit them back into the river. :hoboy: (It's a kind of time delay catch-and-release.)

The only scary part is, while "golf ball fishing," hearing one whiz over your head to land mid-river. Perhaps I should start wearing my bike helmlet.
 
#21 ·
There is carp in there but targeting with flies ...I don't know. You don't see the numbers that you do in shallow waters. This time of year you could target crappie. Look for structure(ie In the Tualatin this means all those trees in the river) use a jig or wet fly.
 
#22 ·
Hey, anybody want to talk me into talking my canoe out on the river we could put in at 99W. I was thinking a evening bite kinda thing.Or perhaps you just would like a tour of the river. Say 7 to dark. Tuesday -Friday.Target crappie.pm me
Early on Memorial Day would work also.
 
#23 ·
letsfish,

I have been targeting carp with a fly for several months. It's a little challenging but a whole lot of fun. Haven't tried river fishing yet. That's why all the questions.

When you see the carp, are they feeding or crusing? Are they up stream or down stream from Cook Park?

Thanks
 
#25 ·
Re carp KEB, dont see them cruising or feeding just the occasional jump and accidental hook up(while fishing for something else).I use to bow fish for them but not in the Tualatin-they don't show well even during spawning. One of those boys on fly rod sounds like fun.
 
#26 ·
I fished the stretch by Rood Bridge park, right where the nearby water treatment plant discharges into the water. I guess fish are attracted to the bubbling, small ones at least. Got 3 fish - a pikeminnow, bluegill, and baby rainbow trout. All were under 5". Got em on a white 1/16oz rooster tail.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top