IFish Fishing Forum banner

Western Oregon Gold Panning

43K views 64 replies 37 participants last post by  Don G Baldi 
#1 ·
With the popularity of that Gold Rush show, I was wondering if anyone has ever tried gold panning in western Oregon? The Sandy or Clackamas rivers could show a little color, couldn't they? Just wondering if anyone else has ever thought of this.
 
#36 ·
Roosevelt: Looks like you can quit your day job. That's great find.
yeah, i wish:) gold is one of those things, if you find it, there probably is no legal way to get enough for any monetary gain. beach gold is like trout fishing, you will always have something to show for your efforts, but it takes alot to add up.
 
#39 ·
So there has been a lot of talk about the legalities of panning in certain areas. Is it legal to hit any public property for a day of panning? I spend a lot of time steelhead fishing on the north Santiam in the summer time, on public property, and thinking bout taking a break or two and give this panning thing a try!
 
#40 ·
So there has been a lot of talk about the legalities of panning in certain areas. Is it legal to hit any public property for a day of panning? I spend a lot of time steelhead fishing on the north Santiam in the summer time, on public property, and thinking bout taking a break or two and give this panning thing a try!
as long as you are not on a claim (the Little North Fork Santiam) has a few claims you can pan or run a sluice box on public land. rp
 
#41 ·
My dad and I used to do quite a bit of dredging, mostly on our own claim here in SW Wa. Here`s some results, the big nugget was found in Alaska. The rest in SW Wa.



If you join the G.P.A.A. they give you a book with listed claims you can work, provided you have the neccessary paperwork/permits. Bill
 
#42 ·
Cool story, the nugget second row, first on the left, I found mossing with a pan. Pulled a bunch of moss off the rocks, washed the sand out of it in my pan, and the first swirl that beauty was laying right on top. I FREAKED, usually with mossing you find small pinhead gold, never expected something like that, it`s thin but a trophy none the less. Another time I was running the dredge, turned over a table sized rock and sucked the silt off the bottom, about a softball sized chunk of gold appeared. I spit out the mouthpiece{hookah} and tried to breath water in the excitement. Came out of the water and called my dad over for a look before I plucked it from the depths, turned out what I thought was a solid chunk was actually about a dozen nuggets clustered together in one spot. A good find but not the softball sized chunk I had envisioned. Bill
 
#43 ·
That is some great looking gold! Roosevelt I would love to see a picture of the platinum you found.
We did ok this past weekend Mossing the boy would rather dig and break cracks apart but we find more gold in the moss lol RP
 
#44 ·
That is some great looking gold! Roosevelt I would love to see a picture of the platinum you found.
We did ok this past weekend Mossing the boy would rather dig and break cracks apart but we find more gold in the moss lol RP
on the left...this is what we got yesterday
 

Attachments

#63 ·
I found an old miners? Trail up the main stream of the Santiam. The windfalls were cut out for mules to get through. The suckers growing off of the windfalls were big and old. This trail is remote, right on top of a hog back ridge. This trail ends near a creek with a lot of quartz, there is a large depression in the area that seems like a mine may have been there at one time.
I called the forest service about this trail and the guy I talked to knows the areas well but knew nothing about this old trail.
There is another spot in the Ochoco’s I found that has me very interested. Google Spanish peaks and first creek.
This summer, if someone wants to explore, get ahold of me.
 
Top