Tualatin River?

Pitch Pocket · 10-19-2001, 08:48 AM

Glancing at the Oregon Live Fishing board, someone asked about salmon in the Tualatin. All he got were a bunch of "brown trout" responses. Actually, I've heard of steelhead and salmon going up the river as Gales Creek does hold fish at times. I think the Tualatin has been cleaned up considerably and is not a slow moving cess pool like it used to be, slow moving yes, cess pool no. One problem with the meandering nature of the Tualatin was the algae blooms in the summer making it murky. That problem has been addressed somewhat as phosphates have been banned from the watershed. Seeing it from the golf course once or twice per week, it seems to run pretty clear. I also see sleds running up and down the lower river occasionally. Anyone know?

fishbait · 10-19-2001, 09:07 AM

Yes, there are still a couple runs of anadranmous fish up this creek. Not enough to fish on though, so I will not give any details....

damc · 10-19-2001, 09:53 AM

Sjp,

Weird that you should ask about the Tualatin. I fished it yesterday for the first time since high school (1987). I threw some blades at the mouth for about an hour with no success. The river looked good and cleaner than I remember it.

I used to fish blades at the mouth for silvers around 1987. We caught a lot of jacks and a few adult silvers. I assume those fish were natives, as I have never heard of anyone stocking the Tualatin. It is also possible that they were just fish headed up the Willamette that just got lost.

Does anyone know if anyone still fishes the Tualatin for salmon/ steelhead?

What time of year do you see sleds on the lower river? I would be interested in drifting it if there is a ramp/ bank where I can drop my drift boat in at.

Mike

Pitch Pocket · 10-19-2001, 10:00 AM

I've seen boats in the Tualatin pretty much year round. Especially in spring and fall when the water is up. I think most are bass fishing, but I'm not sure. There is a ramp at Cook park and Tualatin park.

V. Green · 10-19-2001, 10:29 AM

It is my understanding the ODFW used to plant Big Creek (Sandy River Fish) into Gales Creek, but that stopped a few years ago.

I remember talking with a bio at the hatchery in around 90-93 about this. They were just ending the planting of Gales Creek at that time. I wonder how many fish you would find in this basin total, all wild fish and alot of habitat degredation. Hopefully the upper Tualitan, Gales Cr. and the other tribs will make a comeback.

Pitch Pocket · 10-19-2001, 10:41 AM

I don't think I'd target anadromous species in the Tualatin if they are all natives. I'm sure they have had a real hard time of it over the last decades. Maybe the stream will come back now that the environmental efforts are there.

I wonder if the warm water fisherman are the players on the river. Could be bass and crappie. I know there are crawfish, just not sure I'd want them from there yet.

ol tuna skipper · 10-19-2001, 03:56 PM

Even0505 is correct. The tualatin river has more species in it than any other river in Oregon. It has a nice run of cutthroat, catch and release only I believe. There are at least three speciaes of catfish and yes lots of bass and sucker fish. I used to catch steelhead out of gales creek in '82.
Rock creek had a run of steelhead about 5 years ago. But it was dwindling fast.

Have fun. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

fishbait · 10-19-2001, 04:30 PM

Quit that...Pilar, lock down this thread...

As stated all these fish are in the Tualatin including a native run of Silvers, From what I hear the steelhead are holding there own. This whole river should be catch and release.

fop · 10-19-2001, 08:31 PM

I'm just wondering about the Tualatin River. My Aunt and Uncle used to live way up? the river by a dam. It was kind of a makeshift dam. I used to catch Bass, Crappie, Blue Gills, Carp and Catfish there. Even learned how to swin in it. Around 1949-50.
Don't remember where exactly how my parents drove there.
Does this bring up any old timers any memories? Sure caught alot of fish there. Lotsa fun for a 10 year old. fop

Evan0505 · 10-19-2001, 11:05 PM

The Tualatin is my little secret... I live in Tualatin (well, now im in corvallis going to school). Me and a few friends fish quite a bit down at the city park. Nothin serious, just fishin with worms and spinners. WE CATCH EVERYTHING! Nice nice cutthroat (ive caught a few pushing 18 inches), smallmouth and largemouth bass (some pretty big), suckers, big arse carp, squaw fish (lots), bluegill, perch, channel cats, bullheads, and crappie. A few months ago we were fishing off the train bridge, and we saw a steelhead swimming upriver. That was pretty cool... Its actually really nice down there, we see lots of hawks, ospreys, a few bald eagles, beavers every once in a while, lots of nutria, and all sorts of other animals... Its a nice little escape in the middle of the city.
My dad and my grandpa also grew up in tualatin, and they used to catch steelhead and salmon out of it all the time. I think the last time my dad caught a steelie out of there (also the last time he fished it) was about 10 years ago...
tight lines -evan-

hawgcatcher · 10-20-2001, 03:34 PM

There used to be a large amount of silvers come up the Tualatin back in the old days (1950's to 1970's). We would fish at what they called Succer Creek at Lake Oswego. It was the outlet for the Oswego Lake. It was Tualatin River water that was deverted from the river by a small diversion dam into the Lake. It would flow over a falls and into the creek. The base of the falls had a hole that would fill with silvers every fall. As teenagers, we would head there after school every day and catch them. I don't know if any show up there anymore.

Gales Creek still gets a few fish but since they quit stocking, the fish have virtually disappeared. In the 90's there were many caught there.

I have found that if you check with some of the high school kids around an area, you will find out if and where there are fish. They are the ones that search out the out of the way fishing areas and catch some. When I was growing up in Oregon City, we knew places that no one else knew. We caught beautiful brook trout out of an underground stream up near the dump. We got bass that were over four pounds in the waters of the Willamette above the falls. I mean right above the falls where they lay in wait for the smolts. Crappie that swarmed around the mouth of the Tualatin by the hundreds.

Yes the Tualatin has many various fish in it. I hope that the kids of the future will find some of them and that the state will maybe start restocking the upper river and Gales Creek.

Hummingbird · 10-21-2001, 12:04 PM

I'm with Fishbait,
The tualitin has had more than it's share of troubles and is Catch and release only on the cutts. As far as I know... We used to fish as far up as Cherry Grove back in the 60's when there were silvers and steelhead ,not many then though.
Fop, There is an old Damn and swinmming whole up there called the Dam but I'm not sure if you can still drive in there.Property owner may have put up a locked gate as they did up further towards Lee Falls. If you park there , plan on being towed.And that's a pretty far tow charge.
Please don't fish the Tualitin. If you want to do something join the River Keeepers in trying to make it a better river. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

fop · 10-21-2001, 01:26 PM

Hbird & Hcatcher, Thanks for the info. My Aunt had a house on the river and a floating dock just about 500 yards up from the dam. I used to go every morning to the dam and park the boat and fish behind it. Lotsa fish were there. I'm sure the house is still there. It was a fantastic home. I'd like to go back and just see what's still there. fop

10-21-2001, 03:23 PM

I agree with fishbait that the Tualatin River should be a C&R fishery only for anadroumous fish. Maybe the other fish too; I don't know enough about the health of the other fish species? Gales Creek and the upper Tualatin toward Cherry Grove (where it is more like a fast running tributary, similar to G Cr.) was one of our zipperlip systems to fish for late season winter steelhead. In the 70's and early 80's my friends and I often would stop on our way back from fishing the Tillamook area to C&R multiple steelhead stacked in a few particularly good holes. We always carefully released these mostly hatchery fish because we didn't like the idea of how far they had traveled thru the poluted water of the lower Tualatin. I love fighting steelhead in small rivers. Always have. But I don't fish on the few remaining ones there anymore. Back in the day of abundant hatchery runs some of these fish would also stray up Dairy Creek where we used to fish for good sized trout (similar to them straying up Rock Creek as mentioned). I haven't stopped to look at these creeks for many years, but I'm sure the few steelhead don't make it into them anymore. And like so many streams of the west in years past, the big trout were mostly wiped out by the plentiful supply of anglers near a large metro area. I would hope they would only allow a C&R fishery on the tribs too; or at least a small slot limit on hatchery trout only.

RT

Lund · 10-21-2001, 03:47 PM

RT & others who are concerned,

I grew up on fishing gales creek & the tualatin. they both have silvers,steelhead, and a few springers left in them. however all of the fish left are native or bred from hachery fish. as far as fishing, it is closed to all salmon,trout and steelhead retention as of last year. and it is also closed to bait fishing for trout and maybe even steelhead?

Navigator · 10-22-2001, 09:31 PM

Great thread.

I fished Gales Creek a couple of weeks ago. Saw a few juvenile steelhead - which is good. The river was posted catch and release for trout and closed for adult steelhead and salmon. I believe that closure is year round. This is a nice little cutthroat stream higher in the basin and it is good to see it is now catch and release.

Lund · 10-23-2001, 07:44 PM

if you look in the 2001 regs you will see there is not a listing for gales creek or the tualatin river. they are both closed to salmon/steelhead fishing. trout is catch and release but no bait can be used.

Fishmaster · 10-24-2001, 04:34 AM

I live just off the trib of Gales Creek and the Tualatin and have for 15 years. There used to be a native run of steelhead that was awesome in the 80's. Dozens of fish taken at Balm Grove where there is a small dam and slack water.

We used to continually take fish up and down the creek,but myself started C & R in the 80's. My boys have caught trout consitentially on lures and have hooked up, landed and released 26 inch steelhead in the last year.

The Tualatin flows fairly quickly from source to below the Gales Creek trib. With the low water this year, it is as lowest as I have seen it since before Hagg Lake when we used to wade up and down the creek baiting crawdads baack in the late 60's at Dilley. Gales Creek at the trib is very slow right now, but I have searched out and found smolts in a lot of places as well. It's a very slow recovery, but under way.

Fishmaster

lippee · 10-24-2001, 09:02 AM

Use to catch limits on Gales creek, from rippling creek to trolley park. To much pressure on the creek, Last year i was driving by on the to the coast and looked in the deep holes at trolley park and seen about 5 fish maybe they will make a come back, Caught my biggest winter steelie in Gales creek at balm grove 21lbs nice bright buck.

wiser · 10-24-2001, 09:50 AM

Lund,
You are correct. The Tualatin and Gales Creek are closed to all steelhead and salmon angling since there is no notation by species in the special regulations section of the regulations booklet. Bait may only be used in the Tualatin River up to Hwy. 210 bridge at Scholls, but not for trout. Catch and release trout angling with artificial lures and flies is allowed May 26 - Oct. 31.