Mill Creek Danger on Alsea??

Minnisota Muskie · 12-09-2003, 08:35 AM

I was about to put in this last weekend at mill creek when I was warned about a new fallen tree in the river. It is located about a mile down from the ramp. You can see it from Hayden road, and it looked bad. Two trees fell at the same point from opposite sides. Is there someone who clears these blockages, or is it left up to those of us that run the rivers? Thanks!

Lefty · 12-09-2003, 08:52 AM

Muskie,
I have floated that quite a bit in the past and its not the first tree thats been down, or mud slide thats been in that stretch. Its unlikely that anybody other than a fisherman with a saw will cut it out. I haven't floated that drift this year, but I know some that have, apparently there is a way around them.You might want to go down to Campbells and ask a boat thats pulling out how it was before you run it though.

GOT2FISH · 12-09-2003, 09:01 AM

Hey Guys are there two Mill Creeks? I was at one the local retalers and saw a post for Mill Creek it basicly said great place to take kids for trout catch and release. I thought they were talking about Mill Creek in Salem and I thought that was no fish period. Also sevral years ago I remeber taking my daughter to the prison to feed ducks and the creek was full of dead spawned out fish havent seen it since whats up with that??

sparkleboy · 12-09-2003, 09:44 AM

Mill Creek in Salem is closed to all angling, all year, if I'm not mistaken.
However, it has a run of fall chinook and winter steelhead! I know at one point the steelhead were almost completely gone, but now they are making a strong comeback! Neat, thinking there are steelies in your backyard!

GOT2FISH · 12-09-2003, 10:13 AM

Thats what I tought leave to the retailers to give out bad info. However I do recall watching fish flashing below the bridge at the park but in the last three years iI haven't seen a fish or a carcuse. I'm wandering what happened if there was a come back youd think you would at least see something.

sparkleboy · 12-09-2003, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fish_N_Russ:
Who ever you talked to probably meant Mill Creek near Sheridan, which is a Yamhill tributary and does have pretty good trout fishing. Check regs first tho.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Ahh! That is the one they reffered to for trout fishing. However, the stream (which my dad said use to be an excellent stream for trout) is now closed to trout fishing.

santiamslayer · 12-09-2003, 04:43 PM

I work with a guy that looked at this log jam on saturday who said it was a bad situation he did say if someone had the time you could get in there with a powersaw and cut it out.

Fish_N_Russ · 12-09-2003, 11:04 PM

There are many "Mill Creeks" throughout the state........this one on the Alsea, one in Salem, one near Sheridan just to name 3. Who ever you talked to probably meant Mill Creek near Sheridan, which is a Yamhill tributary and does have pretty good trout fishing. Check regs first tho.

Twitchs_Tackle · 12-09-2003, 11:45 PM

Mill Creek drift on Alsea is "sketchy" as put by the last person I saw travel it. We were going to float, but they strongly advised against it. :shocked: There isn't a very safe route around as it covers most of the river, they were forced to drag their boat over, but that was in higher water. Now it may just barely be above water surface, so lifting your boat high enough to get it over may not be an option. THey had three guys and said it was all they could do to get over it. :shocked: If someone had a chainsaw they could anchor upsteam and cut it out, but who knows when this could happen. The season is picking up though, and if people aren't warned, someone is going to run into trouble...

Twitchs_Tackle · 12-10-2003, 05:19 PM

TTT!

Wet_Willy · 12-11-2003, 07:08 AM

Buddy of mine drifted Mill Creek to Salmonberry yesterday and didn't have a problem. Said it appeared that snag area was cleared by somebody.

They didn't get so much as a bump from a fish...Also didn't encounter a lot of other fishermen.

Guess it isn't as "white hot" as the Wilson yet

Bill

Snakebite · 12-11-2003, 04:38 PM

There's at least one Mill creek on every major river drainage in Oregon. Lot's of little cedar mills popped up on many Oregon coastal streams in the early part of the 1900's...hence the name Mill Cr. Also if there were any Grain grinding mills, that was cause to call a creek Mill Cr.

FrogPond · 12-12-2003, 01:22 PM

I talked to a buddy of mine who is a Benton County Sherrif. He said they attempted to remove the log jam from the water with their jet sled, but had no luck. They then returned the next day to remove it from the shore and it had already been cleared. Once the water calms down, it should be good to go!