I'm looking for some tips on fishing for steelhead or salmon in the Willamette.

I'm pretty new to this kind of thing---most of my fishing experience has been throwing spinners at trout in small mountain streams. My gear is very light, and I don't have a lot of money to drop on fishing right now...

I'm also stuck on the bank (i.e. no boat).

So where, when, and what should I do to go after steelhead from the bank? I'm most comfortable with spinners, and would like to try plugs, but I'm willing to learn anything (with your excellent advice). Do steelhead stick near the edges or down deep in the middle? How far off the bottom?

Also, can anyone suggest good public access to the river between Oregon City and Salem? Close to Newberg/Wilsonville is best.

Feel free to point me to a FAQ...

Thanks,

meverest

P.S. I'm new to fishingnw. I'm glad I found you!

Well the good news is that the Willy has strong hatchery runs of spring chinook and summer steelhead. The bad news is that most of the fish are caught below Oregon city or much farther up on its Cascade-fed tributaries and few are caught in the stretch you are targeting. That's not to say they can't be had there. The best option if to plunk for them where the river conditions dictate that the fish travel in a nice concentrated lane. If you can find this, you can do OK. The other issue is that the stretch of river between OC and the Santiam confluence is pretty much a migration route only--the fish don't hold in these parts at all, so they tend to be focused on travelling and are not prone to bite in these portions of the river. It's much like the Summer run on the Columbia out where I am. Still, if you can find a lane and have some time, they can be had. Try ifish.net; that site tends to circulate around Portland area fishing, and I know the question has been raised there a few times. Your best bet would be to find a local who has the that stretch of the river dialed in.

Welcome to fishingnw.com meverest. Most of our fishing seems to come from the eastern Washington rivers, however, we are slowly creeping to the western Washington side.

Welcome to FishingNW
best place for bankies on the willy is either clackamette park located across hwy 99w from FIshermans, and fish the mouth of the clackamas or the ever popular meldrum bar which again is in gladstone, take 99w towards milwaukie from fishermans, turn left at the ford dealer and then right onto river rd. and left into the park. spoons, plugs, or bait you can plunk and given time you shall catch as well. winter steelies are in run right now, if you no mind driving a little further eagle creek up by estacada is producing steelies as well, best of luck
Aaron

find Meldrum park and drive to the river and you can't miss the fisherman. take a seat and watch and learn . it's a pretty busy place . steelhead fishing is going on now but winding down lot's more people starting to try for salmon now. probably 10 to 12 fish caught so far this year. hearing about more and more being caught down river every day. so here they come !!!!