r/OregonFishing

Hello! I’m moving to Medford soon and as a present to myself I am looking to finally buy a boat. Curious on advise from the boat owners out there: if I had to pick on would it be a raft with a frame or a drift boat?

I’ll be doing some recreational floating but mostly fly fishing. Have 8 years experience guiding rivers in Colorado out of a 14’ RMR and only rowed a drift boat a few times. I’m used to the raft but would consider the drift boat if everyone says DO IT. I may be guiding someday or I may just keep the fishing to myself, wife, and friends.

Obviously won’t purchase anything until I’m settled in and have talked to other people on the river but getting excited and want to hear what the internet says. Thanks!

Is the digital license better than having the physical license? What are the pros and cons for each? Just trying to figure that out before i get the license. I'll be mainly Steelhead and salmon fishing the rivers if that helps.

Hey all — I moved to the Gresham area a year ago and thinking about fishing the Columbia starting this year.

I’m running a 14 ft Saturn inflatable with an 86 lb thrust trolling motor. I treat it like a kayak with a motor - stay close to shore (50–100 ft out), always wear a PFD, don’t cross the main channel, and only go out on calm days.

Fishing-wise:

• Fall: would like to troll for salmon
• Rest of the year: bass / walleye, mostly slow trolling or working shoreline structure

Looking for some local input on:

• Launch spots east of Portland / near Gresham that are safer for a small setup like this
• Shoreline areas where trolling or casting for bass/walleye is actually productive
• Whether salmon trolling near shore is realistic with this setup, or if that’s pushing it
• Any specific hazards in this stretch (current, barge traffic, weird wind patterns, etc.)

Also curious how people would realistically view this setup on the Columbia. I’ve only been here about a year and have mostly fished lakes with this boat so far. I’m cautious and plan to stay in the same lane as kayak anglers, but want to make sure I’m not underestimating anything.

I’ve seen plenty of kayak anglers out there and salmon trolling videos on Youtube, so I’m trying to stay in that same lane—just with a trolling motor.

Appreciate any advice.

LATER EDIT: The Saturn does accept a kicker up to 25HP, but I am really trying to avoid that, given the smell/noise/leaks risk etc. If my attempts are unsuccessful, I will probably end up getting a 5-9 HP motor and that would be a different story.

hi everyone, I’m looking at putting a little canoe together to go look for carp with a fly rod this summer. I’ve fished the delta on the Columbia, but apart from that, haven’t tried it much. Does anyone have tips on some lakes to try out? Not looking for specific spots, but would appreciate pointing me in the right direction. I am looking at exploring the lakes at Sauvies, and bybee / smith as well. Cheers!

I made a web app to help find alpine fishing lakes in Oregon+WA+ID, all on a map so you can easily see where they are.

Hi all,

I will be visiting your beautiful state from Finland in late July, and would love to fulfill one of my fisherman's dreams - catching a largemouth bass.

Thing is, that I cannot pack fishing gear with me, nor do I know someone who could help me.

This can and will come off as a bit weird, perhaps, but would anyone be open to spending a morning/afternoon fishing with a Belgian-Finn? As a return offer, I can offer a fishing experience in Finnish or Swedish Lapland if you come to Northern Europe :)

Any tips on how to fulfill this dream (without buying the gear) are also welcome!

During my stay, I will be based in Portland.

I started fishing summer of last year, mostly small mouth bass in the Molalla river, and although I used to have no problem with having too many lures (due to losing 5-10 each fishing trip). I now rarely snag and have too many spinners, jerks, cranks etc.

I’m curious how you guys organize your equipment.

Are you guys separating by what you’re targeting? Colors? Separating spinners minnows and hooks? Different river set ups?

If you could upload a picture of your tackle box, that would be great. I feel like mine is too clustered

How I was doing it was I had 2 large tackle boxes and would take 2 spinners, 5 hooks, 10 plastics and 2 jig heads each trip. But the issue was sometimes I would regret not bringing the correct colors or lures. I then started bringing my whole inventory but it’s a bit annoying to do all that.

Also are you guys keeping a log book and using that as reference for returning trips?

I’m going tomorrow morning but I can’t decide if I want to go to oxbow or dabney. I’ll have a rod for spinners and a float rod with salmon eggs and coon shrimp, beads, and pink worms.

Where would you go and why?

Is the drift by the sand island upriver of the boat ramp at Dabney sanded in or is it rocky?

Live in Salem , have only been out twice to multnomah channel, have been fishing since I was a boy, was wondering if there are any of you who wouldn’t mind going together (mainly for the safety aspect) willing to fish anywhere including bays and the ocean.