I hit the Willamette out of Willamette park in West Linn on Saturday. I was not there hoping to catch a coho like most of the folks, I just wanted a laid back, calm, no wind-fighting day of fishing The Willamette delivered on that and even gave me a bonus, my first upper Willamette river walleye!!

 

The bulk of the fishing on the day was typical for the Willamette (at least for me). Lots of bass, but most all were dinks. My "big" fish for the day was a 1lb 10oz bass and I probably only a handful of the 27 bass I caught were over a pound. Most of the bass that I caught came out of 15-25' of water and were caught on a drop shot. The Ned rig was second best.

 

I also caught at least one fish on a wobblehead, spy bait and jack hammer stealth blade. Even though it was a perfect morning for it I did not get so much as a sniff on topwater. I did see some surface activity but they weren't buying what I was selling.

 

Now for the exciting part of the day, my first upper Willamette walleye! That thing was just total luck. I was fishing a drop shot in about 20-24' of water and had missed a decent fish that came off after a brief hookup. I was reeling my drop shot back up to check it and the walleye must have followed it up from the bottom. It grabbed my bait right at the kayak, you can see it happen on the video! No skill involved in catching that fish.

 

I was still super excited. I had just seen someone else catch one in another youtube video and a guy said that at the kayak tournament on the upper Willamette that there were 5 walleye caught during the day. I was surprised at hearing about that but I guess it was foreshadowing for Saturday. The little walleye I caught put up a pretty spirited fight and really made my day.

 

Overall the day was just what I was hoping for. The water was like glass i the morning and then when it started getting hot in the afternoon there was a pleasant breeze. Much more relaxing than fishing in the wind tunnel known as the gorge. The fishing was easy, the fish were mostly small but it was a perfect day in its own way.

 

I am not sure where the bigger fish are hiding in the Willamette right now I can only tell you where they weren't I did end the day fishing one of my favorite ways though. I decided as I headed back to the ramp that I would toss my stealth blade around and through the weedbeds. I got 3 bites doing that in pretty short order, maybe I should have spent more time on that earlier. I did try fishing shallow off and on during the day but not around the weedbeds.

 

Well, anyway, that trip was really refreshing. I might have to squeeze some more trips in on the Willamette in the future - especially when I am feeling beat up by the Columbia. Anyway, here are some pics and video from the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The color and stripes of your second bass are perfect. Thanks for the report and I'm glad you enjoyed your day. 

On 9/23/2025 at 10:07 AM, Swamp Girl said:

The color and stripes of your second bass are perfect. Thanks for the report and I'm glad you enjoyed your day. 

 

I love when the smallmouth are distinctly striped up like that.