Bass fishing by canoe

[Pokeyzilla]

Hi guys - I'm new to Oregon, and an looking for a nice quiet bass (largemouth) lake suitable for fishing from canoe. I'm introducing friends and my new step-son to fishing, and am really hoping to find a spot I can take them where they are nearly certain to be able to catch fish consistently. I'm very fond of isolated lakes, and would also love to find one where it's legal to camp for short periods. I'm located in NW Portland. Suggestions?

 

[DirectDrive]

Don't know where there is a bass lake per se that would be good for a canoe but...
Probably the best place in the state to canoe for smallies would be on the John Day River east of The Dalles.
Get a good map and plan on making a camping trip out of it.
And plan on "hundred fish days".

After further review, try Smith and Bybee Lakes near Terminal 6.

 

[rogerdodger]

Tenmile Lakes just north of Coos Bay; Tahkenitch Lake just north of Reedsport. Both have lots of camping options...

 

[Berg03]

Non camping and non isolated lake close to you would be Hagg Lake. Any of the arms from the lake hold a lot of bass and easy canoe water. The Dam produces a lot of small mouth but can get windy from a small boat. But like i said not isolated and no camping at this time.

 

[Pokeyzilla]

Hi guys - I'm new to Oregon, and an looking for a nice quiet bass (largemouth) lake suitable for fishing from canoe. I'm introducing friends and my new step-son to fishing, and am really hoping to find a spot I can take them where they are nearly certain to be able to catch fish consistently. I'm very fond of isolated lakes, and would also love to find one where it's legal to camp for short periods. I'm located in NW Portland. Suggestions?

Any thoughts on Sparks Lake near Bend?

 

[pinstriper]

Non camping and non isolated lake close to you would be Hagg Lake. Any of the arms from the lake hold a lot of bass and easy canoe water. The Dam produces a lot of small mouth but can get windy from a small boat. But like i said not isolated and no camping at this time.

Park ranger at the gate last year told me there is a plan moving forward to put in a campground with RV hookups (water, electric). So in next few years.

 

[DrTheopolis]

After further review, try Smith and Bybee Lakes near Terminal 6.

Easy day trip. I'd highly, highly recommend against camping there. It's not legal, but people do camp there -- and they're probably not the kind of people you want to camp around (no problem in the daytime).

In low summer flows, the Willamette is also an easy destination.

I don't really know of any "bass lakes" that are close to you. For camping, you can fish for trout at a massive number of lakes -- Timothy, Harriet... the list is endless.

Tenmile Lakes is a long drive, but you'll catch bass... big ones.

 

[Pokeyzilla]

Tenmile does sound awesome, and I love seeing the look on friend's faces when they have a big fish on.

 

[wils]

Any thoughts on Sparks Lake near Bend?

no bass @ sparks. may as well keep driving to Davis Lake. Plenty of bass there. Ive talked with guys who have 30-50 bass days there in the spring. fly fishing only.

 

[Berg03]

Park ranger at the gate last year told me there is a plan moving forward to put in a campground with RV hookups (water, electric). So in next few years.

Yea there has been that plan for over 10 years... Maybe with it open year round it will get a camp ground. A lot of people do not want that to happen though. So we will see.

 

[EOBOY]

Hi guys - I'm new to Oregon, and an looking for a nice quiet bass (largemouth) lake suitable for fishing from canoe. I'm introducing friends and my new step-son to fishing, and am really hoping to find a spot I can take them where they are nearly certain to be able to catch fish consistently. I'm very fond of isolated lakes, and would also love to find one where it's legal to camp for short periods. I'm located in NW Portland. Suggestions?

I use my canoe on the willy all the time. At Hagg the wind will kill you in a canoe, unless you have some motor power. The John Day is made for a canoe, anywhere from above Spray all the way to the mouth.

 

[Willerman]

Anytime someone mentions bass, canoes, and camping, I always like to bring up luckiamute landing (I think is the name). It is a boat-in-only camping area on the Willamette right next to the mouth of the Luckiamute, and right in the heart of the valley so it's not too far away from everything. You can go up the luckiamute for great smallmouth fishing (numbers, not size), and right at the mouth of the river close to the camping spot there is a slough that has great largemouth fishing; there are some big'uns in there. I'd wait a few months for the weather to warm and the fishing to pick up before heading there, though. Make sure to bring the bug spray! Here it is on google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.7484494,-123.1442962,845m/data=!3m1!1e3

The santiam is right there for steelhead/springer fishing, too. I can't comment on the quality of it, though, as I have never tried it there.

 

[handmethewrench]

not exactly what you are asking but I did a day long canoe trip down the sturgeon lake waterways on sauvie island, amazing fishing. Bass, Walleye and peace all day. It took about 6 hours but stopped and had a picnic, great day. I used crawlers OFF the bottom and landed a big ol walleye.

 

[bass]

Two other choices are the Tualatin river and the Yamhill river. They have more smallmouth than largemouth and more rough fish than either but it is a nice place to fish. No camping that I know of but there are many launches that you can either start from and return to, or you could park one vehicle downstream and drift down to it from an upstream launch. Nice small water fishing.

 

[DrTheopolis]

The T is definitely full of (mostly small) smallies. And carp. And pikeminnow.

And small boat launches.