Enough power?

[damonspreng]

Never been in a boat on the Willamette and was wondering if I dropped in in Newburgh and fished that stretch of it would my little 14 foot boat with a Honda 75 on the back be enough to poke around/fight current? Hoping to go slay bass on Monday?

 

[4labs]

Not trying to be a smartass but I think you mean 7.5??
I use to run a 9.9 on a 13.6 gregor and would take it almost anywhere including 3miles offshore and anywhere the prop wouldn't hit
you should be fine just look out for submerged logs and where a PFD plus don't overload the boat with 2 buddies and 3 dogs like I did LOL
Send us a report and Pics

 

[rogerdodger]

Not trying to be a smartass but I think you mean 7.5??
I use to run a 9.9 on a 13.6 gregor and would take it almost anywhere including 3miles offshore and anywhere the prop wouldn't hit
you should be fine just look out for submerged logs and where a PFD plus don't overload the boat with 2 buddies and 3 dogs like I did LOL
Send us a report and Pics

 

[pinstriper]

Current above the dam runs around 1.5-2.5 mph depending on season, rainfall etc.

So figure your normal speed and subtract from there.

 

[bass]

Guys fish that section with a trolling motor on small boats and I can fish it no problem with my kayak.

Here is a link to the past year on speed and flow at Newberg: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/or/...od=&begin_date=2018-05-31&end_date=2019-06-07

They changed their sensor or something so the current speed does not go back all that far (that data used to be there, not sure what happened). You can see that during heavy rains current can get North of 7mph. Right now it is closer to 1.5mph. I fish that area in my kayak when the flow is 2mph or less.

I would assume your boat could easily do 10-15mph depending on the load with a 7.5hp

 

[Fishtales2]

The river is low and slow right now. The last spike was in April when it flooded my yard and just about everywhere else. Take it easy your first few times out till you get to know the dead heads. Some change yearly. At 10-15 miles an hour you could easily make it to the mouth of the Yamhill in 15 minutes.

 

[damonspreng]

It's a new (to me) boat but the finder says my top speed is only about 8mph. We will give it a go. On that note up or down river for better bass fishing?

 

[pinstriper]

It's a new (to me) boat but the finder says my top speed is only about 8mph. We will give it a go. On that note up or down river for better bass fishing?

This.

 

[bass]

Both the upper and lower river have really good bass fishing. In general, the upper river flows a little faster. There are more shallow spots on the upper river, the lower river tends to be more consistently deep.

I fish more on the lower river because it is closer to my house. It is a tidal river so be aware of that. On large tide swings there can be a 4' difference between low and high tide, often it is just a foot or two. I have a hard time saying whether I prefer an incoming or outgoing tide. Usually, the bass just bite when they feel like it.

Some good places to launch on the lower river would include Willamette part (across from Oaks park), Jefferson street or Cedaroak. Of those, I am most familiar with the Cedaroak launch and there is great bass fishing both up and downstream from there. That whole stretch has a lot of rocky banks that drop into deep water.

I have not spent as much time on the upper river, but I know for sure that there is good bass fishing out of Willamette park (where the Tualatin dumps in) and out of Roger's landing in Newberg. I see a lot of folks with bass boats launching from Wilsonville but I have never taken the kayak there.

I would recommend that you pick one area and try and learn it well rather than running all over the place looking for the magical hot spot. Any of those launches has tons of great bass water near them.

 

[damonspreng]

Thanks bass I'm planning on dropping first light tomorrow morning at Rogers and heading upstream. Maybe going to the Yamhill mouth and back. If anyone's out there tomorrow me and my brother in a black and gold Steelers boat give me a shout!

 

[damonspreng]

Sorry for the late update but Unfortunately it's a sad one. Boat was fine in the river no worries there. The sad part is we only landed one fish and had 5 bites in an 8 hour day. Guess I have some learning to do on river bass... We started behind ash island and had a few top water strikes but no hookups (small fish). We moved out to the main river downstream with no luck. So we decided to look for more current and went upstream. We found very little cover to fish that way until the Yamhill. Got one 10" Bronze back on a drop shot worm in the mouth of the Yamhill and that was our disappointing day. I'll do some research and asking around before heading back. I WILL figure them out. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Fishtales2]

Keep us posted on how it works out and the next time you go out. There are some days that can be great on that stretch of the river and some that are slow. I've been there for both. Across from the mouth of the Yamhill is a good back water slew that has produced a lot of fish. Much smaller than the river run fish but still fun. Also, there is a nice shelf on the north bank between the landing and the irrigation bridge where I have pulled few monster bass. Actually, there are quite a few good spots just up and down from the landing.