Helping my little kid get started on fishing

[Raysmom]

Hello All,

My 5 year old son Ray is crazy about fishing and I don't know enough to be of much use helping him. He loves to watch you tube channels of fishermen and they are always fishing along wonderful forested creeks making it look easy. I am most at a lost about where to take him that has some of that magic. We've been to stocked ponds and reservoirs and even trout farms but they are not wilderness and he knows it and is always a little disappointed. I'd like to get him to a more wild stretch of a creek but I'm not sure where it's legal to get access. I think it's less important that he catch fish than that he gets to see someplace more inspiring. I'm looking at Rock Creek outside Vernonia and wondering if there's somewhere we can access by what look like logging roads in google maps? Or other ideas people have? We live in Portland, east side but can drive anywhere really. Also, we're pretty intrepid and willing to bushwhack to get to a pretty place. And if there happen to be wild mushrooms along the way, all the better.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[Snopro]

Head to Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John Day River for a campout. One of the longest undamed rivers in the lower 48 with tons of smallmouth bass. Great spot for a youngster to get plenty of practice catching wild fish.

 

[Diamond Lake Charlie]

I understand you & your frustration, the young gentleman is hooked on the wild life he cannot see where he goes. I started fishing with my dad at about that age and my son was a about 10 or so when we started fishing. I wouldn't worry about hitting the woods yet unless you are camping. to me when I was little it was more about going out with my dad and when my son could go fishing it was about spending time with my son even if it was off the public piers in San Diego. However, when I was little, it was a bit different but it was still about spending time with my pop, even when I was in my 40's I loved spending time fishing with him...
fishing on tv is pffff, they only show you what makes it look good and that might be hard to get around. I can remember hiking into fish lake down by Tiller when it was still 5 miles in, I had to carry my sleeping bag in but I got to spend fishing with my dad. My first time camping was when I was 6 months old, now that I don't remember. For a while dad worked two jobs and that was difficult to understand, but time I spent with him when I was young was golden to me.. He is gone now and has been for many years, but the elk hide from our last elk hunt still drapes the back of my couch and my dad has been gone since 06. Spend time with him now, while you can and work around the best you can that stuff on tv. Try talking to him to find out what is so great on TV because sooner than you think the time you spend with him will become less and less. My dad told me once well after I was an adult.... Make your memories now because one day that is all you will have. He was so right.

 

[Raysmom]

Thank you both for your replies!

For sure it is the time spent as a family outside that matters most, the kid won't even eat fish if it's not battered and fried. And yes the tv makes it look easy bc they edit down to the success part. The nice thing about going somewhere wild is you enjoy the day and see something valuable even if you don't catch fish.

We actually did try Cottonwood Canyon last fall, but no luck, our timing may have been off (midday). Still it's a beautiful place. We'll try there again. Here's the little guy with my husband (daddy) at Cottonwood Canyon trying their darndest.

 

[Socaaron]

It's bit of a drive because you need to go the long way round now but I'd recommend the oak grove fork of the Clackamas between Timothy and Harriet lake. There's plentiful spots for free camping and river(stream really) access. The fish aren't large but they are feisty.
45.08133186395375, -121.88746968680434 these coordinates(or there abouts) are a great spot to try out. Additionally if the fishing isn't working you can motor down to Harriet to increase your chances.

There's also plenty of other opportunities in the area if you explore up FR 58. Make sure to pick up a forest service map for the area before heading out and check the regulations! Good Luck

 

[troutdude]

It's bit of a drive because you need to go the long way round now but I'd recommend the oak grove fork of the Clackamas between Timothy and Harriet lake. There's plentiful spots for free camping and river(stream really) access. The fish aren't large but they are feisty.
45.08133186395375, -121.88746968680434 these coordinates(or there abouts) are a great spot to try out. Additionally if the fishing isn't working you can motor down to Harriet to increase your chances.

There's also plenty of other opportunities in the area if you explore up FR 58. Make sure to pick up a forest service map for the area before heading out and check the regulations! Good Luck.

Yes! That! And there's a chance to find a few bigger fish where the stream flows into Lake Harriet. Casting and retrieving Thomas Buoyant spoons, or Rooster Tails (Fire Tiger pattern works best for me), for something similar would work. NOTE: bait may NOT be allowed. Please check the regulations, before you venture out.

Getting there:​

About 11 miles east of Government Camp on Hwy 26, turn south onto Forest Rd. 42 (Skyline Rd.), then west onto Forest Rd. 57, which leads to the lake. The road may be blocked by snow until June. An unpaved route from Estacada is considerably slower.

Also...trout fishing, in about 95% of our streams, CLOSES at the end of this month. So get out there while you can.

Here is a great trout fishing video series that you all may find helpful.

https://myodfw.com/articles/how-fish-trout
Tight lines, TD

 

[Diamond Lake Charlie]

A few years ago we took my 5 year old grandson in law to Diamond lake and we got lucky, he reeled in 17 fish with the aid of my son, and at that time we were lucky with nothing under 16 inches..A few years later we were out at Diamond and he asked me how come I was catching more fish......My answer was simple....I was older...what I never told him was I have been fishing Diamond since about 1956 which would put me at about 8 and at that time if I remember right, I never caught very many then. I will give you a hint and this is something I have learned over the years,. Try putting an ajust-a-bubble on instead of a lead weight. Fill it full of water and put you bait above it by about a foot. If you are using power bait, that bubble will way upto 3/8 oz and will cast farther out in the water and will set on top of the weeds instead of going into the weeds and maybe drawing you bait down into the weeds with it. I have been using them for over 15 years and very often I will out fish others using lead as the casting weight

 

[DonF]

Wow! 5 yr old liking fishing. best thing for him, IMO, is someplace with lots of small fish. Prineville Res wouldhave been perfect but out of water now. Nothing get's a kid going even faster than catching lot's of fish of pretty much any size but big fish pulling on him now might back him up. Cottonwood bridge would be a cood place. Took my son there years ago and we got a ton of smallmouth bass. One problem is he should know how to cast. Small plastic jigs back then did the job. But as I said he'll need to be able to cast. If you go take some 1/8th oz jigs with small plastic auger tail's and hang then under a bobber to keep them above the bottom a bit. From Portland go to Biggs Jct and south on 97 to Noro. from Moro used to be sign to Condon, that's the rd you want thinks is Hwy 206. Cottonwood is about half way to Condon. There a new place on the John Day south and a bit east of Condon but they recommend 4wd to get in, it's about 6mi and I think 2wd might do but so remote it's not worth the risk! Beautiful remote spot though.

 

[Davpot]

I must say, 5Yrs old and insistant on Wild Places! Wow! Harriet lake gets my vote. Someday..they’ll open the road from below! Additionally I’d suggest Vernonia lake. Lots of great infrastructure: docks, benches, steelhead are stocked, lots of willing trout and tons of warm water species! Oh, and Great eateries in town!
I use a bubble and fly rig with good success

 

[troutdude]

I must say, 5Yrs old and insistant on Wild Places! Wow! Harriet lake gets my vote. Someday..they’ll open the road from below! Additionally I’d suggest Vernonia lake. Lots of great infrastructure: docks, benches, steelhead are stocked, lots of willing trout and tons of warm water species! Oh, and Great eateries in town!
I use a bubble and fly rig with good success

Bubble and fly is deadly when fished slowly! Wooly Bugger's and Teeny Nymphs in green or black are da bomb!

 

[DonF]

I was sitting here thinking and it occurred to me it's simply not just the fishing. Otherwise the fish farm should have been great. There a park overthere, Silver Falls Park, has a long trail through it. At the beginning of the trail is a waterfall you walk under. You might take him to a place like that just for the walk in the wild. Up past Sweet Home used to be a resturant called Tombstone that just before it had a trail that took off and went across a bridge over a stream pretty quick, might be another place. Fishing yoiu might try the Luckymuete just the other side of Falls City toward Black Rock. Another place to do it is at Bridgeport. Park in the Bridgeport School lot and walk both ways. Favorite bait in both places was an Indiana spinner pulling a work. Santiam River past Detriot might be another good place to go. Sounds to me like it's the places that attract the kid more than just the fish.Pedee Creek out past Pedee was another place I liked as a kid. Go past Pedee to I think it wasa the firdt dirt road to the right and follow it to the bridge and start wondering and fishing. Something that worked good for me years back was Power Bait in a small trebble hook with a small split shot over the top, maybe 1/8th at most. Go to the bottom in slow water but the power bait floats and I have had luck in the past with it. I say the past because I seldom fish for trout anymore. These fishing places will get him wilderness and fishing. Keep moving or all it maay be is fishing and as I said, sounfs like the walk in the wilderness is what he's after also.

 

[troutdude]

@Raysmom please note that nearly all streams (rivers, creeks, tributaries) are NOT open for trout fishing at this time. You're really pretty much limited to fishing in ponds, lakes, and reservoirs until trout season opens. Which is May 22nd.

You can also check the ODFW stocking report for the pond, at Mt. Hood Community College. It's only open--during the regular season I believe--for kids and disabled folks. It can be VERY crowed though.

Henry Hagg Lake is SW of the Portland area, near Gaston. It's open year round and will be stocked again soon. Hagg also has some LARGE rainbow trout. Getting over 12 lbs. sometimes. You can see pics at the Lake Stop store near Gaston, and the owners are super friendly and give you great advice on your way to the lake. And you'll need a $7 daily park entrance pass that you can buy there. But I have NO doubt that you will both LOVE the Scoggins Valley Park and Hagg Lake!

P.S. My avatar was taken at Hagg Lake many years ago. I was the 2nd rig to pull into the Ramp A parking lot that morning.

Here is some good information that both you, and your young man, can read to learn more about trout fishing.

https://myodfw.com/articles/learn-fish

Here's a link for 50 places to go fishing within an hour of Portland.

https://myodfw.com/articles/50-places-go-fishing-within-60-minutes-portland

And hears a link for a video series that will also be very helpful.

https://myodfw.com/articles/how-fish-trout