Umpqua River smallmouth bass fishing

[jamisonace]

Not sure the name but, up river from the bridge at Tyee on the far side (across from restaurant) is a launch about 1 mile upstream (kinda dim road but should work for a kid outing if the river is the right level....I'm a sucker for taking a kid out

It's called Ferguson but only because that is the name of the road I think. Gravel road down to the water cuts back almost 180 degrees from the main road so it can be a little hard to spot. Not great fishing from the bank but the current in the middle of the river holds fish. Walk up the rocks and cast down stream into it and you might find some. The far bank is better and you might be able to get to it from Tyee Rd. IMO, pretty much anywhere off of Tyee Rd or the main hwy will have better options for a bank angler. Osprey boat ramp has access and James Wood is better fishing and better access.

There is a primitive ramp called 9 mile on the hwy. The road on the other side of the river has access to this area. If you can find it, I think this is your most worthwhile spot to explore on foot. I don't recommend the ramp side but you could hammer some bass and shad from the other side in late may. It can be a really good shad spot.

 

[pcstock]

Former Michigan Lake St Clair smallmouth fisherman who is just now getting into chasing smallies around Oregon. Thinking of taking my boys down to camp at Tyee Campground the weekend of May 20th. I am wondering if I'll be near some solid bank fishing spots and how the timing might be? Thanks in advance.

Camp somewhere else. That place sucks.

I paid for three nights and we left after one.

You can smell the toilets from all over, they have ventilation fans in them and you can hear those as well. And to top it all off they have an outdoor light at the bathroom that lights up the whole campground. Plus the lights are always on inside.

Add that to the highway noise and it is a NO-GO for me.

That said, cleanest camp bathrooms I have ever seen.
-P

 

[Vintageflyguy]

Thanks! My boys are 13 and 15, so not very young, but adventuresome and willing to get dirty, so Im willing to do some crawling around the banks to find spots.

After doing some more reading, seems Im at the tail end of spring fishing in mid-May and might right after spwaning where the females are still recovering. Maybe Ill try to get out sooner...

Sawyer Rapids also has some rocks to climb over - depe3n ding on river levels also

 

[NKlamerus]

I checked out yellow Creek last week and it was definitely not bass-fishable lol

Bank access but the water was brown and quick!

I don't have recommendations on camping, but you might try a few bank spots during the day?

Yellow Creek can be great, river forks and Cleveland rapids both have a bit of bank access

 

[NKlamerus]

Checked ot river forks yesterday for a few hours, glad I turned back when I did. That wind picked up and for awhile I was just barely holding ground against the current and wind

Caught a dozen or so tiny smallmouth

Took my sonar and found out the hole at the base of the last south fork rapid easily hits 25', relatively clean/Sandy bottom too so I'm assuming the rock is even further

 

[NKlamerus]

Spent some time with a buddy of mine on the main, we launched at Umpqua Landing about noon.

Rain was on and off at this point, the main was a little dirty but not bad, high and slow. The little creek that enters the main right there though, wasn't bad when we started but was easily double or triple the flow by the time we left a few hours later, white washing into the river, no chance you could paddle up it.

Smallmouth bite was good, biggest fish were just under 3lbs and another that was 17" (probably 2.5lbs)

Got a chance to fish a jig for a bit, easier to fish than the Ned.

Pretty cool shot on Clearvu, definitely a tree or the top of one and a fish sitting behind it in the current

 

[Oregunner]

It is now illegal to fish within 200’ of any tributaries of the Umpqua River, as well as the last 200’ of the tributary. Plenty of fish up and downstream from Calapooia Creek entrance.

 

[NKlamerus]

It is now illegal to fish within 200’ of any tributaries of the Umpqua River, as well as the last 200’ of the tributary. Plenty of fish up and downstream from Calapooia Creek entrance.

Yes we are aware, we jumped up above it and started fishing

Anything below wasn't worth it, water was chocolate milk, definitely not my strong suit

Technically the main is ~330' wide from edge to edge, (especially right now) so you could fish the southern bank opposite the creek?

 

[Oregunner]

I have caught dozens of SM right under the bridge, on the far side.

 

[NKlamerus]

Fished the south today from happy valley boat launch, probably 20-30 fish caught but nothing of any size

Sunny all week and then windy and overcast this morning!

Absolutely no patterns, fish were all over the place, surprisingly not weedy, must be the extra rain this year.

 

[elmucho]

Yes! I just noticed your trolling motor on the front of your kayak - would be killer to put a Minnkota spot lock on there. I can't wait to get my shot at this place.

 

[NKlamerus]

Yes! I just noticed your trolling motor on the front of your kayak - would be killer to put a Minnkota spot lock on there. I can't wait to get my shot at this place.

For sure, I am running a motorguide Xi3, it does use their pinpoint gps (same as spot lock, different name) and also has cruise control and heading lock

I would love to run a MinnKota but they don't make a short shaft, so it would always be pretty tall. I have a feeling there's a contract somewhere between them and old town for their autopilot kayaks

 

[elmucho]

Oh man, that's really cool - that trolling motor tech is so killer. I have it on my boat at home and I even mounted a quick disconnect puck on this tiny little pram I bought (for almost nothing) that I take down to Baja to fish mangroves. I love it - that's a perfect set up for smallies. And even better the cost of 100 a/h lithium batteries has come down so much - what a great set up. Here's my little "Baja Pram"....

 

[NKlamerus]

What a day, probably the funnest day I've had on the river all year. We launched about noon from river forks boat ramp and the sky had cleared to bluebird skies

The smallmouth were extremely picky, they absolutely would not touch a Ned rig. I had tied on an Alabama rig on a whim, but it was the ticket.

I caught about a dozen on a 1/2oz keitech jig but easily 50+ with the Alabama rig, my first double as well. There were periods of 3-4 casts with consecutive fish each cast, all about placement in the current, I think they saw those blades and didn't have a choice but to smack at them

Spinnerbaits, underspin, neds, drop shot, deep cranks, nothing out performed the A-Rig.

2 over 3lbs, biggest was 3lbs 5oz and it was the double hookup

 

[Oregunner]

I fished Umpqua Landing this morning before it got hot. Picked up about 20 fish in three hours. The river is mossing up, and the best way I found to get down, but not have to clean the gunk off every cast, was to drop shot, 4” stick bait, rigged wacky. All nice sized fish, no dink’s, probably because of the big bait.

 

[NKlamerus]

Fished the forks again and it's done a complete 180. Still caught a lot of fish in the Alabama rig but almost all of them came towards Cleveland rapids

Oregunner is spot on, it's getting nasty. The south is 84 degrees and the main was 78!

The south has probably tripled or doubled the amount of weed growth in a week, it's also very dingy brown.

 

[jamisonace]

A buddy was in town for our class reunion and wanted to fly fish. Not a lot of options close to Roseburg this time of year so I figured he'd enjoy catching a million bass in a few hours. We floated from JW to Osprey. Started with poppers and it was slow. Caught about 15 before we decided to switch to streamers and then it was pretty much a fish every 1 to 3 casts. I definitely got my fill of bass for the year. We pushed through pretty quick but easily caught 100 fish. At one point I threw out a Ned rig for poops and giggles and probably averaged a fish every 30 to 45 seconds. We went with one of my clients that guides down there a lot so he had us dialed in on the fish all morning.

The guide is www.fishingwithferris.com in case anyone is interested.

 

[NKlamerus]

Small word, his wife used to be the head of the local umbrella office i rent from.

Sounds like a good time! Waiting for some of my family to fly in so they can try it as well

I think I'm going to switch it.up and start targeting some larger fish with bigger baits

 

[Oregunner]

I was on the river again this morning. I was catching big fish with 4” stick baits. My goal was 20 fish before lunch. I got stuck on 17, and switched to a 3”, and quickly picked up 3 more smaller fish. There is quality and quantity. It is fun to fight a 2-3# sm on ultralight gear.

 

[jamisonace]

Small word, his wife used to be the head of the local umbrella office i rent from.

Sounds like a good time! Waiting for some of my family to fly in so they can try it as well

I think I'm going to switch it.up and start targeting some larger fish with bigger baits

That's cool. I've been friends with Silver and Ferris since they moved to Springfield. I bet we've fished together 100 times. They are great.

Good idea on bigger baits. I didn't care on Saturday. Just wanted my buddy to catch a bunch of fish. He had a blast.