Anyone NOT going to ORC ?

I have no business on the salt water yet. Hagg Lake is out on Saturday; buncha bastages taking the joint over to have a triathlon.

So if I'm gonna go somewhere on Saturday, it's prolly the Willy above the falls out of Rogers Landing, or MC out of like Scapoose.

Thing is, I've not been in the water with PB's before.

Anyone stuck around town want to babysit me in either of those waters for 3-4 hours of fishing for whatever ? I'm pretty sure I don't want to be in those waters alone the first time. This would be the 5th time out for me, building skills and confidence.

If no one is available, the Tualatin River is always peaceful.  No PBs and many bass. Just gotta find them. The Willamette out of George Rogers will be crowded if the weather is nice, but the PBs stay out of the shallows on the West side where the bass like to hide in the rocks.  If you stick close to shore, you should be safe anywhere.

Fair warning and I don't know where, or which part, but the Portland news is saying today there is currently an algae bloom on the Willamette and after testing it has shown to be toxic.

Fair warning and I don't know where, or which part, but the Portland news is saying today there is currently an algae bloom on the Willamette and after testing it has shown to be toxic.

I think that is in and around Ross Island lagoon if i remember correctly from the newscast...

Pinstriper,

 There is a lot of water near Portland that does not allow motorized watercraft.
 Eventually you will need to grow and learn to deal with powerboats. But if you are not comfortable with that for now--- find the "right" water for you and make it happen.
 Keep getting out there--- you will gain confidence and skill to deal with whatever comes your way. Push your limits and grow. Just be smart while doing so. You will be okay......

That was actually my thought - get on the water with the pb's, with someone more experienced. Gonna venture south in hagg tomorrow.

Well, I did it and survived. Hit the water late morning, sun starting to break through the overcast (which was awesome and very welcome).

Took my new fishfinder (Humminbird 110) and discovered the water was a cool 78. Headed up towards the Sain arm, then threw caution to the wind and crossed over on the calm side of the line, sort of sneaking up on the wakes. So far so good. There weren't very many PB's out skiing, maybe half a dozen, mostly pulling floats behind.

I was surprised to find it was only 62 feet the deepest I noticed. Made it to the other side, crossed over into the death zone. Road some wakes. Is that all they got ?

Stayed over towards the shallows and crept up towards ramp A, rounding the point met a couple yak fishermen and tagged along with them fishing as we went. No action over there, so we crossed the lake again back to Sain, south of the bouy line. This is when I discovered 3 things.

1) The portable ff with the transducer pole really has a lot of drag when you are paddling for distance. It also kept yawing me towards the left - PORT ! I meant port side ! In fact, I said port in the first place. Which is where I mounted it. So I loosened the knob and swung it up out of the water, much better.

2) Wide kayaks really are barges. Especially when weight down with fat guys. I fell behind pretty quick - they were in a Tarpon 120 and a Lure 11.5. I had about 15 years and 70 pounds on each of them.

3) Wake schmake. It was no big deal. I asked if that was about as bad as it gets and they said from the boats, yes. They had both been out in rougher water due to weather, but the PB's did about what we experienced. I was glad to have others nearby when I went through it. So a big confidence builder. Baby steps.

We farted around the Sain arm for an hour or so, got a few nibbles but nothing much. Had a smallmouth jump off the hook as I was bringing it in. My chaperones decided to head back to their launch by the dam as the sun was quite strong by this time and they were getting cooked. I was glad for the long pants.

I got into a catfish that put up quite a fight. Pretty broad in the beam and heavy. I had forgotten to bring a net and he jumped off the hook as I was lifting him into the yak. Caught him on a trout marshmallow on a #4 hook. I then got a smallmouth on a rubber worm on that same hook. 14" according to the ruler on my paddle.

A fun few fish, a good paddle, and a major step forward in my confidence.

Also, someone was flying a drone around the lake, hovered over us twice - I wonder if that's the county, or just some jackass.