Molalla Scouting

Last Sunday, after the wife's relatives headed back to Seattle, I managed to sneak out and do some scouting of the Mighty Molalla, a relatively little-known tributary of the Willamette about 10 miles south of Oregon City.  The last few miles of this river flow entirely through a state park, though the park boat ramp is actually on the Willamette (and as I discovered, the 1 mile paddle up through the psychobilly waterski rampage that is the Willamette in this area is the only way to get a kayak to the Molalla in the park).

Within the state park the river is very pretty, with big old cottonwood trees and what is rumored to be home to an outstanding small mouth bass population (as well as a great blue heron rookery).  I saw a number of very bassy looking pools.  My hopes of being able to access its lower reaches (either from land in the park or via a paddle upstream on the Willamette) were dashed.  Though you could probably get upriver in one piece on a weekday, this there are a number of log jams on the Molalla that make paddling upstream impossible (though someone has come through and cut downstream paths through them with a chainsaw).

So I am going to have to go with Plan B for kayak fishing this river, which is putting in at an access point upstream of the park and floating down to the mouth, then down to the boat ramp on the Willamette.  I actually saw a family come down the river in SOT kayaks who had done just that.  They navigated the log jam just fine (though dad managed to flip their OK tandem, with wife and daughter aboard, while waiting for their son to shoot through the jam).  Will require a shuttle, but should be doable.

I am dividing my fishing time between my power boat and the kayaks these days, but I hope to find some time in the next few weeks to head back.