MLK Weekend?

My kid and I will be in PDX this weekend, visiting her grandparents, my inlaws.

I think we can get a hall pass for Sunday morning and would love to hit some liquid water. (Ours is mostly frozen. )

I'd love to try the dino thing but I don't have coldwater gear for her, yet, and I don't know the local conditions well enough to know how wise, or unwise, that would be.

In checking out WashingtonLakes.com, Vancouver Lake sounded appealing for it's quirky mix of fish: lmb, crappie, perch, channel cats and some reported sturgeon. http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReportList.aspx?id=175

Anybody else up for anything?

I'll work on getting a hall pass for myself.  I'm still struggling myself to find good winter fishing options in the area.

I'm not sure how good Vancouver Lake is in the winter, particularly for those warm water species.   I think that lake is pretty much a duck hunting destination in the winter.  There are a few other Southern Washing lakes.. Lacamas Lake, Battleground Lake, etc.. that offer some winter fishing.

As for sturgeon fishing on the Willamette, the water is cold and the river does have some current and debris potential.  Having cold water gear would probably be a good idea.  Will you have your boat with you?

Brian

Yup, I'll have my boat with me. It's pretty stable with a 4' beam. I have only the crudest of an anchoring system, for shallow water lakes. (I could probably bust out something pretty quickly, though.)

I'm spoiled by a lot of good trout fishing in my neighborhood, so stockers didn't sound all that exciting. I catch perch through the ice, and know some people specialize on crappie in the winter (find the schools).

Hmmm, any other ideas?

Yeah, I didn't think trout would be at all interesting for you.  Lacamas Lake does have warm water fish in it.  I haven't fished it, but I don't mind crappie fishing and I know from years of ice fishing that they don't shut down in the winter.

As for sturgeon, yeah you'll need an anchor that can handle deeper water.    I guess you'll have to take a look at the river to see what you think.

Let me know.

Brian

B knows a thing or two about crappie fishing!

Z

I will want to check out the Willi, just to know what I'm facing. I have anchors, just need to work on my rigging.

For flatwater fishing, I'll defer to your local expertise. Nothing really jumps out at me. I'll be prepared with gear for everything from panfish to trout/steelhead to sturgies.

Alas, most of my productive flatwater experience has been on Henry Hagg Lake and that's closed for the winter.   

Brian

Weather is supposed to be nice all week, so the Willy may drop a bit for sturgeon. Not sure if the Multnomah channel is open for sturgeon right now, but the area around Gilbert Boat Ramp is fairly scenic and generally a nice spot.

Sturgeon would be fun, but Sunday is a non-retention day so no AOTY points. 

WAUNA POWERLINES (RM 40) UPSTREAM TO BONNEVILLE DAM (including all adjacent Washington tributaries and the Willamette River downstream of Willamette Falls including the Multnomah Channel)

2009 Regulations are as follows:
Open for retention of white sturgeon three days per week, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from Jan. 1 – July 31 and Oct. 1 – Dec. 31 (or until harvest guideline of approximately 11,300 fish is met.).
Legal size for retention is 38-54 inches FORK LENGTH.  See above for explanations on changes to measurement techniques.
Catch and release fishing is allowed during periods closed to retention.

No big deal, since I'm not AOTY eligble, anyways.

Well, I'm still up for something, almost anything.   I'm going to shoot for driving all the way, tonight, depending on traffic and time. I think I now have an anchor rig that will work for sturgeon, so we're ready for whatever.

I don't know what internet access I'll have this weekend, but I've PMed my cell # to Brian. Give me a call this evening or tomorrow am.

We never did meet up for fishing.

The winds in the Metro area howled almost all weekend. Troudale had gusts to 55mph, Rooster Rock to 69. Troutdale is still experiencing strong winds, this afternoon (Tuesday).

Time   Temp.   Dew   Relative   Wind   Wind   Wind   Visibility   WX   Clouds   Sea Level   Altimeter   Station   6 Hr   6 Hr   24 Hr   24 Hr   Quality
      Point   Humidity   Chill   Direction   Speed            Pressure   Setting   Pressure   Max   Min   Max   Min   Control
(PST)   (f)   (f)   (%)   (f)      (mph)   (miles)         (mb)   (inches)   (inches)   Temp   Temp   Temp   Temp   
20 Jan 2:53 pm   39   27   62   28   E   23G33   10.00      CLR   1024.0   30.24   30.210               OK

Plan A was to meet at George Miller Park, in Lake Oswego, to fish the Willi for sturgeon. Bsteves got a phone report from Deepcolor that there were whitecaps on the lake, so Brian and I agreed to meet at Hopworks for lunch, instead. That left Janni and I a few hours to explore, so we drove out the park to see what we could see. Driving S down Hwy 43 the power was out, almost to Lake Oswego. However, down along the river, the conditions weren't all that bad. A little bit breezy, bit no whitecaps and there were even a couple of PBers fishing.





I almost called Brian to bail on the lunch , but settled for grabbing my surf rod and some bread stuff for Janni. Janni made some friends with the local birds, while I tried to connect with a fish.





Janni had better luck than I did, in the hour and half that we were there. Something did manage to steal my smelt, even though I thought had it well half-hitched.

We ate well, this weekend.  Brian treated us to lunch at Hopworks (Thanks, Brian!)

Janni's grandpa served us huge T-bone steaks, the night before.



By now, I should know how important it is to have a Plan B. Funny thing is, after crossing over the 205 bridge in to WA, the wind almost immediately died. I'm sure we would have had no problem if we had chosen to go N to something like Battle Ground Lake.  Oh well, another lesson learned, I hope.

It was nice meeting you PS, sorry the fishing didn't happen.  Maybe next time.

Brian

Love the pic of Janni PS. She looks like she's just about to put the hurt on that poor steak!!

Z