Williamson River is about the best Rainbow and German Brown Trout fishing hole you are going to find anywhere. It’s pretty easy to fish, the only problem is either the fish are biting or they're not.

I’ve taken the family fishing there for years but today I remember one incident in particular. My wife Sherry, my son T.J., and I went to the Williamson. We left early in the morning and got there as the sun was coming up. Sherry wanted to go somewhere else because we had fished there a couple times that year and never got a bite.

The Williamson is also known for having Sturgeon, and Sherry saw one. She got excited, and screamed, and wanted to jump in after it. She said it was at least six feet long, maybe seven. It had blue or green flourescent eyes, which looked right at her.

The Williamson is very cold and very clear, so even though the fish were not biting, you could see these monster fish swim under the boat.

We usually launch the boat from Neptune boat launch. We set up our poles, usually with a Rapala, or Rapala Broken Backs.
These have always been good old standbys.

We began to troll down under the bridge, and up stream towards Chiloquin, Going up and down the river fishing the sides, and sometimes the middle, depending on the water levels, etc.

Back up the river, watching the fish finder, there were fish everywhere. We fished about a mile up river and then back. There was a spew pipe and pump where we turned around at. It was about lunch time as we dug out sandwiches, chips, and other picnic items .

We were heading back down and we were almost back to the bridge, and I saw a big one on the hummingbird fish finder lying up under a log. I told Sherry I was going to bring her really close to that log. She said, “you better not get me hung up.”

I brought the boat as close as I could to the log, and then swung out at just the right time to bring the lure in close. Sherry’s pole dropped. She said, "dang it James, you got me hung up!” I shut the boat off, and immediately we began going backwards. I said, “you aren’t hung up.” Just as I said that, the fish jumped up. She said, "oh".

She fought it and fought it, until she finally got the fish in. It was a fairly nice fish, at 19 1/2" long. I teased her because we usually throw the fish back if it's under 20" long. We made one more round, then we headed back to the ramp and began to unload the boat. Sherry got out of the boat and rocked it from side to side.

I laughed at her and teased her, telling her not to fall in. T.J. got out, then I got out. I was wearing bifocal glasses for the first time, and stepped for the dock, and only hit it with my toes. I went to step back, and the boat went the other way, and I went in the river. I was holding T.J.'s cigarettes and cell phone, and could never find them again. I also lost my new glasses. Even though we were at the boat launch, it was very deep there, around ten feet or so.

If you have never been in the Williamson let me tell you, it’s one of the coldest rivers in Oregon year round. Guess who had the last laugh? Yep, She laughed hard too. She peed her pants, laughing so hard at me. She still laughs every time we think about this trip. She says that she can still see in her mind as if it was in slow motion, the look on my face as I went down. She said that I had the look on my face like, "I'm screwed". It was a very cold and wet ride home.

By: James Grimes
4/17/09

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