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Drift Boat Trips
Barnett's Guide Service drift boat
trips begin with a meeting near
the river to
discuss the game plan for the
day. Then we will head out
to our launch destination and
begin your
fishing adventure aboard our 17'
x 60" Willie drift boat setup for
comfort with captains chairs and
heating for those cold mornings.
Below you will find descriptions
of the rivers we drift and the
fish we pursue, along the
current river level and flow information.
Kilchis River
The Kilchis River is a very
small stream that rises
quickly and is the first to
come back into shape. It has
a small run of hatchery
steelhead along with a large
return of native steelhead.
Chum salmon return in large
numbers also, with a two
week season for catch and
release only in November. It
also has a late run of
chinook salmon which I
target in December. The
upper portion of the
boatable water is very
scenic and eventually winds
down through the lush
farmlands of the kilchis
valley before entering
Tillamook Bay one mile north
of Tillamook. The Kilchis
River runs a beautiful aqua
marine color which is unique
for this area
Nestucca River
The Nestucca River boasts
some of the finest native
winter steelheading on the
west coast with estimated
returns of over ten thousand
native fish each year.
Combine this with a hatchery
return average of eleven to
fifteen hundred fish from
December to mid January and
the native and broodstock
returns the Nestucca offers
a five month winter
steelhead season. The
opportunity for double digit
hookups are very real during
the peak of the native run
from mid February through
late march when the water
conditions are right. With
the average fish weighing
eight to twelve pounds and
fish in the twenty pound
class often caught in the
months of February, March
and April making it truly a
world class fishery. Spring
chinook run from late may
through July and are some of
the hardest fighting salmon
you will ever catch with the
average weighing about
twenty pounds. Summer
steelhead arrive in June and
run through September with
fish weighing six to ten
pounds. Fall chinook run
September through December.
These fish will weigh from
twenty to forty pounds. The
Nestucca has about fifteen
miles of boatable water not
counting tidewater. It
varies from technical water
to a calm river winding
through the pasture land of
the Nestucca Valley before
entering the ocean at
Pacific City.
South Santiam River
The South Santiam River
originates high in the
Cascade Mountains and in
controlled by Foster Dam in
Sweethome, Oregon. This
river has a federal hatchery
located at Foster Dam that
raises spring chinook and
summer steelhead with great
returns of both. It also
boasts a small run of native
winter steelhead with fish
reaching twenty pounds. The
class of the river is its
spring chinook although not
as large as their coastal
counterparts they make up
for it in their eating
quality and numbers with the
summers running a close
second as these are Skamania
River stock and are well
known for their acrobatic
displays when hooked. These
fish run from April through
September with fish up to
twelve pounds.
Trask River
The
Trask River is a medium sized
stream that only has about 8
miles of boatable water and
doesn't receive as much pressure
as some of the other local
rivers in the area. This
river is a sleeper river for
hatchery steelhead as it doesn't
receive a planting but the
Wilson and Kilchis fish are
raised at the Gold Creek
Hatchery including the
broodstock steelhead. The river
dumps into Tillamook Bay close
to the Wilson and a lot of these
fish return to the hatchery
where they were raised on the
Trask. September brings a return
of fin clipped coho salmon which
is the only river in the
immediate area with them.
October the fall chinook start
and run through November. The
Trask also has a good return of
hatchery spring chinook which
are raised at Gold Creek also.
Wilson River
The Wilson is a very popular
river due west from Portland.
The upper boat able portion of
this river has some of the most
beautiful scenery to be found
this is also where you encounter
some of the technical water It
has returns of all of the salmon
and steelhead so there is fish
of some type in it year round
with a broodstock
program for the steelhead to
go along with the hatchery
fish. It stretches
the take fishery almost year
round. It also flows
through the town of
Tillamook with lots to do
after the fishing is done.
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