The Wilson River, about 33 miles (53 km) long, flows from the Northern Oregon Coast Range to Tillamook Bay in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of its Devil's Lake Fork and its South Fork, it runs generally west through the Tillamook State Forest to its mouth near the city of Tillamook. It is one of five riversâ€"the Tillamook, the Trask, the Wilson, the Kilchis, and the Miamiâ€"that flow into the bay.
CourseEdit
Winter Steelhead Fishing - Trask & Wilson River near Tillamook, Oregon December 9, 2017. - Winter Steelhead fishing near Tillamook, Oregon with my good friend Pedro Fernandez. We had a very successful day catching two steelhead and one chinook on the Trask and Wilson rivers December...
The river rises in the Tillamook State Forest in the mountains of northeastern Tillamook County. The river's North Fork rises in northern Tillamook County and flows south. Its South Fork rises in eastern Tillamook County and western Washington County and flows west to merge with Devils Lake Fork. Further downstream, the Wilson River receives the North Fork near Lees Camp. It then flows southwest to Tillamook, entering the southeast end of Tillamook Bay about 3 miles (5Â km) northwest of the city. The mouth of the river is about 1 mile (1.6Â km) north of the mouth of the Trask River and slightly south of the mouth of the Kilchis River. Oregon Route 6, also known as the Wilson River Highway, runs parallel to the river and links the Tualatin Valley and the Portland metropolitan area with the Oregon Coast.
DischargeEdit
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) monitors the flow of the Wilson River at a stream gauge 9.3 miles (15.0Â km) from the mouth of the river. The average flow at this gauge is 1,177 cubic feet per second (33.3Â m3/s). This is from a drainage area of 161 square miles (417Â km2), about 83Â percent of the total Wilson River watershed. The maximum flow recorded there was 38,600 cubic feet per second (1,090Â m3/s) on November 6, 2006, and the minimum flow was 32 cubic feet per second (0.91Â m3/s) on September 5, 1973, although it might have been less for a short while after a landslide on January 31, 1965.
FishingEdit
According to Fishing Oregon: An Angler's Guide to Oregon, the Wilson River is "one of the state's best steelhead and Chinook salmon fisheries". Spring Chinook average about 20 pounds (9.1Â kg), fall Chinook from 25 to 28 pounds (11 to 13Â kg), and Steelhead from 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.4Â kg). County-owned boat launches on the lower reaches and public access via Route 6 through the Tillamook State Forest make the river easily accessible to anglers. State regulations govern the seasons and methods of fishing.
See alsoEdit
- List of rivers of Oregon
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Tillamook Estuaries Partnership
- Flyfishing on the Wilson
