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The granite peaks of Oregon’s Blue and Wallowa Mountains form the backdrop for many of this zone’s glacier-carved lakes and crystalline streams. Pack trains are a common sight on steep backcountry trails. Bull trout thrive in this zone’s cold, clear rivers, which also sustain rainbow trout and welcome returning runs of hatchery-reared steelhead. Warmwater fisheries are few, but the John Day River offers world-class fishing for smallmouth bass.

Wildfire season in Oregon and access to the place you like to hunt, fish or recreate may be impacted. So be sure to check for access restrictions before heading out.

Most of the wildlife in Oregon evolved with wildfire. And even though fires are intensifying, they are nothing new to Oregon’s wild animals. There are also no documented cases of fires that have wiped out entire populations or species.

More fish are probably lost because of improperly tied knots than any other single reason. Yet anglers who spend hours practicing their casting or making lures often neglect this simple fundamental. But if tying better knots might help us land more fish, it makes sense to give knot tying a little more attention.

A quick guide to cleaning and storing the fish you catch.

Fishing isn’t hard, but it can be confusing to know how to begin. Here’s a step-by-step approach to get from thinking about it to doing it.

Steelhead have been called the ultimate game fish. These elusive and challenging fish can test an angler’s patience and persistence, but the reward is hooking into a fish that is famous worldwide for its line-peeling runs and spectacular, acrobatic fight.

An experienced hunter witnessed a mule deer being poached. He was so rattled he forgot who to call and how to report the crime. Here are tips for what to do when you see poaching, then read on for this hunter’s story that bagged him a reward.

Bass are an increasingly popular game fish even in a state noted for its native salmon, steelhead and trout. Bass often thrive in the urban waters of places like the Willamette Valley where warmer temperatures limit trout fishing in the summer months. Whether you target them in the Columbia or Willamette rivers, a coastal lake or the neighborhood pond, throughout much of the year bass can offer a rewarding fishing opportunity relatively close to home.

"I was out hunting near a reserve, and I shot a white-tailed deer. I didn’t know it was a white-tailed deer. The rules don’t say what kind of deer to hunt, they just say a deer, and I shot a deer, but I guess it’s a white-tail. What do I do now?" "Do I have to turn myself in to OSP?" -- recent call to ODFW

Let’s go fishing! Not enough time? Think again. If you live on Oregon’s South Coast, there are a number of places you can easily travel to fish. Directions and times are approximate.

Surf fishing is one of Oregon’s most underutilized fisheries. There are hundreds of places to fish along Oregon’s sandy beaches, and there are plenty of fish within an easy cast from shore.

Snipe fly fast and erratically. They aren’t hard to kill, just hard to hit. Here are a few tips to improve your odds.

A dozen great rivers pour out of the Coast Range Mountains into tidal bays that welcome runs of salmon and the sea-going rainbow trout called “steelhead.” Bays are the year-round home to marine perch, rockfish, crabs and clams, while other species come and go with the seasons and the tides. In the Northwest Zone a handful of ponds dot the forested slopes, and there are dozens of dune lakes— many stocked with plump rainbow trout, and some that grow their own largemouth bass, perch, crappie and brown bullhead.

Join the community scientists who have shared their wildlife observations in Oregon throughout the iNaturalist app. Record your sightings of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles from around the state and contribute valuable data to wildlife conservation.

Salmon, steelhead and smallmouth bass offer world-class fishing here year-round. Rainbow trout are stocked in the upper Rogue and in lakes nestled in settings as varied as fir forest and wind-swept dune. Big reservoirs provide fishing for trout and for thriving populations of largemouth bass, catfish, perch and crappie. Coastal bays serve as gateways to rich offshore reef fisheries, and miles of public beach welcome anglers to fish for surfperch against a backdrop of rugged capes.

Fishing isn’t hard, but it can be confusing to know how to begin. Here’s the information you’ll need to get from thinking about it to doing it.

Whether it’s spending more time outdoors or harvesting food for the freezer, there are lots reasons to become a hunter. Here’s how to get from thinking about it to doing it.