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Love the taste of crab and want to try harvesting your own? Already at the beach and looking for a family-friendly activity? Here are some areas‌ to find your favorite seafood and have a fun day on the coast.

Oregon's 33 hatcheries produce about 40 million fish annually and you can visit them. They offer the chance to see fish – from eggs to brooders – and an opportunity to learn how they are raised. Oregon's hatcheries are important for anglers and the public because they directly provide fish for angling, help rebuild native fish populations, and offer educational programs. They are also vital to supporting the cultural heritage of Tribes. Hatcheries offer great wildlife viewing, interpretive displays and some provide boating and angling access. Did you know that ODFW rears 10 species of fish including steelhead/rainbow trout, brook

Trout fishing opportunities abound in this zone, known for its high desert climate, sage-covered canyons, glacial peaks and mountain lakes. Anglers will find year-round trout fishing in the Deschutes, Metolius, Fall and Crooked rivers, while several central Oregon lakes and reservoirs are renowned for their trout and kokanee fishing – and their beauty. The Hood and lower Deschutes – both tributaries of the Columbia River – offer high desert fishing for Chinook salmon and summer steelhead.

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. Bull trout thrive in this zone’s cold, clear rivers, which also sustain whitefish and rainbow trout, and welcome returning runs of hatchery-reared steelhead. Chinook salmon travel over 300 miles up the Columbia to spawn in rivers such as the Imnaha and Wallowa. Warmwater fisheries are few, but the John Day River offers world-class fishing for smallmouth bass.

A dozen great rivers pour out of the Coast Range Mountains into tidal bays that welcome runs of salmon and steelhead. Bays are the year-round home to marine perch, rock fish, crabs and clams, while other species come and go with the seasons and tides. A handful of ponds dot the forested slopes, and there are dozens of dune lakes— many stocked with rainbow trout, and some harboring largemouth bass, perch, crappie and brown bullhead.

Wide open spaces, wild windy places, and extreme temperatures characterize Oregon’s largest, most remote fishing zone. Redband trout are native to its rivers and streams, including the Williamson, Malheur and Chewaucan. Brown and hatchery rainbow trout can grow to trophy-size in many of its lakes and reservoirs, many of which also feature crappie, yellow perch and bass.

There is year-round salmon, steelhead, trout and smallmouth bass in the Southwest Zone. Rainbow trout are stocked in the upper Rogue River and in lakes nestled among fir forests and wind-swept dunes. 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 allow anglers to fish for surfperch against a backdrop of rugged capes.

Abundant rainfall feeds the massive Willamette River watershed, tamed by a system of reservoirs that are stocked annually with hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout. Some of these reservoirs also grow trophy-size largemouth and smallmouth bass, as well as bluegill, brown bullhead and crappies. Smaller lakes and ponds nearer the valley floor provide springtime trout fishing close to home. Salmon and steelhead navigate the Willamette River and its tributaries, many of which are also home to rainbow and cutthroat trout.

The south coast area extends along the Oregon coast from Yachats south to the Oregon-California border. The area offers some of the most productive and scenic warmwater fishing in the state with excellent fishing for bass and panfish available in large waters such as Mercer Lake, Siltcoos Lake, and Tahkenitch Lake.

The north Willamette area includes the Columbia River from Bonneville downstream to St. Helens and the lower Willamette Basin north of Salem. The Columbia and Willamette both offer outstanding warmwater fishing for bass and a variety of panfish including crappie. Good fishing is also available in the area's lakes and reservoirs such as Henry Hagg Lake which has produced state record smallmouth bass and brown bullhead catfish.

The south Willamette area covers the upper Willamette Basin south of Salem and includes the communities of Albany, Corvallis, Eugene, Springfield and Cottage Grove. Fishing for bass and panfish can be outstanding in the Willamette River and its many sloughs, but you'll need a boat for most locations because much of the banks are privately-owned. There also is good warmwater fishing in the area’s larger lakes such as Cottage Grove, Dorena, Foster, and Fern Ridge reservoirs, where crappie and large bass attract both seasoned and causal anglers. There are many smaller ponds inside and near the urban communities that offer

Oregon's Klamath and Lake counties offer outstanding warmwater fishing in the region's lakes and reservoirs, and even in the lower reaches of some of the rivers and streams. The area covers the Upper Klamath Basin and extends east to include the Chewaucan and Warner Lakes Basins.