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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.

With just a couple of tools and a few minutes, The Fish Grip™, originally designed as a safer way for anglers to land fish, can easily be converted into a rockfish descending device. Fish Grips™ can be purchased at local tackle shops or online.‌

Wide open spaces, wild windy places, and extreme temperatures characterize Oregon’s largest, most remote fishing zone. Scarcity makes water especially precious here, providing welcome oases in an often rugged, but spectacular landscape. Rainbow trout are native to its streams, including the Williamson, Malheur and Chewaucan rivers. And stocked rainbow and brown trout grow to trophy size in many of its lakes and reservoirs.

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.

Each year, ODFW stocks millions of trout in dozens of reservoirs, lakes and ponds throughout the state. You can use the search and filter functions to search the stocking schedule for specific locations and dates. The schedule is subject to change without notice; see individual waterbody listings in the Recreation Report for updates.

Lane County offers so much to explore — from coastal lakes and rivers to mountain lakes and streams. The Willamette River runs through the Eugene-Springfield metro area and is fed by three major rivers: the McKenzie, Middle Fork Willamette and Coast Fork Willamette. Florence is surrounded by large dune lakes, the Siuslaw River and Pacific Ocean. With so many places to fish, it’s no wonder Lane County is an angler’s paradise. For current regulations, call your local ODFW office or check MyODFW.com.

If you’re just getting started fishing, or you want to try a new kind of fishing, you’ll need a rod, reel and some tackle. To help you get started, we’ve put together some fishing outfits for trout, panfish (bluegill, crappie, pumpkin seed, sunfish), bass, steelhead, walleye, salmon and sturgeon.

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.

Begun in 2014, the Tag Team Program helps ODFW fish biologists better understand the effectiveness of stocking efforts. It’s also a chance for anglers to participate in fishery management and, perhaps, come away with up to $50.

As temperatures heat up during spring and summer, be on the watch for harmful algae blooms when recreating in Oregon lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Here’s what anglers should know.

The Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration and administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, pays anglers for each northern pikeminnow that they catch in the Columbia River.

Cole Rivers Hatchery was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 1973 to mitigate for spawning and rearing areas blocked by the construction of Lost Creek, Applegate, and Elk Creek Dams. The hatchery was named in honor of Cole M. Rivers, a biologist on the Rogue River for 20 years. The facility is used for adult collection, spawning, egg incubation and rearing of spring Chinook, coho, summer steelhead, and winter steelhead, and egg incubation and rearing of fall Chinook and rainbow trout. Infrastructure Repair and Renovation Updates

Construction of this facility began in 1924 and production started in 1925 by the state of Oregon. Various renovations have taken place with the most recent being the addition of 4 new fish rearing raceways and improvements to the pollution abatement system which was completed in 2016. Other renovations made throughout the hatchery have utilized the Restoration and Enhancement Program.. The purpose of this facility is to enhance spring Chinook, winter steelhead, summer steelhead, and coho populations for various coastal streams. The facility is used for adult collection, egg incubation and rearing of spring Chinook, fall Chinook, winter steelhead, summer

Willamette Trout Hatchery and the adjacent Oakridge Salmon Hatchery were combined in 1983 and operate today as Willamette Hatchery. The trout hatchery was constructed in 1922 and the salmon hatchery in 1911. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rebuilt the salmon hatchery in 1952 to mitigate for fishery losses caused by Hills Creek, Lookout Point and the Dexter hydroelectric/flood control projects. The trout side was rebuilt between 1950 and ‘56. Today, Willamette Hatchery is used for adult holding/spawning, egg incubation and rearing of spring Chinook and rainbow trout. In addition, both summer and winter steelhead are reared at this

Willamette Trout Hatchery and the adjacent Oakridge Salmon Hatchery were combined in 1983 and operate today as Willamette Hatchery. The trout hatchery was constructed in 1922 and the salmon hatchery in 1911. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rebuilt the salmon hatchery in 1952 to mitigate for fishery losses caused by Hills Creek, Lookout Point and the Dexter hydroelectric/flood control projects. The trout side was rebuilt between 1950 and ‘56. Today, Willamette Hatchery is used for adult holding/spawning, egg incubation and rearing of spring chinook and rainbow trout. In addition, both summer and winter steelhead are reared at this

Leaburg Hatchery was built in 1953 to mitigate for lost fishing opportunity because of the many dams on Willamette Basin rivers. These dams include Cougar, Blue River, Carmen-Smith, Lookout, Dexter, and others. The hatchery rears rainbow trout, summer steelhead and Chinook salmon, and has a staff of four employees. Come visit our show pond and see huge white sturgeon and rainbow trout. There’s a viewing platform built by the McLaren School for Boys in 1993 to allow visitors to get a close up look at spring Chinook salmon spawning in the creek below. Leaburg Hatchery is temporarily closed to comply

ODFW's legislatively adopted 2025-27 budget did not include funding to continue the operation of Salmon River Hatchery. The hatchery is shifting fish production to other facilities but will remain open for public/fishing access with a volunteer host and occasional staff on site. Learn more.

Clackamas Hatchery began operation in 1979 and is used for adult collection, egg incubation and rearing of spring Chinook and winter steelhead, rearing of coho and acclimation of summer steelhead.