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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.

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…

Bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat the rarest game mammals in Oregon today, with less than 100 bighorn sheep tags and 20 Rocky Mtn goat tags offered in 2015. The tags are “once-in-a-lifetime” so hunters who draw them can’t draw them again.

Wipers, a cross between striped and white bass, reach prodigious proportions in the productive waters of Ana Reservoir. Their size (up to 19 pounds) and hard-fighting nature make them a popular destination fishery with many anglers.

Ask 10 anglers how to fish and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. However, there are a few types of fishing rigs that almost everyone can agree on – they’re both simple and effective. Here are 16 of some of our favorite rigs for warmwater species.

In the spring of 2019, several clients chartered an ocean fishing trip out of Coos Bay. They were promised trophy-size lingcod. They got a demonstration in illegal fishing practices.

A beginner's guide to waterfowl hunting on Sauvie Island - an introduction. Part 1 of a 5 part series.

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.

Oregon’s population of about 6,000 cougars occupies a wide variety of habitat across the state, offering a year-round, readily-accessible hunting opportunity.

"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

Each year, thousands of fish are harvested illegally in Oregon. Anglers who wait all year for their favorite salmon or steelhead run shouldn’t face reduced opportunity because of poaching. To report poaching call *OSP or 1-800-452-7888

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.

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.

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.

Abundant rainfall feeds the massive Willamette River watershed, tamed by a system of reservoirs stocked annually with hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout. Some of these reservoirs also grow trophy-size largemouth and smallmouth bass, and lots of bluegill, brown bullhead and crappies. Salmon and steelhead navigate the Willamette and its productive tributaries, many of which are also home to rainbow and cutthroat trout.

Known for its high desert climate, sage-covered canyons, glacial peaks and mountain lakes, this zone is defined by the reach of Oregon’s finest trout stream. The Deschutes River is no bigger than a creek when it passes close by South Twin Lake on its way toward Wickiup and Crane Prairie reservoirs. But it soon gains power enough to grow athletic rainbow trout. The considerably tamer Crooked River offers good practice if you’re just learning how to keep your footing in a slippery freestone stream.

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.