Central Oregonian
558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
Where the fish are
Thanks to the completion of a new statewide trout fishing project, anglers now have interactive maps and much more fishing information at their fingertips
The recently completed Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife statewide online trout fishing map project.
Want to know how many fish will be stocked in Antelope Flat Reservoir and when? How about Walton Lake, or Haystack Reservoir, or even the Prineville Youth Pond?
Last week, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife rolled out their latest edition of the state’s online interactive fishing maps designed to help anglers find fishing locations all across Oregon. With the release of ODFW’s High Desert Region’s map, which points to 88 stocking sites in Central and Southeast Oregon, this now completes the state’s project.
Maps of the Northwest, Southwest and Northeast regions came out last year and have already received more than 400,000 online visits. The maps detail 349 locations around the state where ODFW releases millions of hatchery-reared trout for anglers to enjoy. The maps can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and also work on smartphones.
The fishing maps can be accessed on ODFW’s website (www.dfw.state.or.us) from links in several places, including the Trout Stocking Schedule, weekly Recreation Report and the Where and How to Fish pages.
“I think this new trout fishing map project will be very helpful to anglers,” said Tim Porter, assistant district fish biologist with ODFW in Prineville. “It has driving directions to each site, GPS coordinates, and also gives anglers an idea of the number of fish stocked.”
Porter said their office receives lots of calls about when fish will be stocked and how many. Now, anglers can go to the state’s website and get all that information and more. Once there, you can zoom in for a close-up of each site with your choice of map, satellite, and terrain view.
When you click on the icons at each location on the map, it opens a text balloon with site photos, links to nearby campgrounds ,and other points of interest. The maps are capable of generating GPS coordinates and turn-by-turn driving directions to each site from any starting point.
Here’s an example of a site in our area:
Haystack Reservoir
This is a large reservoir located in the Crooked River National Grassland about nine miles south of Madras. This is an irrigation reservoir, so water levels can vary substantially seasonally and daily.
Haystack Reservoir is open year-round and supports a diverse fish population. Legal-sized rainbow trout are stocked in mid-April. Moderate numbers of large brown trout and kokanee are also present, as are several species of warmwater fish.
Boat ramps and camping areas are available on the east and west shores.
Fish species: rainbow trout, brown trout, kokanee, crappie, largemouth bass, brown bullhead.
At the bottom of the screen are links to the fishing report, stocking schedule, fishing regulations, directions and more.
“We are pleased to be able to roll out the last of these interactive maps in time for the opening of trout fishing season (April 27 for most bodies of water),” said Scott Patterson, ODFW fish propagation manager. “Figuring out where to go is an important factor in people’s ability to get out and participate in this activity, and these maps should make that process a lot easier and more convenient.”
According to a 2006 ODFW survey of licensed anglers, trout fishing is one of the most popular outdoor activities in the state. Of the licensed anglers surveyed, 73 percent said they had fished for trout in the past year, equating to about 420,000 anglers.
The state also concluded that the economic impact of trout fishing in Oregon is huge. One study estimated that freshwater fishing contributed nearly $200 million to the state’s economy. The annual cost of the trout stocking program is around $4 million and is covered primarily through the sale of Oregon fishing licenses and related federal funds.
According to Porter, Central Oregon’s stocked rainbow trout come from three state hatcheries (Oak Springs, Wizard Falls and Fall River) and one private hatchery (Desert Springs Hatchery).
The main
The sometimes elusive, but fun to catch, rainbow trout.
Walton Lake gets stocked five times each year, starting the third week of May, with a total of 10,000 legal rainbows (at least 8”) and 3,000 larger fish in the 12-inch range. Haystack Reservoir gets stocked this week with 7,700 legal rainbows. Antelope Flat Reservoir gets stocked once during the third week of May with 2,500 legal rainbows.
The Prineville Youth Pond will be stocked this week with about 200-300 legal rainbows. In the fall it receives about 1,000 fish, which is split up into three or four stockings. The state also stocks largemouth bass in the pond during late May. These bass are collected from Davis Lake. Fishing is restricted to youths 17 and under.
“Ochoco Reservoir normally gets 35,000 rainbow fingerlings in the fall,” said Porter, “but we’re conducting a study this year to see which season is better for stocking in terms of survival. So this year we’re going to put half in the spring and half in the fall.” In the spring the fingerlings average 3 to 4 inches. In the fall they’ll average about 6 inches.
Prineville Reservoir receives 70,000 fingerling rainbow trout in the fall. Those fish will be about 8 inches the following spring.
Springtime means trout fishing in Central Oregon so get your gear together and start planning your outing now with the state’s new map system.
