Are you happy with 10"

[Markcanby]

I am tired of 10" trout how about teh rest of you? I read an see shows about lakes an rivers in Wash an BC where the limits are lower an there is a size limit. How do you guys feel about that? Myself I would rather come home with 2 fish over 16 than 5 from 8" to 10".

Also this will ruffle some feathers but I think livebait should not be in a lot of the mountain lake.:shock: If you want to use power bait do so in the stocker ponds like ST Louis Ponds. I hate going to Harriet an seeing all the 10'' to 12'' trout floating because some guy wants to catch a brooder.

 

[dude young]

+1. Although, I was hesitant to even open this based upon the title.

I, for one, believe power bait should be banned. In many states lead is banned because it kills birds, but you can gut hook all the trout you want with power bait and worms. Odd.

 

[steelhead1]

the worst thing about powerbait is that it works

 

[Thuggin4Life]

No offense to powerbait users but powerbait takes all the skill out of fishing and it is deadly to fish who aren't destined for the plate. I have never bought the stuff but somehow it is in my box.

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

i mainly use nightcrawlers and if i hook a 10" trout on the lip ill set it free, but if it swallows it ill keep it. i like eating these small trout and if i catch a bunch we'll smoke them. iv used PB but im pretty sure i havent caught anything with it, i know lots of people who swear by it. i heard good things about the power eggs on here, i think ill buy some next time i goto the lake.

 

[beaverfan]

I would like to see some stricter limits on some of the lakes down here. I have fished remote lakes in B.C. where the Rainbows average 3-5lbs. All of the lakes I've fished have been closed to bait and had fairly stringent regulations. But they were also very very large lakes that don't get nearly the pressure of somewhere like Harriet. The best trout lake I've been to in Oregon has to be Olallie. Never caught any of them but I've seen so many trout in the 10lb range. I was there last week and we caught a bunch of them nothing too big but most were more than 10 inches.

 

[GoneFishin2134]

I agree. Powerbait should be banned. Yes, it unfortunately works. I must say, don't Hate on Worms. I mean come on, they are worms! Its Natural, these days everyone is about staying 100% Naturale'! At least its not Powerbait.

 

[Mike123]

I hate fishing for stocker pellet fed trout.
I'd much rather catch 2 or 3 nice sized native trout then 100 stockers in a day.
I hate Power Bait fishing! If bait is allowed I use those 3in. trout Berkely rubber worms
in PINK!! They slay fish!

 

[GDBrown]

Ten Inch Rule!!!???

Ten Inch Rule!!!???

I saw a sticker on on the back window of an ODFW truck that explains most of the rules for fishing in Oregon. :shock:"Hatchery fish are Keepers":shock:

We have to face the facts. If all we had to catch were natives most of us would be out of luck. If every great fishing hole were marked "Catch & Release" how often would we go there? ODFW provides fishing opportunities for the masses by its Hatchery programs. Salmon, Trout & Steelheads are raised so we can keep them. If you don't want to catch them then go were they are not placed! Now were will you be fishing this weekend?

Just my three cents worth,

GD

 

[Markcanby]

Thats my point GB there are no places left that can produce nice fish that ODFW hasn't fill with stockers! Why overpopulate lakes like Harriet just for people to catch stockers? And yes I would go to Harriet much more if they stopped stocking it.

 

[GoneFishin2134]

One more thing. I would love to catch Natives all day! Better fighters, better eating. Stockers are good for catching and having some fun.

Also a lot of people don't understand C&R in most rivers, and keep Natives anyways. So question. Would you rather have all of the Natives Extinct from complete genocide, because people can't C&R? I know most of us would C&R. But there are those people that slay 40 stockers a day, because they don't understand 5 is limit! Just imagine those numbers applied to Natives being caught....

 

[Mike123]

Thats my point GB there are no places left that can produce nice fish that ODFW hasn't fill with stockers! Why overpopulate lakes like Harriet just for people to catch stockers? And yes I would go to Harriet much more if they stopped stocking it.

There are some lakes that get stocked but are resricted to lures and flies only.
For instance Trail Bridge. There are a lot of what I consider trophy fish in there and now not a lot of fisherman cause of the no bait rule. I still see quite a few people using Power Bait though... :naughty:

A lot of hike in lakes are good for quality native fish.

 

[mlw]

There are some of us who would like them to quit stocking the Mckenzie river - RG editorial
Michael

 

[All Ford]

I fish mostly catch and release for trout with small single barbless hooks. We have a rule in my boat that the fish has to be larger than my shoe ( size 13 ) to keep it unless it's hooked in a bad spot and won't make it if released. We also don't take more than we can eat in one meal so when we get 4 or 5 that we are keeping we are done fishing. I have found a lot of waste comes with hauling home 20 trout. I am a little confused about the powerbait thing. It it the fact that the fish takes the bait in so deep making c+r not likley or is there actually something in it that harms the fish. My kids 2 1/2 and 6 have used it in the past to fish off the bottom when we are parked. Neither can cast and retreve a spinner well yet.

 

[jpjule]

12" or larger trout caught with lures is the way to go.

 

[hendrixfan]

I prefer to disappear up in a high mountain lake or stream that is either hard to get to or just not well known. I never fish bait of any kind in these places to minimize any accidental kills because for me its more about the experience then it is about catching a fish. I don't like to eat them anyway so its probably easier for me to say this.

I agree it would be nice to have more barbless artificial fly/lure places, but for me its less about the size of the fish than it is that they tend to have less trash(look at the Metolius or Gold Lake easily accessible but typically not as much garbage). I will take the kids to Silverton Reservoir or even down here to the Canby pond on occasion for their entertainment and enjoyment, and in those cases will use bait if nothing else is working so they can catch fish, although I still go barbless and single hook to make releasing easier.

 

[TTFishon]

I am tired of 10" trout how about teh rest of you? I read an see shows about lakes an rivers in Wash an BC where the limits are lower an there is a size limit. How do you guys feel about that? Myself I would rather come home with 2 fish over 16 than 5 from 8" to 10".

Also this will ruffle some feathers but I think livebait should not be in a lot of the mountain lake.:shock: If you want to use power bait do so in the stocker ponds like ST Louis Ponds. I hate going to Harriet an seeing all the 10'' to 12'' trout floating because some guy wants to catch a brooder.

I wish the size limit was set at no smaller than 15". I've been wanting that rule to change for a long time. I suppose the rules could be the same for hatchery trout in trout ponds for the benefit of the children. I think kids should be the only ones allowed to fish trout ponds anyway.

 

[TTFishon]

+1. Although, I was hesitant to even open this based upon the title.

I, for one, believe power bait should be banned. In many states lead is banned because it kills birds, but you can gut hook all the trout you want with power bait and worms. Odd.

When PB first came out I loved it but now I really don't care for it. I wonder what the 3% non biodegradable ingredients are and the impacts on the fishery is.

 

[SmallStreams]

I visited Quartzville Creek on Sunday. My thought was to find some native fish in the upper reaches, above the zone that is stocked. We went 5 miles above Yellowbottom and spotted one tiny trout and caught none. Worked my way down to Yellowbottom without seeing any more fish save a single 8" at Yellowbottom.

To contrast, swung over to Middle Fork Santiam and saw 3 native trout in 30 minutes. Yes, they're all small (4"-8"), but at least there are fish.

So... there's a reason for stocking or else everything would be overfished, like Quartzville Creek. An 8-10" native trout for a stream fishermen is typical and 12" is outstanding (YMMV). Lake fishermen probably feel differently.

Personally, I'd rather not see the State stock fish since they mask how overfished some waters are, are more likely to have disease/parasites, and provide a false sense of what size & quantity of fish a body of water can support. On the other hand, they do keep the masses away from the waters that I prefer to fish...

 

[Irishrover]

There are pleanty of places to catch nice size trout here in Oregon. They just arn't close to the metro areas. Look at the successfull turn around of Diamond Lake. It's a great place to fish and if you do a search there are a few threads with pictures of some darn nice fish. If you want big fish and no power bait head over to the Deschutes. That river was being fished out and ODFW had put a lot of hatchery fish in it. Now they have a 2 fish limit with a 10"-13" slot limit. Anything over or under must be released. Now the Deschutes River is a great year round fishery with tons of public access.

If you head over to Central Oregon hit the lakes south of Bend on Century Drive like Lava Lake, Craine, Elk, Todd, Davis, or Cultus. There are threads on here just recently with pictures of Cultus Lake . I used to fish Antelope Flats reservior up in the Maury Moutains just south of Post and would get into some scrappy rainbows. Venture over to Chickahomny east of Bend by Glass Butte after ice out. You'll find big hungery rainbows. If you go further east check out the Donner and Blitzen River or Fish lake over in the Steens Moutains, another thread on here. I haven't fished it yet but I plan on making a trip to Mann Lake on the east side of the Steens to catch some of the Lahotan Cutthroat they have there.

I just fished the Crooked River over by Prineville. I only fished for a couple hours caught three fish one of them was over 15". That's a lot of fun on a 5wt fly rod.

The problem with fishing around the metro area is the amount of pressure on the limited fishing areas. When Timothy (Meadows Reservior) Lake and Harriet were built as a water storage areas for PGE's dams on the Clackamas, the population of Oregon wasn't quite a million. Now our poulation is over three million and the access to places like Harriet is a lot easier than it was back in the 40s. So there are a lot more folks fishing those places and if they didn't stock them there would be no fish there at all. Remember the reason they quit stocking the river and started to stock the lakes was to make the lakes a "Put and Take fishery" and have the rivers be a place to establish a non-hatchery fishery and at the same time take the pressure off the salmon smolts.

Oregon has always looked for ways to increase the fishing expierence. Like putting Atlantic Salmon in Hosmer Lake, introducing the Macinaw (lake trout) to some of our lakes like Odell and of course planting all those brook trout that they are trying to get rid of. About 1992 they started planting steelhead in Lake Simtustus. There is not a lot of pressure on those fish and you can catch them in the 14 to 15 inch range now fairly often (another thread on here). The trick is to get away from the metro areas.