Trout fishing, mainly Willamette valley, safe to eat?

[mlinkletter]

Hey everyone,

My wife and I moved to the area back in October and have decided to get back into trout/bass/crappie/bluegill fishing. Previously we both had only fished in a manmade lake where we both grew up (in the high desert of CA). There was no question about wether the fish were safe to eat as the lake was stocked and cleaned regularly. I have been trying to find some good info on where we are good to eat what we catch and where we aren't but am coming up short.

We are heading to Trillium this weekend and I am relativly certain that all is well there but what about the places closer in to the Beaverton area?

I would love to be able to fish and eat out of Commonwealth because it is essentially in my back yard but I need some guidance as to wether or not that is a good idea.

Can you guys give me an idea of what some good places are for being able to eat my catch that are as close to Beaverton as feasibly possible?

Thanks for the help in advance I am loving this site so far.

 

[Kais]

Well I can't personally give you specifics, but I can say right OFF the top of my head, the Willamette river may not be the cleanest place to catch a fish you intend on eating because it runs through the city of Portland and can get pretty polluted, but I can certainly be wrong
If you live in Beaverton, you can fish the river and some places close to their, but check out the Trout Stocking Schedule . All of those lakes are clean to eat from, so are most of the lakes and rivers in Oregon, like the Sandy, Clackamas, and Columbia.
The Willamette river may or may not be clean, but I personally wouldn't eat anything that came out of there.

 

[kornphlake]

As far as I know you only need to avoid the willammette, tualatin and columbia slough (and lakes within the slough) any of the other lakes and rivers are safe, migratory species (salmon) are considered safe from these rivers where a catfish might not be. Stop by any store that sells fishing licenses and pick up a regulations book, the areas that wouldn't be safe are detailed in the regs.

The regs only say that certain bodies of water are unsafe if you eat more than so many pounds in such a period of time. If you're just eating one fish every couple months from a "dirty" river it shouldn't have much if any impact on your health.

 

[mlinkletter]

Thanks for the info so far guys.

I did not see anything in the regs against Commonwealth, and it is stocked by ODFW, but seeing some threads on here where folks regarded it as dirty and unsafe concerned me.

Ideally I would like to be able to eat fish from here 2-4 times a month (provided luck was with me to catch them that often) since it is close enough to stop before/after work where-as say Trillum or Henry Hagg are 1-2 hours away.

Thanks again and any more info is certainly appreciated!

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

If the trout were stocked there they are safe to eat. other species of fish u might have to watch out on eating, just my 2 cents.

 

[halibuthitman]

yes, there are a lot of opinions on here of the qaulity or safety of the fish in our waters... the bering sea... the most productive ocean shelf in the world, has had 6 atomic bombs detionated in it for testing, and there are over 500 wrecks in it containing unknown amounts of leaking fluids, the barrents sea has at least 2 nuculear Russian subs and 16 bombs on its floor, the city of New York and New Jersy dump MILLIONS of pounds of human organic waste into the Atlantic Ocean, the most productive commercial crab grounds on the west coast ( for size ) is near the sewage plant at sand lake,.... yada yada yada... these are the places white table cloth restraunts get their product from. So, avoid too much sturgeon, walleye, catfish, or bass and you probably won't grow another eye. And as for the positions taken by forum members and people you meet at the river... theres a high possibility they don't have a high school diploma.... let alone a degree in biology.... myself included..

 

[rippin fish lips]

theres a high possibility they don't have a high school diploma.... let alone a degree in biology.... myself included..

hey now! i have my high school diploma! just got it this year finally! i am about to head out on the willy right now and try to get into tome steelys, ill let u know how i do and post pics.

 

[dawgchaw]

The Oregon State Regulation (encyclopedia ha, ha) gives you a heads up on mercury and toxins. If you don't eat the same day by day you are OK.

 

[Kais]

And as for the positions taken by forum members and people you meet at the river... theres a high possibility they don't have a high school diploma.... let alone a degree in biology.... myself included..

Experience is beyond study lol