By the end of May 2022, approximately 14,000 spring Chinook had passed over the Willamette Falls at Oregon City, making their way to the hatcheries of their origin that are situated on several of the upper Willamette River tributaries. It turned out to be a fair run that eventually built[Read More…]

Memorial Day has always marked the beginning of the summer season. But it’s important not to overlook the significance of the Memorial Day observance and what it means to Americans. The day was set aside in the late 1800s, originally called “Declaration Day” to honor Civil War veterans. Then it[Read More…]

As the most common fish species in Oregon, trout have historically thrived in the southern Willamette Valley and many other Oregon regions. Both cutthroat and rainbow trout are indigenous to Oregon and you will find native populations of both “cuts and bows” in every stream and river that drains all[Read More…]

I’ll leave it to my readers to determine the cause, whether our changing climate is the result of a cycle or human activities. There is no doubt, however, that our climate is warming. The warming has become so acute that according to climatologists the number of days we now experience[Read More…]

I concluded my most recent column for The Chronicle with what I had hoped would be a specious rumor.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. The Corps of Engineers that provides funding for hatchery trout and summer steelhead in the upper Willamette River Basin, under a compensatory mitigation program with[Read More…]

It’s been a mixed bag of good and some not-so-good news for local anglers during the past few weeks. Work at the Junction City Pond has wrapped up after a major overhaul to the parking surface, fishing dock, and improved general access to the banks of the water in general.[Read More…]

It was a tough start for winter steelhead season this year in the Northwest. Snow and ice swept over large parts of the Willamette Valley, followed by a series of warm Pacific storms that accelerated the melt of much of the low-level frozen precipitation. The rapid runoff took rivers in[Read More…]

The recent heavy rain that swept across the state brought moderate flooding to many coastal rivers and streams. But nowhere in Oregon was the flooding critical.  It was a good flushing, and as the waters began to recede, anglers were delighted to find the first push of winter steelhead had[Read More…]

Way back in the day, it was pretty easy.   With your fishing license in hand, you’d head out, park anywhere you wanted, and recreate on public lands that, for the most part, were free of fees and access restrictions.   Unfortunately, all of us and the other thousands of[Read More…]