FISHING
Fat rainbows are on the docket in the Willamette Zone this month and next, a time of year that combines good trout fishing opportunities on rivers and lakes alike, and for keepers and catch-and-release fun. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)
Go With The Flow Whether it’s rainbows and cutts in riffles or stockers in stillwaters, the southern Willamette Valley has trout options for you. By Troy Rodakowski
I
t’s those first warm days of the year that get me thinking about hungry trout in the Willamette Valley. Having grown up here, I have found that fishing for spring trout is very tough to beat. It’s those first hatches of March browns that get me excited, as ravenous fish slurp the flies off the valley waters. Normally,
we do a couple early March and April floats down select rivers for hungry ’bows and cutts. Living in the valley my entire life, I have found that it’s not hard to find a few places to wet a line during the spring and find success. It’s just a matter of timing. As long as the rivers stay at fishable levels, you’ll always find trout that are hungry following the long winter. The bonus is that
there are also several stillwaters that are annually stocked with fish. I like to take my young daughter and friends to a few of these small lakes and ponds for some stockers every spring. This year the waters have been slower to warm, so good fishing should extend well into early summer. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has an extensive stocking schedule throughout the spring and nwsportsmanmag.com | APRIL 2022
Northwest Sportsman 99
