Umatilla River Fishing Regulations

Kinney Lake was treated with a pesticide on Oct. 5 to take off unwanted fishes. ODFW testing has determined the area is safe to entry and the reservoir was filled. New rules for Kinney Lake will be effectively for 2016. ODFW, Triple Creek Ranch, and the Wallowa Valley Improvement District #1 WVID#1 have collaborated to open Kinney Lake for year-round fishing starting Jan. 1, 2016. But, catchable trout won’t be available till the lake is stocked in the spring. Non-motorized watercraft will also be allowed at Kinney Lake for 2016. Remember, to be respectful of the private land access that the Triple Creek Ranch and WVID#1 have provided and pack out any trash you bring or find. (dfw.state.or.us)

This group of a half dozen ponds is popularly fished for both stocked trout and a range of warmwater game fish. The trout are stocked in good numbers some number of times from about March into May, and spring fishing is reliably good throughout that period. After that, attention will shift to warmwater species, particularly bass. There also are some crappie, catfish and other panfish species. The ponds are located in a park that gives a excellent bank access from a trail network along the Columbia River. The park is between McNary Dam and Interstate 82 Highway 395, just east of Umatilla. (bestfishinginamerica.com)

: Angler info forms will be posted at Lake Humptipin Indian Lake, and on the Umatilla River and its tributaries. Report your catch and comments, ideas, etc. CTUIR harvest monitors, enforcement and Lake Humtipin caretaker can also ask anglers for harvest info. Cooperation from anglers is appreciated. Info amassed will be used to manage the fishery. (ctuir.org)

The deep pools between the mouth of Desolation Creek and Gold Dredge Camp offer the best chance to catch native redband trout on this stretch of the North Fork John Day River at 4300 feet in elevation. It’s a tributary of the John Day with important salmon and steelhead spawning and rearing habitat. It offers catch and release fishing for wild steelhead, however was closed to salmon fishing since 1977. The North Fork has an adequate flow for river boats, and there’s some ship fishing. The river goes at a average gradient over boulder-strewn bed. This is mainly chinook spawning grounds and juvenile steelhead rearing area. (fs.usda.gov)

Waterfowl duck, goose and coot, snipe, deer and upland gamebird hunting are allowed on the refuge throughout the regular Oregon/Washington hunting seasons in public hunting regions chosen on the refuge map. Waterfowl hunting and the 1st two weekends of upland game bird hunting on the McCormack Unit involve a lottery run by the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The lottery is open from mid-July through the second week in September. But, daily on-site lotteries are held for spaces made available by no-shows. (fws.gov)

NOTICE: The Oregon Health Authority has issued a health advisory updating info about eating fish caught in Cottage Grove Reservoir. Under the advisory issued June 5, 2012 people can carefully consume up to nine meals per month of hatchery-grown rainbow trout month that are 12 inches in length or less. People can distinguish hatchery-grown rainbow trout by the lack of the adipose fin, which is clipped before hatchery fish are released into streams and reservoirs. In spite of the new exemption for rainbow trout, mercury contagion for inhabitant warm-water fish, as well as bass, bluegill, crappie and bullhead continues to be a concern. (thedalleschronicle.com)

Is all waters of the Columbia River upstream from a north-south line through Buoy 10 at the river mouth and will include those portions of tributaries as well as lakes downstream from the mainline railroad bridges near the tributaries mouths except for the Willamette as well as Multnomah Channel, Sandy, Hood, Deschutes and Umatilla river systems, Skipanaon River, and Youngs Bay. The Columbia River Zone will include downstream from Hwy 730 on the Umatilla River and from Interstate 84 on the Deschutes River, and the lower Skipanon River downstream of the Harbor Street Bridge. The boundary is a straight line across the mouths of the Willamette as well as Multnomah Channel, Sandy and Hood rivers and the Hwy 101 Bridge on Youngs Bay. (eregulations.com)

Though the calendar lists Dec. 21 as the start of winter, it feels like winter is here. Hoar frost may be seen in the Condon area and the hills just above Heppner. It does make trees and shrubs look quite majestic in white. Rough-legged hawks may be seen during most of the north half of the District. Short-eared owl may be seen along the grasslands of the north end of the District. Our year-round inhabitant raptors, red-tailed hawks, Northern harriers, and American kestrels are all easily found. The left over ravens are our inhabitant population, the mobs have headed south. Prairie falcons may also be seen in the neighborhood, though much rarer to be found. (bluemountaineagle.com)

For the week of May 11 to May 17, anglers averaged 3. 9 hours per spring Chinook caught. The catch was early and late with fish and anglers dealing with the high water temperatures. Returns and catch rates should pick up quickly inside the next couple of weeks. To date a total of 3, 500 spring Chinook have returned to Threemile Dam. Low water levels and high water temperatures are probably going to have big impacts on the fishery, trap and transport of all spring Chinook was started on April 26 and will probably continue for the remainder of the return season. This will effectively end the upper river fishery, there have been 160 fish released into that area and fish may drop back into the fishery area. (hermistonherald.com)

Don t have a ship? don’t despair, for there are some number of places for local bank anglers to ply their gear for spring chromers. One loyal group of plunkers collects on the Oregon side of McNary Dam between the juvenile fish building and the I-82 bridge. Another group lines up along a shallow backchannel some hundred yards downstream of Ice Harbor Dam. More upriver on the Snake River is The Wall, or the Little Goose Dam tailrace. Don t mix it up with this group of veteran anglers, but, unless you have a few of 24- to 48-oz lead balls, a movable rod holder and a heavy-responsibility rod and reel. (tri-cityherald.com)