ODFW Recreation Report

We’re always looking for great photos of hunters, anglers and wildlife viewers in the field doing what they do, and we’d love to see yours. Submit your photo to ODFW and we might use it in brochures and the Recreation Report, and on signs and social media.

Find game bird harvest statistics

Harvest statistics from ODFW wildlife areas are posted online. Use them to help plan your next duck hunt.

Early season duck hunting

Early season duck hunts usually call for slightly different tactics for resident birds. Here are some tips to help you harvest more birds. And if you hunt Sauvie Island near Portland, here are some strategies to improve your chances in the draw.

Best bets for fishing

• Elk River anglers have been picking up some Chinook, and the rain this week will get even more fish moving upriver.
• Temperatures have been dropping and trout fishing should be picking up in places like Ben Irving Reservoir, Diamond Lake, Hemlock Lake, Lake of the Woods and Lemolo Reservoir.
• With plenty of rain in the forecast, north and mid-coast salmon anglers may have to wait until next week for river levels to come down to fishable levels. But when they do, there should be lots of newly arrived fish around.
• More than 17,000 coho salmon have been counted at Willamette Falls, and anglers should be looking for many of them in the lower Santiam and mainstem Yamhill.
• This is the time of year we start to get reports of excellent fishing in Cottonwood Meadows and the Chewaucan River.
• Anglers report very good trout fishing on the Wallowa River, with some landing fish up to 14 inches.
• Chinook and coho fishing continue to be very good on the Umatilla River.
• Check out the zone reports for more.