Welcome to the 2013
Spring Fishing Guide

Snake River Zone

Snake Zone (pdf)

Yellow Perch -Wikipedia -

Brownlee Reservoir:  Fishing is usually good for bass, crappie, catfish, perch and trout. This year there should be good fishing for 6 to 10-inch crappie. Channel catfish fishing will be slow until the weather warms up in May. Fluctuating water levels are common in spring and can throw the bite off temporarily. Best fishing for crappie, bass and perch are around points and in coves. Richland and Halfway are good places to find tackle and advice.

Oxbow Reservoir:  Fair to good fishing for bass, crappie, catfish, perch and trout.  Halfway and Oxbow are good places to get tackle and advice.

Hell’s Canyon Reservoir:  Fair to good fishing for bass, crappie, catfish, perch and trout. Below the dam, in the Snake River is also good for smallmouth bass as the water warms. Catch-and-release for sturgeon can also be good below the dam in early spring.

Snake River upstream of Brownlee Reservoir:  Snow pack in throughout southeastern Oregon and southern Idaho is below normal, stream flows in the Snake River near Weiser are expected to be below normal. Channel catfish fishing should begin to improve in late April with peak catch rates occurring from mid-May to mid-June.  Smallmouth bass fishing should improve as flows drop and water temperatures rise. 
There are four boat access points to the Snake River in Oregon.  The northern most boat ramp is located at the BLM site at Oasis about 20 miles north of Ontario via highway 201.  There is a boat ramp located in the Ontario State Recreation Area just north of Ontario off highway 201.  The Nyssa boat ramp is located at the west end of the US 20-26 Bridge into Idaho.  The Adrian boat Ramp is located at the east end of the highway 18 bridge south of Adrian.

Snake River downstream of Hells Canyon Dam:  Spring trout fishing for residual steelhead smolts up to 18 inches is generally productive in the 15 miles below Hells Canyon Dam. Starting in 2012, only adipose fin-clipped rainbow trout may be kept in the Snake River below Hell’s Canyon Dam.  Action for smallmouth bass picks up in April, target the backwaters and eddies.