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Nov. 13, 2014
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Casey Gunness, 11, of McMinnville, Oregon, with a 10-pound brood trout he caught earlier this year at family fishing event in Sheridan hosted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. (Photo by Rick Swart/ODFW)
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CLACKAMAS, Ore. – Some of the largest fish anglers will see all year have been released into two popular Willamette Valley fishing holes.
This week, ODFW’s Roaring River hatchery released 90 steelhead-sized rainbow trout into both Junction City Pond and St. Louis Pond #6. In addition to the brood stock, Junction City Pond will also receive 50 hatchery steelhead from the McKenzie River before the weekend, and steelhead will periodically be stocked at this site into December.
Weighing in at 8-15 pounds apiece, “brooders” are 3- and 4-year-old trout used to produce the eggs necessary to sustain the hatchery trout program. At age four they reach what hatchery managers consider the point of diminishing returns. So they are removed from the hatchery system and taken to local fishing holes to make room for the next generation of brood stock.
This year brood stock will be released at several locations across the Willamette Valley. In addition to Junction City and St. Louis ponds, brood trout releases are planned at Canby Pond, EE Wilson Pond, Henry Hagg Lake, Mt. Hood Pond, Sheridan Pond, Timber Linn Lake, Waverly Lake, Walling Pond, and Walter Wirth Lake.
“These are big, beautiful fish that are going to generate a lot of smiles,” said Elise Kelley, ODFW fish biologist in Corvallis. “Our brood stock stocking program is the highlight of the year for a lot of our anglers.”
The exact dates of the releases are difficult to pinpoint in advance because it depends on when the fish have finished spawning at the hatchery, which could be anytime from November through January. After they’ve spawned, the fish are distributed to provide opportunity to anglers in as many communities as possible throughout the Willamette Valley.
The releases will be announced in ODFW’s Willamette Zone weekly recreation report, published on Wednesdays, to get everybody an equal chance to get out and catch one of these large fish. The Willamette Zone Recreation Report is available at ODFW’s website at https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/willamette-zone.
Anglers are reminded that the bag limit on trout above 20 inches is one per day.
ODFW releases more than 6 million legal-size or larger trout every year in more than 300 locations around the state.
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Contact:
Rick Swart (971) 673-6038
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