The following weekly recreation report from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is full of tidbits of interest to area anglers. With the sunny weather, water levels in the streams will be decreasing and water clarity should increase, improving fishing conditions rapidly.

NORTHEAST ZONE

The following water bodies are scheduled to be stocked this week: Umatilla Forest Ponds, Phillips Reservoir, Seventh Street Pond, Trout Farm Pond, Anson Wright Pond, Twin Ponds, Twin Lakes, Jubilee Lake, Ladd Pond, Roulet Pond, Mcnary Pond and Hatrock Pond.

JOHN DAY RIVER: The bridge across the John Day River at the Flat Creek access to the Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area and road south of the bridge is closed to motor vehicles. Smallmouth bass angling has been fair to good on the John Day. River flow information at the Service Creek gauging station is available at waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/us/14046500.

KINNEY LAKE: Stocked with legal and trophy sized trout.

LADD POND: Surplus steelhead from Wallowa Hatchery have been stocked into Ladd Pond on Peach Road. These steelhead are considered trout in Ladd Pond, so these fish can be kept. There were 600 legal and 35 trophy rainbows stocked in late April.

MAGONE LAKE AND BULL PRAIRIE RESERVOIR: Angling for rainbow trout has been good.

MARR POND: Stocked with legal and trophy sized trout. Free Fishing Day activities will be held at Marr Pond again this year.

MORGAN LAKE: Free Fishing Day activities will be held at Morgan Lake this year on Saturday, June 12.

ROULET POND: Surplus steelhead from Wallowa Hatchery have been stocked into Roulet Pond. These steelhead are considered trout in Roulet Pond, so these fish can be kept. The regulation that only one trout over 20 inches may be taken applies here. Additionally, 650 legal and 26 trophy rainbows were stocked in late April.

UMATILLA RIVER: The Umatilla River spring chinook season from the Highway 730 bridge upstream to Three Mile Dam closed last week. The area from Three Mile Dam upstream to the reservation boundary remains open.

WALLOWA LAKE Fair for holdover and recently stocked rainbow trout. Kokanee up to 16 inches are being taken trolling and jigging.

WALLOWA WILDLIFE AREA PONDS: Have been stocked with legal and trophy rainbows.

SNAKE RIVER ZONE

BROWNLEE RESERVOIR: Crappie and perch fishing have been very good when the water levels are stable, but the bite goes off when the water levels are raised or dropped. Crappie are at all water levels. Bass fishing is good. There is a 12″ minimum size limit on bass in Brownlee. Some large trout are being caught with spinners, worms or eggs near stream mouths and just below Brownlee Dam (drift fishing with bait on the bottom). The reservoir is about 10 feet below full and they are starting the spring runoff, so water levels will fluctuate. Call Idaho Power Company’s recording (1-800-422-3143) to get information on access at recreational sites or access www.idahopower.com under the Rivers and Recreation heading. For reservoir level information, access http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/

HELLS CANYON RESERVOIR: Trout and bass fishing has been good. Crappie fishing is starting to pick up.

OXBOW RESERVOIR: Trolling for trout is effective. Catfish are being caught below the dam. Crappie fishing is slow at this time. Bass fishing is good, but catch and release only until June 30.

SNAKE RIVER, HELLS CANYON DAM TO THE STATE LINE: Open for spring chinook from Dug Bar Boat Ramp to the deadline below Hells Canyon Dam. Two chinook per day, barbless hooks required. Fishing is fair to good. Approximately 1,000 steelhead were trapped below the dam and were stocked in Hells Canyon Reservoir for angling opportunities.

Chinook returns not up to expectations

The spring chinook run on the upper Columbia River is turning out to be something of a disappointment, with only 170,000 fish counted at Bonneville Dam by the end of May, but it’s still 30 percent above the 10-year average.

Harvest managers predicted a 360,000-fish return for 2004, based largely on the signal from last year’s jack returns. That would have made it the second largest spring run since 1938. But managers have now downgraded the spring run to about 190,000 fish (estimated to river mouth) and are at a loss to explain what happened. Others blame sea lions or ocean conditions.

BPA Spill proposals by week’s end

The Bonneville Power Administration’s long-anticipated summer spill proposal for dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers should be ready by the end of the week, said BPA spokesman ED Mosey. It’s expected to be considerably less ambitious than the draft floated Mar. 31 that was estimated to save ratepayers about $45 million a year, but could still save the region $25 million to $35 million a year. BPA staffers have been scrambling to refine the offsets to increased fish mortality from the earlier proposal that calls for a three-year evaluation of a reduced spill effort at federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The work grew more frantic after a new analysis by NOAA Fisheries hydropower division staffers estimated more adverse impacts to listed fish from proposed spill reductions than earlier analyses had shown.

Nez Perce Tribe settles claim to Snake River water

The federal government, the state of Idaho and the Nez Perce Tribe announced a framework agreement May 15 to settle the tribe’s claim to instream flow rights in the Snake Basin to protect its treaty-based fishery, the largest issue remaining to be settled in the 20-year adjudication of Snake River water claims. The long process has been sorting out 150,000 water claims of the tribe, the state of Idaho, farmers, municipalities, hydro users and federal agencies. The tribal claim has been in mediation since 1998.