Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

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Fish Resources

Endangered: Species that are listed as endangered are native species in danger of extinction and are protected by state and national laws. See your local fishing regulations for limits and restrictions on endangered species.

Invasive: A species that is invasive is an exotic (none native) species, which is displacing or threatens to displace other native species. Contact your local Forest Service or Fish and Wildlife for more information on invasive species.

Native: Native Species are species that are a natural part of the local environment. Unless noted otherwise all fish on this and the following fish resource pages are native to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

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Bull Trout

Endangered: Bull Trout are an Endangered Native Species.

Species: Salvelinus Confluentus

Spawning Time: Fall

The average length of the fresh water form is 12-18 inches long and 18-24 inches in anadromous stocks. The color is variable with size, locality and habitat. Adults living in the sea are a dark blue with silvery sides and those living in fresh water are a olive-green to brown. Spawning adults turn a bright red. All are spotted.

Bull trout spawn in cold tributary streams in the early fall (September - October). They deposit eggs in a redd and juvenile Bull Trout typically rear in the parent stream for two years and then migrate in the spring to larger waters for rearing to adulthood. At age 5, they migrate back to their natal tributary to spawn. Bull Trout are very piscivorous (fish eating) allowing them to reach up to 20 lbs in size depending on food availability.

Chinook Salmon

Endangered: Chinook Salmon are an Endangered Native Species.

Species: Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha

Other Names: King and Blackmouth (immature).

Spawning Time: Fall

Chinook salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon, with some individuals growing to more than 100 pounds. These huge fish are rare, as most mature chinook are under 50 pounds.

Spawning: Most chinook spawn in large rivers such as the Columbia and Snake, although they will also use smaller streams with sufficient water flow. They tend to spawn in the mainstem of streams, where the water flow is high. Because of their size they are able to spawn in larger gravel than most other salmon.

Chinook spawn on both sides of the Cascade Range, and some fish travel hundreds of miles upstream before they reach their spawning grounds. Because of the distance, these fish enter streams early and comprise the spring and summer runs. Fall runs spawn closer to the ocean and more often use small coastal streams. All chinook reach their spawning grounds by fall, in time to spawn.

Rearing: Chinook fry rear in freshwater from three months to a year, depending on the race of chinook and the location. Spring chinook tend to stay in streams for a year; fish in northern areas, where the streams are less productive and growth is slower, also tend to stay longer. Rearing chinook fry use mainstems and their tributaries.

Cutthroat Trout

Species: Oncorhynchus Clarki

Spawning Time: Spring

Three varieties of Cutthroat trout are available to Washington and Oregon anglers. The most common is the Coastal Cutthroat, which includes both resident and anadromous--or sea-run--strains. Resident Coastal Cutthroat are found in many streams and beaver ponds. In some of these small waters they may grow no larger than 8 or 9 inches long.

Although there are variations among the subspecies (and among races within the subspecies), Cutthroats usually have greenish backs with yellow or silver sides showing many dark grey or black spots, and a slash of red on the lower jaw, which inspired it's name. Where Cutthroats cross-breed with Rainbows, the rainbow's markings dominate, making hybrids difficult to distiguish from pure Rainbows.

Sea-Run Cutthroat spawn in many coastal tributary streams. While still thriving in some coastal river systems, many cutthroat populations have declined due to stream pollution and loss of small-stream habitat. Wild-cutthroat-release regulations and bait-fishing restrictions are now in effect on many Washington streams, so anglers should read the fishing regulations carefully before pursuing these eager biters.

Westslope Cutthroat are more common in eastern lakes and streams. They are also stocked in many high-country lakes. They can be caught on all standard trout lures and baits, but since their diet consists mostly of insects, fly-fishing is especially effective. Some bodies of water have special barbless hook and bait/lure regulations, so be sure to check the fishing regulations pamphlet.

Lahontan Cutthroat are relative newcomers, where they have been stocked in only a few highly alkaline, east-side lakes. Artificial flies, spoons, spinners and wobbling plugs all work well for these big cutthroats that have adapted to desert lakes.

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Illustrations by:

Joseph Tomelleri

The information on this page is curtesy of: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/fishing/regional/fishresources/index.html