I Want Bigger Trout

[Brooder]

I've always fished the lakes and ponds around the Portland area but I've just caught the stocked trout of around 10", maybe 12" at best. I'm looking for bigger trout. Not super big but at least 14 inches will do. Anywhere I can catch them at that size or do I have to go travel far like to Crane or Trillium?

[JustSteve]

Hagg Lake out by Gaston has some real lunkers in there..double digit pounds for rainbows. West Salish on Glisan by I think it's 214th ave is reported to be over forty feet deep and I have met people claiming to catch lunkers out of there. The secret though is trying to seduce them into biting. I think all the local lakes have lunkers in them...just can't figure out how to catch them short of dynamite

steve

[wsuweston]

Travel to the big fish or put your time in and come across one of the rare large trout in the stocked ponds.

[Chesapeake]

In washington they stock tripiloid (sp?) trout at several of the lakes. These are hybrid trout that grow fast. We catch 12-15 inchers consistantly in the lakes they are stocked in.

There still dog food fed mush, but bigger.

[Loner]

Sometimes consider the quality of fish over the size. I have just as much fun catch 8-10" natives in small streams as I do some of the bigger stocked trout. If I want to fish trout without the kids I like to go to lakes that require a hike in. You would be suprised how hard a 12" native will fight over a stocked fish, they have better color as well.

[Jedcraft]

Diamond Lake

[BentMetal]

In some lakes they plant bigger trout, but I have always been fond of the lakes that can grow bigger trout, where holdover hatchery planters, or fish that were planted as fingerlings, grow into good size fish. Diamond is one of these, but is a long ways down there from Portland. Most of the Central Oregon lakes have fish like this, big Lava, little lava are pretty nice lakes to fish with Crane Bows. South Twin will have fish like this, but you will have to weed through planters there.

I have never fished the lakes up around Mount Hood, but they should be somewhat similar to the Central Oregon Lakes.

[SouthSantiamSlayer]

Check out the trout stocking schedules.
It will tell you where they stock trout over 12 in.
Other than that if you want a real good fight fish
some rivers or creeks. A 12-15in. native trout in a river
fights way better than a stocked 12-15incher.
On the South Santiam every year I hook some monster
Cutthroat! Those are just like fighting a small steelhead!
Also for a fact, if you want bigger fish, fish as early and as late as
possible. I dont know if its legal to night fish, but thats when the
BIG ones bite! :D

[12244]

ODFW now stocks 15-17" Triploid trout in some ponds. We have some in the Canby pond, and these fish fight increadibly hard, and are great eating too.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Carter_Mason_Age_5.jpg (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/79228/size/big/cat//ppuser/12244)

[uhmw]

go visit vernonia spend some money in town its been a tough year up there despite how much the locals spuced things up:applause: and give the local lake or creeks a try. You might be suprized at whats crusing around the pond these days.