The Big Creek Reservoirs are two 20-acre lakes near Newport. Bank access is good, and small boats and float tubes work well for trollers. Try spinners, single eggs, Power Bait or night crawlers.

Six miles south of Florence is 3,100-acre Siltcoos Lake, which grows large wild cutthroats and holdover hatchery rainbows to 9 pounds. Legal-sized rainbows will be stocked through spring and summer. Sea-run cutthroat and steelhead can be part of the incidental catch. Take care to release wild sea-run fish.

Lytle Lake, north of Rockaway on Highway 101, will be best for stocked rainbows and resident cutthroats in the spring. Shallow and weedy, it is also capable of producing larger fish. The boat ramp is on the northeast shore. Good fishing can be found along the bank.

Other options: Good bets for Northwest trout fishermen are North Lake and South Lake, Meares Lake, Hebo Lake, Tahoe Lake, Cullaby Lake, Sunset Lake, Vernonia Pond, Lost Lake, Smith Lake, Spring Lake, Buck Lake, Alder Lake, Dune Lake and Bay City Reservoir.

SOUTHWEST
Chris Sheely, a staff fisheries biologist with ODFW's Southwest District, reported that a cooler than normal June last year kept water quality at Diamond Lake from degrading to the levels we've seen in past years. Sheely suggested that the early season is the best time for catching the large Williamson River rainbows that have been planted in Diamond. These fish can grow to 20 pounds.

For limits of rainbow trout and a chance at a resident steelhead, head to 2,070-acre Howard Prairie Reservoir, one of Southwest Oregon's most productive trout fisheries. Use a depth finder to find the old Beaver Creek channel that runs along the east shore of the lake.

An irrigation reservoir, 950-acre Hyatt Lake is set in a flooded meadow in the mountains west of Klamath Falls. Big fish are the main draw at Hyatt Lake. The shallow reservoir grows lots of insects. Rainbows run from 14 to 20 inches, with a few caught every year that pull the scales to 8 pounds.

Lake of the Woods sits on the east slope of the southern Oregon Cascades at 4,949 feet. The lake record brown trout was a brute that weighed over 15 pounds. Many big browns are caught each year.

For consistent trout fishing in a beautiful setting, head to 480-acre Fish Lake in the southern Oregon Cascades. Hatchery rainbows average 10 to 12 inches, but trout to 6 pounds are caught every year.

Applegate Reservoir's low elevation and warm temperatures contribute to a long growing season. Catchable rainbows and Chinook salmon are stocked on a regular basis. Warmwater species are also available.

Other options: Count on regular stocks of catchable rainbows in April and May in Squaw Lake, Ten Mile Lake, Saunders Lake, Powers Pond, Empire Lake, and Bradley Lake. Fishing in Galesville Reservoir should be good through the summer. For a spot that gets less attention, consider Soda Springs in the North Umpqua watershed for rainbows and browns. For brown trout, head to Toketee and Lemolo lakes. While you're at it, mark your calendar for October to head back to Lemolo and fish Lake Creek for browns and brook trout.