Oregon · Bass (largemouth and smallmouth)
Can you keep a bass (largemouth and smallmouth) in Oregon?
Yes, with limits
Central Zone lakes
Open year-roundSize
No size limit stated
total length
Daily bag
5
per person per day, no more than 3 over 15 inches
Possession
15
total you may hold
No minimum size, five a day, with only three allowed over 15 inches.
Central Zone streams
Open year-roundSize
No size limit stated
total length
Daily bag
—
per person per day
No minimum size and no limit at all in streams — a real contrast to the capped lake rule.
What we left out on purpose
- The lower reaches of the Deschutes River (near its mouth at the Columbia River) are designated a thermal angling sanctuary with possible additional rules from July 15 – September 15, and separate salmon/steelhead seasons apply below Sherars Falls — none of this applies to the Lake Billy Chinook-to-Benham-Falls stretch this site tracks, so it is not modelled here.
- Sturgeon, salmon and steelhead run their own genuinely complex statewide and Columbia River Basin rules (annual tags, Combined Angling Tags, catch-and-release-only sturgeon) that don't apply to this stretch of the Deschutes and are not modelled.
- Oregon's other six zones (Northwest, Southwest, Willamette, Southeast, Snake River, Columbia River, Marine) and their own statewide defaults are not modelled — this site tracks only the Central Zone stretch of the Deschutes River.
- Bull trout are closed to angling everywhere in the Central Zone unless a specific water says otherwise; not modelled since it's a closed, protected species rather than a real bag figure.
Other species in Oregon
Where to try today
- Deschutes River 6/10 · Decent