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Oregon · Trout (rainbow, redband and other stream trout)

Can you keep a trout (rainbow, redband and other stream trout) in Oregon?

Yes, with limits

Central Zone streams, statewide default (unless overridden by a named water)

Open today
Size
8 inches and up
total length
Daily bag
2
per person per day, only 1 fish may be over 20 inches
Possession
6
total you may hold

Closes each year Streams close November 1 through May 21 unless a specific water says otherwise; lakes are open all year

8-inch minimum, two a day, only one over 20 inches — rainbow trout over 20 inches in streams are legally reclassified as steelhead. No limit on brook or brown trout size or number in streams unless a specific water says otherwise. Artificial flies and lures only in streams.

ODFW source page

Deschutes River, Lake Billy Chinook to Benham Falls

Open year-round
Slot
8–20 inches
total length
Daily bag
2
per person per day, no rainbow trout over 20 inches may be kept at all — stricter than the zone default's one-fish allowance
Possession
6
total you may hold

A slot means the fish must fall between those two numbers. Shorter than 8 inches goes back, and so does longer than 20.

Open all year here, unlike the zone's normal May 22 – October 31 stream season, but with a hard 20-inch ceiling instead of the zone default's one-trophy-fish allowance — this stretch protects its bigger rainbows more, not less. This is the stretch of the Deschutes this site tracks, between Lake Billy Chinook and Benham Falls.

ODFW source page

What we left out on purpose

Other species in Oregon

Where to try today