The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife raised hundreds of thousands of larger trout every year and stocks these “trophy” fish in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, and creeks across the state.
In this article, I will reveal some of the lakes (and a river) in various parts of Oregon that are often scheduled to receive the highest numbers of bigger trout so that you can find yourself with one of these battlers on the end of your line.
While ODFW raises so called legal-sized trout in even greater numbers, those typical trout are usually in the 10- to 12-inch range. They are fun to catch, but not all that special.
The trophy-sized trout, however, are over a foot long and often can weigh a pound or more. And they put up a spirited fight on typical trout tackle.
I dove into ODFW’s last few Fish Propagation Annual Reports, which are finalized in the spring following each year. In the 2024 report, ODFW tallied more than 642,000 trophy trout raised across its hatcheries and released into Oregon waters. The total was a slightly lower 601,000 trophy trout raised and released in 2025.
While trophy trout size varies a fair bit, a lot of them are in the 1-pound range, which can be somewhere in the 300-ton range for the full year’s production from numerous facilities across Western, Central, and Eastern Oregon.
I also dug through ODFW’s 2026 trout stocking schedule week by week to find the waters where the agency planned to stock the most of the trophy trout and came up with the 20 locations that follow.
As I knew from previous research, Detroit Lake east of Salem is scheduled to be loaded with trophy trout again this year. It gets tens of thousands of big trout planted each year, along with legal rainbows and the stocked and naturally reproducing kokanee there.
Henry Hagg Lake near Forest Grove and Dexter, Dorena, and Cottage Grove reservoirs near Eugene are other heavily stocked spots in the Willamette Valley. Elsewhere, try the Empire Lakes and Lost Creek Reservoir in Southwest Washington; the Fall River and several mountain lakes in Central Oregon, and Lake of the Woods outside of Klamath Falls.
For easy day-trip fishing, hit up Trojan Recreation Lake between Portland and Astoria, West Salish Pond in Fairview near Gresham, and St. Louis Pond between Woodburn and Salem.
I give some broad time frames when these waters are scheduled to be stocked. Check the link for ODFW’s trout-stocking schedule and weekly recreation report below to narrow things down further and find unscheduled plantings.
Speaking of unscheduled plantings, I have been pleasantly surprised to find trophy trout while fishing in both lakes and streams where the bigger trout were not initially on the annual stocking schedule, but ODFW is quite capable of changing course on where and when to stock any size trout based on water conditions and trout availability.
Before we get to the most-stocked waters, know that trophy trout will bite pretty much all the same things that smaller stocked rainbows will hit. Bait-fishing is the easiest program and often quite effective, where you like naturals like nightcrawlers or artificials like PowerBait.
I’ve caught some really nice trophy rainbows on lures, including Rooster Tails, Kastmasters, Panther Martins, and others. I find casting lures more fun than baiting-and-waiting, and if you release most trout like I do, using artificial lures and flies is usually better for fish survival.
Last summer I caught a beautiful 16-incher on a woolly bugger fished below a clear bubble.
Check out my easy guide to trout fishing success for some more specific ideas.
It also won’t hurt to gear up a bit for larger trout. I often chase trout with 4-pound test, but spooling 6-pound is a safer bet. A standard trout rod and reel will be enough in most circumstances, while an ultralight set-up could be quite sporty.
Check out the following list to find waters where you want to fish for bigger trout. I’ve provided the number of trout on the schedule, a general time period they are scheduled to be stocked, and divided them into angling zones to help you out.
You’ll also notice that the names of most locations are linked. Clicking those will take you to articles on this website specifically about fishing each location.
Northwest Zone
- Big Creek Reservoir near Newport 2, 2,200 (February-June) (Reservoir 1 gets a smaller number of trophies.)
- Olalla Creek Reservoir near Toledo, 2,200 (February-June)
Willamette Zone
- Detroit Lake west of Salem, 36,500 (May-June)
- Henry Hagg Lake near Forest Grove, 12,950 (February-June, Sept.-Oct.)
- Dexter Reservoir east of Eugene, 12,000 (March-April)
- Dorena Reservoir south of Eugene, 11,000 (March-April)
- Cottage Grove Reservoir south of Eugene, 8,250 (March-April)
- Timothy Lake near Mount Hood, 6,550 (May-June)
- Trojan Pond near Rainier, 5,500 (April-May)
- Harriet Lake on the upper Clackamas River, 2,972 (April-May, August)
- West Salish Pond in Fairview near Gresham, 2,217 (February, May, Sept.)
- St. Louis Pond between Woodburn and Salem, 2,000 (February-March)
Southwest Zone
- Upper Empire Lake near Coos Bay, 10,650 (March-May, October)
- Lost Creek Lake (Reservoir) near Medford and Grants Pass, 6,100 (April-June, October)
- Lower Empire Lake near Coos Bay, 5650 (March-April)
- Bradley Lake near Bandon, 2,000 (March-April, October)
Central Zone
- Fall River near Sunriver, 7,000 (April-June, August-October)
- Lost Lake near Mount Hood, 2,300 (May-June, September)
- North Twin Lake west of La Pine, 2,200 (April-August)
- South Twin Lake west of La Pine, 2,200 (April-August)
Southeast Zone
- Lake of the Woods west of Klamath Falls, 4,300 (March-June)
- Fourmile Lake near Lake of the Woods, 2,600 (May-July)
More information
See ODFW’s Trout Stocking Schedule and Recreation Report for more information including updates.