Time to get out and wet a line

The 2014 outdoor recreation season will get a boost this weekend starting with the annual Fisherman’s Breakfast, set for Saturday, April 26th. The event, sponsored by McKenzie Fire & Rescue at the Leaburg Training Center, will be held between 6 and 11 a.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for kids.

Further to the east in Nimrod, the 9th annual McKenzie River Wooden Boat Festival will be held at the Eagle Rock Lodge, 49198 McKenzie Hwy., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free to the public. The McKenzie River Guides Association will be selling a lunch with proceeds going to the Guide’s and Firefighter’s lifejacket-lending program.

For many Oregon anglers, the 2014 trout season officially kicks off on Saturday as well, with the opening of hundreds of miles of rivers and streams and many lakes around the state.

While many lakes and some rivers and streams are open to trout fishing year-round in Oregon, the early trout opener in April continues to be a tradition with many families, and the first chance of the year to fish several popular locations including large portions of the McKenzie, Willamette, and Santiam rivers as well as many small streams.

According to Mike Gauvin, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife recreational fisheries manager, the April 26th opener extends what already has been a strong start to the trout fishing season.

Image above: Alexia Burkey with a couple of nice trout she caught at one of 340 ponds, lakes and streams that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regularly stocks with trout. Photo by Rick Swart/ODFW

McKenzie River Reflections