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Howard Prairie more ready than Hyatt for spring trout anglers Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM » RELATED CONTENT • 'Family opener' » Social News ASHLAND — On an unseasonably warm day last Oct. 6, a Cole Rivers Hatchery stocking truck lumbered slowly along a makeshift gravel road that snaked over the muddy bottom of Howard Prairie Lake, which was just about as far from the main boat ramp as it ever has been. A technician fastened a metal tube to the truck, hit the release valve and saved trout fishing for 2016. Those 118,000 fingerling that splashed into the reservoir are the cornerstone of this year's trout fishery at Howard Prairie, a year after it was rocked by drought that threatened fish stocking there. The lake is open, ice-free for well over a month, and it's already fishing well for rainbows during this first spring under the new year-round rules that make the fourth Saturday in April — the traditional opener of trout season — a moot date here and at nearby Hyatt Lake. "I think fishing will be good at Howard, and it'll improve much more when we put some legals in in May," says Dan VanDyke, Rogue District fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It was important to get those fall fingerling in. We also stocked 19,000 legals and 600 trophies last year. "But it's a different story at Hyatt," VanDyke says. Poor water conditions at Hyatt and tougher access than at Howard Prairie meant only 17,000 fall fingerling made it into the reservoir to go along with 5,000 legals last spring. The previous two years saw spring fingerling releases that failed to survive in a lake where an exploding largemouth population has tainted the lake. The result is far fewer rainbows in Hyatt this year than Howard Prairie, but ODFW is planning to stock Hyatt with 11,000 legal-sized trout and 400 trophies later this spring,VanDyke says. "It's going to be pretty sparse at Hyatt until we plant the legals and trophies," VanDyke says. At least everyone's not talking about the low water this year. Last fall, Howard Prairie was at 14 percent of full and Hyatt had dipped below the water gauge, the result of nearly three years of drought. But a strong and wet winter has Hyatt up to 69 percent full and Howard Prairie up to 68 percent full, floating the Howard Prairie Resort marina docks for the first time in nearly three years. Howard Prairie Resort is already open and the marina will be fully operational Saturday, with the rental fleet up to 17 boats that can be reserved by calling 541-774-8183, Jackson County Parks Manager Steve Lambert says. The Bureau of Land Management plans to open its boat ramps at its Hyatt campground at the lake's southwest end today, but the campgrounds won't open until May 16, according to the agency. Already anglers are fishing at Howard Prairie, with catches of 16- and 19-inch fish coming in, VanDyke says. Howard Prairie's trout regimen has taken a new twist this year as VanDyke continues searching for the best-growing, best-surviving and best-biting trout he can find. The agency had to abandon its historically productive spring fingerling stocking because they simply turned into food for illegally stocked bass. The fall fingerling stocking is more expensive but has proven effective because the fish are larger and more able to escape predation by bass that turn more lethargic in the cooler fall water. Last fall's fingerling plants, possible because county parks crews helped the gravel road actually reach the water, were made up of 102,000 fingerlings from Cole Rivers and about 16,000 of a different trout strain raised at the private Desert Springs Hatchery near Lakeview. The Desert Springs trout have clipped adipose fins. VanDyke says he wants to hear from anglers who catch them for comparisons, and he plans to have some creel surveys conducted there, as well. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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