For the stream fisherman, the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas is one of the only fisheries in the state where you can catch and keep cutthroat trout. The fishing is limited to flies and lures, which presents a special challenge.

Down south, located high in the Willamette National Forest, Gold Lake is a 96-acre oval surrounded by Engelmann spruce, sub-alpine fir and mountain hemlock. It has the right combination of shallow water and depth to foster good insect growth and protection in cold winters. Rainbows are stocked in the summer and brook trout are prolific. Fishing is fly-only. Motors are not allowed.

NORTHWEST
If the road calls you to the coast, put the sunrise in your rearview mirror and head to Devils Lake at Lincoln City. This three-mile lake was named for an Indian legend about a monster that lived in the lake and occasionally dined on the natives. Like many of the lakes on the north coast, Devils Lake was formed when shifting sands dammed the river that drained the mountains. The D River, which empties the lake, is billed as "the shortest river in the world."

Fin-clipped rainbows are the primary catch. About 20,000 legals are stocked between early March and late April. Cutthroat trout, largemouth bass, bluegills, catfish and perch make their home in Devils Lake.

The best bank-fishing can be found near the parks. Boats are available to rent. Trollers score with flashers early in the season. When the water warms, trout seek out the deeper holes and the cold-water inlets.

Other good early-season bets on the north coast include Coffenbury and Cullaby lakes.

SOUTHWEST
In 1958, engineers completed a rock-faced earthen dam on Grizzly Creek. Waters began to back up the old riverbed into grassy Howard Prairie and the tributary channels of Hoxie Creek and Willow Creek. Today, Howard Prairie Reservoir is part of a network of storage reservoirs that involves the inter-basin transfer of water between the Klamath and Rogue River watersheds. And it is one of the most important stillwater fisheries in southern Oregon.

The 2,070-acre lake is popular with boaters and the bank-bound alike. The best bank-angling is at Red Rock near the Willow Point campground, off the jetty near the Resort at Grizzly Creek campground and other rocky faces. Wheelchair access from the jetty makes it easy for the physically challenged.

Rainbows run 12 to 18 inches, but bigger fish are common. A 2-year-old holdover can go well over 20 inches. PowerBait and Berkley Gulp! produce limits for still-fishers. The best bet is to use a 4-foot leader to keep the bait out of the weeds.

Diamond Lake anglers saw a banner year in 2007. Holly Truemper, a fisheries biologist in the Roseburg office, said anglers reported the best fishing they've ever had in Oregon.

"Each year it's really good from ice-off until mid to late June. And it gets good again mid September to mid October," Truemper said. Truemper has been monitoring benthic productivity (the larval stages of bugs that hatch later in the season). "There is a lot of food for trout to eat. There should be some really nice, large fish available to catch."