Fishing in Oregon: Online Resources and Mobile Apps to Enhance the Experience

Now that everyone is carrying around a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, fishing in Oregon has never been easier. Here are three online resources and mobile applications to enhance the experience.

1. 2015 Oregon Sports Fishing Regulations

For immediate access to state fishing rules, the state of Oregon has converted its printed Sports Fishing Regulations guide into an online PDF.

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This online booklet gives you a treasure trove of information about licensing requirements and fees, zone-by-zone catch and possession limits, and angling and harvest methods, hours, and restrictions, for example.

Also included are useful articles about how to measure fish, help prevent the spread of invasive species, and identify fish such as brook and bull trout, fin-clip and salmon, native species, and rockfish.

Detailed listings of public fishing spots are provided, too.

2. The Official Guide for Oregon Fishing App

Produced by the state of Oregon together with Pocket Ranger, the Official Guide for Oregon Fishing is a free app for Android and iOS mobile devices that combines much of the information from the printed regulations guide.

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In addition, users have access to GPS mapping capabilities, news and advisories, a real-time calendar, and Trophy Case, an online community for anglers and hunters.

GPS features include a Friend Finder for keeping track of friends and family while you're fishing, a built-in compass for navigational purposes, and an Alert feature that can supply your GPS coordinates to designated contacts in case of emergency.

3. Oregon Fishing Maps

If you find maps to be a helpful instrument in your fishing toolbox, you'll love Oregon Fishing Maps, a smartphone and tablet app from a software developer known as Sports.

Priced at $1.99, this GPS-enabled Android app offers maps of more than 16,500 fishing spots in the Beaver State.

You can either search by name or select a county and review all of the lakes, streams, reservoirs and swamps in the area. Counties can be chosen from a list or accessed from a map of the state of Oregon.

You can also share your angling experiences with fishing buddies by sending them your journal entries and lake or river details along with GPS data by either text or email.

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