The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is studying brown trout movement in the Owyhee River.  ODFW Malheur District Fish Biologist, Dave Banks, told BVFF that the week of May 18th they tagged and relocated approximately 400 brown trout from the top third of the river to the lower river, between Snively Gulch and the Concrete Bridge (by the Owyhee River Ranch).

ODFW wants to see if those brown trout will stay in the lower section of the river, or if they will move back upstream.  ODFW is asking for angler's help by reporting any brown trout that have a tag attached by their dorsal fin at: https://myodfw.com/tagteam .  Some tags have a $50 reward, and those tags must be removed to collect the bounty. Non-reward tags can be left in place.  All fish must be released, as the fishing regs on the Owyhee require releasing all Brown trout.  ODFW plans to electro-fish the river in August to do an adult trout survey and to see where those tagged fish are located.

If you catch a tagged trout,
please post a photo to
BVFF’s Facebook Group Page

Brown trout are known to migrate upstream to find spawning habitat. In October, BVFF will be doing a gravel augmentation to improve trout spawning habitat in the lower Owyhee river, between the Concrete Bridge and Sand Hollow Cr.  Let's hope some of these relocated brown trout discover our gravel and decide to use it!  For more information about our gravel augmentation, see this conservation blog article.