COLORADO AND OREGON — Wildlife officials in Colorado and Oregon lifted fishing limits at multiple reservoirs in May due to severe drought conditions that are expected to dry them out by summer’s end. The move allows unlimited fishing at several water bodies as managers prepare for historically low water levels.
In Oregon, bag limits were removed on Monday at Thief Valley, Pilcher Creek, and Wolf Creek reservoirs, all fed by the Powder River. Anglers in those areas can now use more than two rods, exceeding the state’s usual restriction. Oregon’s typical daily trout limit is five fish per angler, but this is the first year all three reservoirs have been opened to unrestricted fishing because of drought.
“We have a number of reservoirs that we expect to get exceptionally low this year. We took a proactive approach this year and opened the seasons up early to allow anglers to go out and make use of those fish,” said Tyler Hoyt, an assistant district fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He added that he expects Thief Valley Reservoir to drain to a few small ponds by summer’s end. The reservoir went dry in 2024, and Hoyt warned that remaining fish may die from warm water, low oxygen, or complete drying.
“There were pretty large quantities of fish that were stranded in the mud. You’ll see pools develop that are scattered throughout the reservoir, and those will end up holding various numbers of fish that will very likely die either due to warmer water, decreased oxygen or them going completely dry.”
In Colorado, unlimited fishing recently ended at Antero Reservoir on the South Platte River, where about 5 million sportfish—mostly trout—had been stocked since 2020. The typical daily limit there is four fish. Kara Van Hoose, a public information officer at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said public access has now closed as draining begins. “The public came, they fished and now public access is closed off. The draining is beginning,” Van Hoose said. “Once the reservoir drains, there will be fish left over, but it’s the circle of life—that’s really good food for our raptor population, coyotes and raccoons.”
Antero Reservoir, operated by Denver Water, is being drawn down to redirect water to another reservoir with lower evaporation losses. The utility estimates the move will save water equivalent to 2,500 Olympic swimming pools. Most of the Western U.S. snowpack—critical for water supply—had already melted by mid-May, with Colorado and Oregon reporting widespread drought conditions.