Thanksgiving is barely in the rearview mirror, the turkey leftovers are still crowding the fridge, and suddenly the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hands every angler in the state the best possible Black Friday deal—two full days where nobody needs a fishing license, a shellfish permit, or any tags at all.
This Friday and Saturday—the days right after Thanksgiving—are officially free fishing days across the entire state. Doesn’t matter if you’ve got an Oregon driver’s license or you just drove over from Idaho, Washington, or California for the holiday weekend. No license, no cost, no questions asked. The only rules that still apply are the usual ones: closed areas stay closed, bag limits are the same, and fish still have to meet the legal size. Everything else is wide open.
For a lot of guys, this weekend has turned into tradition. The house is full of relatives, the football games are loud, and slipping out to the water for a few quiet hours suddenly looks pretty good. Others use it as the perfect chance to drag a grandson, a nephew, or an old buddy who hasn’t wet a line in years back out to the lake. The weather is usually cold, sometimes wet, but the fish don’t seem to mind—and neither do the people who love chasing them.
To sweeten the deal, the ODFW trucks have been busy. They’ve stocked rainbow trout in a bunch of popular Willamette Valley waters just in time for the weekend rush. That means places that might have been a little slow after summer are suddenly holding fresh, eager fish that haven’t seen a lot of hooks lately. If you’ve got a favorite pond or small lake around Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, or anywhere in between, chances are it just got a whole lot better.
Even if trout aren’t your thing, the timing lines up nicely with late-fall opportunities. Winter steelhead are starting to show in some coastal rivers, coastal bays are still giving up a few perch and crab, and the lower Columbia and its tributaries can turn on for late coho or early winter runs. The free days cover everything—freshwater, saltwater, crabbing, clamming. If it swims or crawls in Oregon waters, you can go after it without digging out the wallet.
A quick heads-up: the free fishing doesn’t mean there’s no planning involved. You still have to know where the fish are and what the water conditions look like. The department puts out its Weekly Recreation Report every Wednesday, and the latest edition is loaded with the kind of information most anglers live for—river flows, which boat ramps are open, where the trout trucks dumped fish, and which beaches are producing the best crab or clams right now. It’s worth five minutes at the computer or phone before you load the truck.
If you’ve never taken advantage of these free days before, this is the year to start. Grab the old rod that’s been collecting dust in the garage, throw some PowerBait or worms in a coffee can, and head out. The kids can come or not—sometimes the best trips are the quiet solo ones where the only sound is the reel clicking and geese flying overhead. Either way, the state just handed you a hall pass to fish anywhere you want, no license required.
Two days. No cost. Plenty of fish.
For the full rundown on stocking locations, hot spots, and current conditions, hit up the ODFW Weekly Recreation Report at myodfw.com. And if you’re wondering exactly where to point the truck Friday morning, that’s the first place to look. Tight lines, and enjoy the weekend—Oregon just made it real easy to get out there and fish.
