Warm Springs Reservoir fishing: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Channel Catfish

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, White Crappie
Boat: 4 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Warm Springs Landing South, 2 lanes.

The reservoir

Warm Springs Reservoir covers 4,204 acres in Oregon, across 2 counties: Harney and Malheur. It is a reservoir: 90.1% of it is 45 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is ≈60.7 feet (18.5 m). Our records hold 8 species for this water.

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: ≈60.7 ft (18.5 m). 90.1% of the water is 45 feet or shallower. We hold 55 depth contours for this water, drawn from 81,366 soundings.

Warm Springs Reservoir in Malheur County, Oregon.jpg
Pete Forsyth · CC BY 3.0
  • 0–3 ft: 24.7% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 6.8% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 3.1% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 4.5% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 4.3% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 4.7% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 4.9% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 48–51 ft: 2% of the water
  • 51–54 ft: 2.4% of the water
  • 54–57 ft: 1.5% of the water
  • 57–60 ft: 0.2% of the water

6 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Yellow Perch — Feeding water: 45–75°F.
  • White Crappie — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Rainbow Trout, Brown Bullhead.

4 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 2 trailer ramps and 2 boat ramps.

Warm Springs Reservoir, wider view, in Malheur County, Oregon.jpg
Pete Forsyth · CC BY 3.0
  • Warm Springs Landing South — 2 lanes, restrooms. Bureau of Land Management. phone 541-573-4400 · website blm.gov/oregon-washington
  • North Warm Springs — 1 lane, restrooms. Bureau of Land Management. phone 541-573-4400 · website blm.gov/oregon-washington
  • Middle Warm Springs — restrooms. Bureau of Land Management. phone 541-573-4400 · website blm.gov/office/burns-district-office
  • South Point Boat Launch website blm.gov/office/burns-district-office

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 4 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 69°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8. These readings span 2019–2022. The latest reading is from 2022, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.

Warm Springs Reservoir 3 in Malheur County, Oregon.jpg
Pete Forsyth · CC BY 3.0

What is hard here

Only 4 public ramps are on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • US Bureau of Reclamation — USBR reservoir sedimentation surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2000.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.

Part of these depths rest on an averaged water level, so they are approximate (≈).