Bass near Corvallis?

Maybe everyone already knows this, but any bass out of the Willamette should not be eaten.

pmmpete ate his from the Luckiamute and lived but, I'm sure you are correct.

Seriously?  Who eats bass?  Unless you're a wild man like pmmpete, I mean.      When I asked about CPR for AOTY photos, I had bass in mind.  Not a species I want to waste or retain.

Thanks for the heads up.  I thought the Willamette's problems were up North, closer to Portland so this is good to know.

I stand corrected!  Who else eats bass other than hearty wild men like pmmpete and deptrai?

Personally, I don't like the taste or texture of black bass - even those caught from the Canadian shield lakes - and that's why I don't eat them.

That may be true.  I've never kept a bass from the Willamette in Salem (and I caught one this morning).  I did eat 2 smallies last year from the Columbia (above Cascade Locks) and lived to tell about it.

Those are darned good looking fish!  Good job!

Do whatever you want, but people reading this should understand that the effects of eating fish (edit: resident fish) from the Willamette and Columbia aren't something that you're going to notice immediately, and tend to accumulate over your lifetime - talking here mostly about heavy metals and PCBs. So just educate yourself and understand that the risks aren't immediate or temporary, and eat away if you choose.

My comment was tongue in cheek. Personally, I'd only eat anadromous fish from the Willamette. While the Luckiamute runs through some farm land, I think it's a lot cleaner that the Willamette which has all the cities and industry along the way.

Do whatever you want, but people reading this should understand that the effects of eating fish (edit: resident fish) from the Willamette and Columbia aren't something that you're going to notice immediately, and tend to accumulate over your lifetime - talking here mostly about heavy metals and PCBs. So just educate yourself and understand that the risks aren't immediate or temporary, and eat away if you choose.

Does the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife publish recommendations for restrictions on consumption of fish from various rivers and lakes in Oregon?  The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks does (Google "Montana Sport Fish Consumption Guidelines"), but I can't find anything similar on the ODFW webpage.

I eat a lot of fish, including kinds of fish which tend to concentrate toxins, such as lake trout and pike, and I have always tried to stay under the consumption guidelines recommended by the Montana Department of FW&P.  A couple of years ago when getting routine blood tests in connection with a physical, I asked my doctor to include a test for mercury, which showed slightly elevated mercury levels. This encouraged me to further cut back on the amount of large lake trout and pike which I ate, and a repeat of the mercury test a year or so later showed more nearly normal levels.  I give away large pike and lake trout to friends, and keep the small ones.  I justify giving the big fish to friends by saying that they eat fish rarely enough that they stay well within the MDFWP consumption guidelines.

My comment was tongue in cheek. Personally, I'd only eat anadromous fish from the Willamette. While the Luckiamute runs through some farm land, I think it's a lot cleaner that the Willamette which has all the cities and industry along the way.

A lot of the lakes in which I fish are surrounded by National Forest, but the large piscavores nevertheless have elevated levels of mercury and PCB.  My understanding is that this stuff is coming from all over the world, like from coal plants in China, and not necessarily from further up the specific drainages in which I fish.  Are there members of the forum with scientific expertise who can provide authoritative information about this issue?

https://public.health.oregon.gov/HealthyEnvironments/Recreation/FishConsumption/Pages/fishadvisories.aspx

Pete, here's a National Park Service pub with basic info and links to NPS, USGS, EPA, etc sources. 

https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/upload/mercury-NPS-fact-sheet-2006.pdf

Jim
(edit - from google "airborne mercury"...)

Yes, Pete, there are guidelines on Page 16 of the 2016 Oregon Fishing Regulations pamphlet.

Also here: http://www.deq.state.or.us/lab/wqm/docs/12-LAB-001.pdf

A problem with tracing the source of some toxins like PCB's are that they are so chemically non-reactive that they'll persist in the environment for thousands of years.