Fishing for trout is not recommended in most areas. Fishing is slow for redband trout with an occasional brown trout, as flows are low and water temperatures very warm in most of the river. Most fish in the Sprague currently are small, so small spinners and spoons work well. Redband trout from 6-18 inches dominate the catch. There is ample public property on the Sprague River to fish. Best fishing is from a boat near Beatty.  

Also, all radio tagged redband trout must be released unharmed. Redband trout will have what looks to be fishing line coming from the abdomen. These fish will be 6-18 inches in length. 

Yellow perch fishing can be good in the S’Ocholis Canyon area above Saddle Mountain Pit-Road Bridge and above the town of Sprague River. A few bass occur in the backwater areas of the river as well.

Regulations have changed. Only one redband/rainbow trout can be kept with a 15-inch minimum length. This change is due to record low spawning escapement for trophy redband trout throughout the Klamath Basin. ODFW also encourages the use of single barbless hooks in this fishery, not removing fish from the water and catch-and-release rubber nets.