Howard Prairie campgrounds and the resort are now open, as is the store. With low water levels, the marina boat ramp is closed. Access at Howard Prairie is currently limited to the gravel ramp near the dam. Unfortunately, irrigation drawdown has already begun and the lake is drawing down.

Trout numbers are a bit down as the last few years of extremely low water have certainly put a hurt in the population, but catch rates have been surprisingly good, on the order of 1 trout for every 40 minutes for bank anglers. These fish have also been mostly over 15 inches, and are excellent table fare this time of year as well. ODFW did stock 40k fingerlings back in the fall which should now be in the legal-size range. No legal trout will be stocked this year due to another low water year. The lake is 16 percent full and already dropping.  Wednesday morning it was approximately 9,478 acre feet.