Prepare to get ready

   I have lived in Oregon for 11 years, and I fish every chance I get. My line has been wet at countless locations across the state, yet I cant remember the last time that I fished somewhere for the first time. It has been years now I think, and I have fallen into a routine of familiar water and calculated rates of success.So to say that I am excited about the Esmond Lake trip, would be an understatement.

   I decided to limit the distance I travel from Eugene to fish by using natural borders. The Santiam and Yaquina Rivers in the North to the North Umpqua in the South and from the Pacific Crest Trail in the Cascades to the Pacific Coast of Oregon. This creates a tidy 100 square mile box with Eugene right in the middle.

   Rusty and I have planned on spending March 7,8 & 9 in the Smith River area. From Eugene this is our backyard to the West, and its big. Although I have traveled many miles of road along the Smith, I am embarrassed to admit I have never fished in the area at all. My previous adventures have been in pursuit of fall game birds and wild mushrooms. Since I can find only one lake between Eugene and the coast, Rusty and I are going to take this opportunity to check it off the map.

   The 3 day weekend will allow plenty of time to explore future fishing possibilities as well. Esmond is the only lake I can find out there, but the area is covered with creeks and tributaries of the Smith. There are quite a few ODFW special regulations concerning the Smith River system, and appears that much of it is closed until May 24th. I will be doing much more research into fishing this River.

   So far Esmond Lake fits all my criteria for an Oregon Fishing Weekend. It is open for fishing with artificial flys and lures per ODFW, I have never fished there before, and it is well within my geographical boundaries. That really just leaves the matter of the budget.

 Rusty and I have been fishing together for many years, both of us are easily entertained, and have mountains of gear. This is good because after purchasing 2014 ODFW license, tags and permits I am all but out of cash. So the budget for this trip will be the least amount of money possible, split two ways. I will keep an accounting and document it in my trip summary.

  I'm off now to gather up gear, pour through tackle, and round up supplies. More soon to come....

Esmond Lake it is..

  I Google searched Esmond Lake, and came up with very little information. Everything useful came from a pair of fellow fishing bloggers, onemuleteam.wordpress.com and oregonflyfishingblog.com. A big thanks to those guys, without their documentation I would know nothing, except where it is on a map. I am very excited about what I have learned, and after sharing with my partner Rusty, we have decided to check it out. There is an access road that leads most of the way to the lake, a shortish hike through rough terrain, and contains native cutthroat trout. Its close to home in an area I'm familiar with, appears to be relatively unknown and secluded. Plus it is very close to some mushroom gathering places I know. Sold... Esmond Lake it is!

Research on Smith River area

   After pouring over the Smith River area in my map book, I found I was right about there being a lot of creeks and tributaries, hundreds of them. However, they do not open for trout until May 24th, and I do not feel prepared to tackle the main body of the Smith. It is open for salmon and steelhead, but I have an idea it will be hard to fish from shore, and beyond simple to float. Another time perhaps.
   Lakes in this zone are open year round, with few special regulations, but here's the funny part... there are none from the Umpqua in the South, to the Siuslaw in the North, West of Eugene all the way until you get to Siltcoos and Tahknich Lakes on the coast. I am shocked, when I opened my map book to the area, I expected it to be peppered with little mountain lakes, NOTHING!!!  
   Nothing on my map, except one tiny blob of blue no bigger than a grain of rice, Esmond Lake. Its not listed in the ODFW special regulations, appears to have an access road that leads to it, and I have never heard of it or been there before. This could be interesting, more research is needed.....

First trip of the year

   As anyone living in the Willamette Valley this time of year will tell you, finding a close place to fish is tough. All the rivers and reservoirs are blown out with snow melt and rain fall, and it seems that anywhere worth fishing is still closed per ODFW regulations. A good fishing buddy of mine, Rusty and I, have decided that we cant wait much longer, and have agreed on a 3 day weekend. The first mutually possible weekend being March 7,8 & 9... But, where are we gonna go, and what are we gonna do.?.

   Rusty and I both live in Eugene, and have agreed that we wanna keep it simple, and close to home. We decided to take my Suburban to keep it simple, it makes a great two person tent. This decision comes with a price tag however, as " Tha Burb " only gets like 15mpg. That is where the close to home part comes in. The Smith River area of the Coast Range is our backyard to the West, it is much lower in elevation than the Cascades to the East, and I know is choked with creeks and river forks. I have spent some time in this area over the last 10 years, mostly during the fall, collecting wild mushrooms. I know the Smith River gets a salmon and steelhead run, I'm sure there are trout in the streams, and there must be some lakes up in there. Research is needed, so off to my copy of ODFW regulations, and Oregon recreation map book. More to follow on my first Oregon Fishing Weekend.......

3 day weekends

   I have included an events calender at the bottom of my homepage, and will be posting future ideas and plans there. I will be blogging my ideas, plans, and preparations leading up to my very next trip. The trips I will be planning for the next 12 months, will all be places I have never been before. I will also only be planning weekend and 3 day weekend adventures, restricting myself to a geographical boundary, and setting an expense limit. It is my goal to eventually set a personal record of fishing 52 weekends in a row. I believe this is possible through a large enough network of "fish poolers", so please get involved and share the idea if you or someone you know is interested. Help me turn every weekend into an Oregon Fishing Weekend.

Hi, my name is.....

   As my first official blog entry, I would like to introduce myself, and my intentions for this blog page. My name is Justin, I live in Eugene, OR with my wife and two children, and I love to fish. It is my crazy idea to get as many people together who love to fish as much as I do. My plan is to establish a network of outdoor adventurers that are interested in "fish pooling" with me as I explore new places. I hope by doing so we can plan trips, split expenses, document our adventures, and make every weekend an Oregon Fishing Weekend.