At the University of Oregon, there are plenty of incentives that lure a surplus of students to Eugene. The incredible athletics and academics are a huge asset, but perhaps the greatest gift Eugene has to offer is its amazing rivers.. With great river spots near campus, there are plenty of opportunities for students to pick up a rod and reel, head to the river and enjoy some quiet time along the water.
Around Eugene, there are three main spots to take advantage of, and the closest of those is the Willamette River. The Willamette runs straight through Eugene and is closest to the west of campus. The river is split into the middle fork, the coast fork and the main stem, which snakes through town. In the main stem of the Willamette, you can find spots to fish for trout, salmon, steelhead, bass and panfish. Two great locations along the Willamette include the 14-acre Island Park, with great banks near the bridge, and the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System, where you can target the bedrock runs and pools to hopefully catch some summer steelhead.
The second great spot to try out is the McKenzie River. The river starts at Clear Lake and flows down toward the East of Eugene into the southernmost part of Willamette Valley. The McKenzie is approximately 90 miles long and is broken up into the upper and lower McKenzie, with places to fish for trout, salmon and steelhead in both parts. The McKenzie is rated as a blue-ribbon trout river, the best category for an abundance of fish. “The river has a blue ribbon fishery rating, meaning it is extremely populous for trout, and no river in Western Oregon has that high concentration of trout,” Andrew Johnson, a senior at UO and avid fly fisherman said. “I’ve also come to prefer the McKenzie more, I think it’s a lot more beautiful.” Locations like Deerhorn, Hendricks Bridge and Armitage Park offer amazing spots for bank fishing as well as boat launches to get out on the water.
The last spot to check out is the Lowell-Dexter area. The Dexter Reservoir is a popular spot southeast of Eugene for boating, sailing, rowing and simply enjoying the water, but the body of water also allows Oregon residents to fish. This 1,000-acre reservoir is home to rainbow trout, small chinook salmon, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, brown bullhead catfish and white crappie. Dexter allows fishers to take advantage of the boat launch and dock, but also has bank access for fishers on foot, with access to the Middle Fork Willamette just a slight drive away. To catch some walleye along with more bass and crappie, Lookout Point Reservoir is also a great spot to try out.
With such amazing opportunities for students to get out on rivers and reservoirs and catch some great fish, it would be a waste to not give it a shot. “I enjoy fly fishing because it takes me places where I would never go otherwise,” Johnson said. “ Some rivers in Oregon have no trails or roads so no one ever goes to some of these places, except people that fly fish. It’s kind of like meditation, you zone out of everything else going on in your life and you just hyper-focus on fishing and your technique.” Fishing around Eugene will always be an option for students to keep in their back pocket if they want to try something new or just escape to the outdoors.
