Willamette River in December 2021. Photo by Teresa Frye
Welcome to 2022! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. The post-Christmas cold snap offered some pretty vistas of snow and, fortunately, did not result in the usual aftermath of ice-covered roads. Our family holidays were spent close to home, which meant the only airport time was spent picking up our youngest who was on break from college. I’ll consider both of those as a win.
It was a pleasure to see so many of you in person at our 60th Anniversary celebration last month. A big thank you to the University Club and to program director (and incoming President) Mike Radakovich and to Mark Metzdorff for organizing a delightful event on short notice. We had almost 50 people in attendance, so it was a truly festive celebration. Members who have not yet received their complimentary copy of the beautiful 60th Anniversary Creel can get one in person at an upcoming meeting or by special arrangement. Several volunteers from the 60th Anniversary Creel Committee have agreed to serve as regional book distributors in the Portland metro area. Contact Jim Hillas, John Pyrch, or Mark Metzdorff to schedule a convenient pickup time and location. Nonresident members can have their copies mailed to the address on file with the club. See this month’s Member Matters for details.
Based on the tremendous turnout at the December gala, we have decided to return to in-person dinner meetings going forward. Our next meeting is Tuesday January 11, featuring longtime guide Brian Silvey with a seasonally appropriate presentation about winter steelhead fishing on the Sandy River. The University Club has updated the menu selection to offer four different entrée choices. Signup deadline is Friday January 7, so please make plans to join us. We are also looking for volunteers to serve on the Club board of officers and directors, so if you would like to help chart the path of our club moving forward, I encourage you to reach out to myself or Mike Radakovich.
One of my New Year’s traditions is buying my annual Oregon angling license so that I’m officially ready for fishing in 2022. Unfortunately, my first trip of the year already washed out. Rick Pay and I had planned to fish the Sandy with Brian Silvey this week, but heavy rains and rising snow levels did not bode well for conditions, so we have crossed our fingers and rescheduled for later in the month. I have a few other steelhead trips planned on the Oregon coast including a multiday adventure based out of the Water Time Outfitters lodge on the North Fork of the Nehalem River. Here’s hoping for a better run than last year. And for those of you keeping score, I’m still looking for that first winter steelhead on the fly.
Despite the allure of steelhead, my fishing thoughts always return to trout, especially after the first false spring warms the air and the bugs begin to hatch. I plan to make good use of my first full year as a member of the Oregon Fishing Club, which provides private access to a number of trout lakes and streams in Oregon and Washington and am in the process of filling in the rest of my fishing calendar with some multiday trips.
I hope you all have some good fishing trips on your calendar to look forward to.
Tight lines,
Jim
Here is the slate of FCO officers and directors as well as the committee chairs:
Officers (1 year term expiring February 2023)
- President – Mike Radakovich
- Vice President – Christian Werner
- Secretary – Janet Arenz
- Treasurer – John Bailey
- Past President – Jim Hillas
At Large Directors (3-year terms – expiration date indicated)
- Harold Weight (February 2023)
- Lisa Hansen (February 2025)
Committee Chairs
Membership – Rick Pay
Programs – Mike Radakovich
Flyline Editor – Lisa Hansen
