Henry Miller: E.E. Wilson pond renovations have improved accessibility, fishing experience

Henry Miller
Special to the Statesman Journal
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CORVALLIS – Richard Hubbard of Monmouth was all smiles as he surveyed the work that just wrapped up at E.E. Wilson Pond.

“I used to come here a lot when I was a kid,” he said, then chuckled. “I mean a lot, a lot; but this fancy new stuff … I like it.”

The “new stuff” Hubbard referred to is a $72,716 project to make the popular pond at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area more accessible for the physically challenged as well as the other anglers.

The bulk of the money for the project came from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program, said Ryan McCormick, the chief engineer for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Along with several spiffy new aluminum fishing platforms and a trail around the lake perimeter, the 1-plus-mile paths from the parking lot for the pond “have been widened and smoothed out with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) gravel, so it’s more of an easy transition,” said Shawn Woods, the area manager.

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“They made a new concrete bridge up over the levee at a slope of less than 5 percent, so it meets the ADA standard so that someone in a wheelchair can get access up there and down to the dock,” Woods added.

To get to the pond trailhead, take Highway 99W south to Camp Adair Road on the left about 7 miles north of Corvallis. The turn to the parking lot is marked on the left.

There are new opportunities for anglers, including those with disabilities, at E.E. Wilson Pond.

It’s nothing like it was when he used to catch trout at Wilson Pond as a kid, in a good way, Hubbard said as he and fishing companion Rion Graves of Dallas rigged up their rods on the largest wing dock that goes 40 feet out into the pond.

“I remember it used to be like a fight for survival out here, fighting the bushes and stuff,” Hubbard laughed.

That’s also how he remembers it, said George Larson, the vice president and volunteer coordinator for the Mid-Valley Chapter of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, based in Albany.

“It was pretty much combat fishing,” he said about the crowds battling limited access, pondside brush and choking water-weed growth during the summer.

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That’s why Larson was pleased with the rave reviews from Hubbard and Graves.

Mission accomplished, he said.

The contractor for the project, Mid-Valley Excavation in Sublimity, put in the major features, and volunteers from the Mid-Valley Steelheaders put in lots of hours on the finishing work.

“We’ve done a whole bunch of the new features,” Larson said, including installing the side railings on the fishing platforms and mounting the seats on the benches on the new trail encircling the pond after the supports were set.

Club members also put down underwater weed mats and erected a new information kiosk at a site near the new bridge close to the end of the trail.

“I think it’s going to open up a whole lot of access,” Larson said.

It was something of a fluke that they stopped, Hubbard said.

Richard Hubbard of Monmouth rigs up on one of the new fishing platforms at E.E. Wilson Pond.

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The pair decided to give the pond a shot after wrapping up work at mid-day on that gorgeous, unseasonably sunny, 50-plus-degree spring tease on Jan. 25.

“We had a work day today for our jobs out at Clayton Homes (in Albany), so we were just on our way back to Monmouth and thought we’d swing by and see if we could catch a couple fish,” Hubbard said.

The weather may have been perfect, but the fishing, not so much.

Turns out they were a week early.

The first stocking of 1,050 hatchery rainbow trout at E.E. Wilson Pond was scheduled just before Feb. 1.

Get ‘em next time.

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“Oh, yeah,” Hubbard said with a wide grin. “I’m going to bring my wife and my kids.”

“Oh, yeah. Probably do it every week,” Graves echoed.

A wildlife-area parking permit ($10 daily, $30 a year) is required at state wildlife areas. Those are available at Fish and Wildlife offices, at fishing and hunting license agents and online at https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login

Click on the link for “Guest Checkout” at the bottom of the right-hand side of the page.

You can reach Henry Miller via email at HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com