Hey Lingface (lol @ that crazy screen name), I got into angling recently for the same reasons as you- to invest time and effort into learning how to put fish into my freezer (eventually). It sounds like you're not starting from scratch, either. I'm still learning all the time from other posters on here, Youtube videos, and books. Your approach is very similar to mine. Obviously, it'll take some time before we get proficient enough that we'll have a freezer full, but I'm also hitting milestones in my fishing knowledge, slowly.
You'll learn where clean water sources are by reading online, which water bodies have mercury and pollution warnings, etc. I'm also trying to learn how to fish for species that have generous limits- small mouth bass, in one river near me, as no limit this year (Umpqua). I finally learned how to catch just a couple this early fall. I've been watching videos on how to fillet carp (but have yet to learn how to catch one!). I'm learning the seasons that I can fish for each species with some success. Trout can be fished for in the winter, winter steelhead, Lings spawn in Feb, as you know.
Not sure how far away Lebanon is from Springfield/ Eugene, but I'm also learning how to catch everything (eventually). Hit me up if you want a fishing partner to learn through trial and error.
James