Wynoochee river steelhead????

[duckmen1]

Anybody have any insight to how steelhead fishing has been down there lately. Haven't spent any time on this river and thinking of checking it out. I'm a bank bound angler with primary methods being bobber drifting jigs, pink worms, single steelhead beads, yarnies. A little hardware like spoons and spinners maybe an option as well as drift fishing EZ eggs. That's my general use on the river and hoping to put it to use. With the nice weather and being burnt out of duck hunting I want to explore new waters. Thanks for any help and good fishing

[PolarBear]

2 words.. ON FIRE!

[dreamunelk]

River is puking mud and trees.  Don't bother.

[duckmen1]

Nice
Would it be wise to stay on the lower river or stretch higher up. Looks like a pretty long tributary?

[PolarBear]

There is a slide a little less than 1/2 way through the 7400-White Bridge float.  Fishing above that has been incredible but access is extremely limited.

[duckmen1]

To fish up along the 7400, 7300 lines wouldn't you need a Weyerhaeuser pass?

[7mmfan]

Its Green Diamond land, no passes/keys available for purchase at this time. Not sure if you can ride/walk in, but that would be your only option.

[duckmen1]

Thanks for the clarification.  I will look into it.

[jpharcher]

it is a couple of miles from the 7400 gate on the wynoochee valley road to the bridge at 7400 crossing.

[duckmen1]

For a backup plan to check out do you guys think satsop would be worth a look too while I'm down there? It's along the way.

[2MANY]

Always worth a look but it has been slow.

[duckmen1]

Lots of options but hard to make a decision when all the rivers are at minimum 1.5 to 2.5 hour drives. And not being out to these rivers before makes it even harder.

[BigGoonTuna]

get ready for company.

[fish vacuum]

Funny thing about the Wynoochee. I've never fished it, but I've seen it mentioned in magazines and on the net so much, that I can scratch it off my list and label it a $hit show. If I see a river mentioned a thousand times, I know it's not a place I want to fish.

[NWBrute]

When did the slide happen??

[hunt_fish]

Funny thing about the Wynoochee. I've never fished it, but I've seen it mentioned in magazines and on the net so much, that I can scratch it off my list and label it a $hit show. If I see a river mentioned a thousand times, I know it's not a place I want to fish.

Ahh yes, wonders what the internet does lol.  Didn't use to be so busy there, even a couple years ago.  It doesn't help that steelhead is dead at the Cowlitz right now too, so there's even more added pressure to the Nooch.

OP, I would just make the trek to the coast, it's not that much farther and better bank access.

[duckmen1]

Headed out tomorrow.  Any updates or advise about how things are down there? Out of wynoochee, satsop and skokumchuck I think wynoochee is the best choice for numbers and with a little rain but gotta choose the best spot to try. Might jump around to familiarize myself with the system but hoping to have a chance at a hookup. Good fishing

[Crunchy]

My buddy fished it last week and said it was a bait show.  That sometimes changes daily, so hard to say what they will take.

[duckmen1]

I'll keep that in mind. I don't have much for eggs or shrimp right now but got a few tricks on that line I will try.

[WSU]

The gas station in Monte almost always has shrimp.  Not Monte Square but the one up the hill on the left.

[krapmit]

Most of the local bank guys are plunking eggs.  Get there early early if you want to find a place to drift, a bunch of plunk setups dont work for drifting through.  Look for cars parked and try the "normal" spots others are fishing. 

[duckmen1]

Thanks for the info. Headed over early to see how things go. It will be fun no matter if I battle a fish or not. Learning new water during my so called off season is better than waiting to hit another area at a different time of year.

[JimmyHoffa]

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wa/nwis/uv/?site_no=12037400&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065
I don't think you'll have that much company.  Try the smaller inlet creeks that will have the cleanest and clearest water.

[WSU]

Head up high if it looks blown.

[TomT]

Fished it today and it was rising fast.  One friend hooked and lost a fish.  Didn't hear of any others caught.  Looked like it would probably be blown by tonight.

[PolarBear]

They started opening the dam the other day and the fishing has been horrible since.

[duckmen1]

Head up high if it looks blown.

That is exactly what we did. Water was blown out pretty bad. Even saw some trees floating in the river. Went up really high and fished most of the day in the best water I could find with only a whitefish to tell of. Saw no sign of steelhead at all. Fished jigs, pink worms, heavy beads mainly. Tried some sand shrimp on a drift down low on the way out but nothin. Had fun though. Learned a lot about a lot of stuff. So it was a success.

[M_ray]

From the looks of the stream flows I'd say you are a few days out from anything worth fishing ... that is if it doesn't continue to pour