A friend and I are going steelhead fishing near portland (an hour or so out) and are looking for advice for "newbies" ie- where to go, what to use, etc... Any advice or info would be appreciated.

You might want to check the kalama up in the canyon.

~steelymann~

When are you going? I fish around Portland year round, but we're kind of between steelhead runs now (summer & winter). The Clackamas and Sandy have steelhead year round. Fishing will get better in a month or so when the winter steelhead arrive in numbers.

We are going this Saturday. From reading on the Internet, we have learned we are in between runs, but we are still going. We want to learn the techniquesand try different rig setups.

I suppose if I were going saturday, I might hit the Clackamas, probably at McIver. There are still quite a few summer runs there (from what I hear), though they're getting dark and can be finicky. I usually throw spinners/spoons for summer runs (or flyfish when the water's 50 degrees or more). Personally, I'm going to devote the next month to work I've been putting off so I can fish the winter run hard. If I were going fishing this week, I'd probably hit the coast looking for salmon, maybe steelhead. You'll find a lot more good places to fish if you are willing to drive 2 hours (coast, Deschutes in particular).

Good luck!