Hey ya'll-
Just moved over here (Pullman) from the west side to go to school. Have done a lot of steelhead fishing over there but need some help when it comes to these local rivers as far as run timing, places to go etc. Have heard general things as far as the Clearwater, Snake, Grande Ronde etc., but some more specific info would be great. I fish with both fly and gear. If you have something you want to share but don't want to spread all over the board, just email me instead. Thanks in advance for your help. I need to fish........haven't been out in almost 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim

P.s. If there is any body out there that would be interested in trading a trip actually showing me the river.....I would be glad to show you the Sauk, Skagit, Stilliguamish, or the Skykomish for winter/spring steelhead in trade for some help.

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"Walk softly, but carry a big steelhead"

Fool,
My grandparents live in Asotin which is 5 miles from Lewiston and so we always go over to see them. I haven't fished the snake for steelies but I have fished the Ronde alot. I am going to Central Washington University on the 23 of Sept and then on the weekends i am going over to the Ronde. We should hook up. I will show you the river and I am also taking my driftboat. I called it yesterday and they said that there were a few steelies all ready coming in. I hope that helps. Are you going to WSU?
Chris

Chris-
That would be great. Yea.....I am now a Coug and loving every minute of it. I LOVE COLLAGE!!!!!!!!! Send me an email if you have your phone number already or send it when you get it and we'll definately hook up. Can't wait till October. Do you hunt???

Tim

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"Walk softly, but carry a big steelhead"

Fishinfool, the first class you might consider is spelling. Challenge yourself into learning how to spell the keyword, COLLEGE. Ha Ha ... Just thought I'd flip alittle sh** to a fellow Coug!!!Congrats. The next 5 years(it took me 5 because I tended to abuse the fun times)will be the best times of your life I wish I could go back but I can't get anybody to pay a big enough salary to go..Bummer!!

hey fishnfool, Welcome to Pullman. I run a science lab on campus maybe we could hook-up also.
Well, don't get too worked up just yet but get ready. There is about 11,000 fish over the last of the snake river dams right now and the fishing won't be consistantly good until a few more make it up but it looks to be a good year so far.
If you need an immediate fish fix your best bets right now is the lower clearwater right in front of the potlatch mill (aka the Mill hole) and the upper parts of this is fishable with the bugrod. The other alternative is the snake river, either tossing jig and bobbers with bait shrimp or trolling from a boat. But it's still early so don't get too excited yet. Look for the Rhonde to heat up in October all the way through April as well as the Clearwater and the Salmon rivers in Idaho. The Rhonde is the primary river for the early season flyfishers as almost all of that river is good flyfishing water.
With the current state of the cougs football team it looks like you should have a few spare weekends this year!! (hint: the vollyball team is almost as much fun to watch, they play at non-fishing hours and they even win games!)

I probably won't get into the steelhead game until Late October when the venison is in the freezer.

Good luck,

Duke

fool,
Right on man. I am nervous to leave but it will be fun. I hunt in the hills above the ronde and right by the town of anatone. It kicks butt. the year before last I bagged a big 3x3 which roled 3/4 down those big hills. It was a fun 3 hour drag to get it up. My best friend who left me is going there. Anyways I will tell ya when I am going to be heading over.....

Hey duke-
Shoot me an email when ever you want to go.
Can't wait to wet a line. I am having withdrawl symtems........I have this funny twitch in my casting arm that just won't away.

Tim

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"Walk softly, but carry a big steelhead"

Where all the Mule Deer? I go to school at WSU also and I am looking for areas that have Muleys and you won't get shot at by the farmers.

KOB,
Head down to the snake river above and below Lower Granite and work the hills on either side. I use to see a lot of muleys when I fish down their. Watch out for snakes and be ready for some serious hill climbs. Another option is to head down to Lewiston/Clarkston area head through Asotin and follow the rattlesnake grade to the Grande Ronde their should be a lot of good hunting back their also. You are also about 2-3 hours from a great white tail and muley area North of Spokane in the Curlew area. Find deer creek road out of Curlew, lots of Logging roads arounds and old pastures hidden in their that are no longer used.

TFF,

You can put your gear rod away until winter; these summer runs are happy to dine on top. A floating line, 10' leader, and a 6 or 8 Spade and Steelhead Caddis will keep you in hook ups until daytime temps don't get above freezing. The lower Clearwater as mentioned, the Snake (anything resembling a steelhead riffle) from Asotin to Heller Bar, and the Ronde should keep you outa' class until December. Have fun, and leave a few for the rest of us.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

P.S. The Snake may be high to protect chinook redds until mid-Oct., so a two handed rod or the ability to roll cast 50' or so is really helpful.

Welcome to the Palouse from another former Coug. The amazing thing about this system of rivers, in addition to its diversity, is the duration of the steelhead runs. Guys were picking up fish in the lower Clearwater in mid-August, and there will be steelhead in this locale well into April (then hopefully there will be another fishable spring Chinook run like this year's). Between the Snake, Grande Ronde, Tucannon, Walla Walla, Salmon and Clearwater, there's a lot ground to explore that's a fairly easy drive from Pullman. Those will be great weekend diversions, because it's not as if you'll be missing anything in Pullman on football Saturdays. Good luck and have fun, be it fishing, school or ... you know. Remember, you can always retake a class, but you can never relive a weekend.

Kob, Iam...is right on pointing you towards the Snake River. There's tons of Mulys down there. If you have a boat there is a really good spot just downstream from Blyton (sp?) landing about 5-6 miles upstream from wawwai park and still a bit upstream of granite point I believe. There is a large canyon in there that goes back in a lonnggg ways and branches out from there into several side canyons. You can easily spend a full day in here and only work one of the canyons. The only trick here is that you need a boat to get across but don't expect to ba alone as there will usually be a lot of people down there on openning day (Hint: wear lots of orange). This used to be a "feel Free To Hunt" area and I'm sure it still is.
I have seen some dandy bucks in this canyon but after the first weekend they get amazingly scarce.
Other decent places that havn't been mentioned would have to be the tucannon river area and the blue mountains to the south. There is also some feel free to hunt areas just out of colfax on the palouse river but you will probably only see some monster whitetails out there so I wouldn't go. hehe.

Go explore and have fun!!

Duke

hey duke, i was jus over there in troy idaho and i happened to pass thru colfax, can you give me specifics directions to some hunting, im lookin for a buck of any size, cant be as crowded as it gets over here in western wa, cuz if i cant find a good spot over in eastern, wa, then i wont go hunting..but anyways, hopefully someone has some info, i would like to go for white tail, ive only got one deer in 4 years hunting, if i dont go this year i will pry jus give it up, and stick with fishing, and another thing, anyone ever fish up in orofino? cuz i will be moving to the lewiston area if all go well, maybe we could hook up sometime..thanks..***schitzo***

Orofino is the site of what the Corps of Engineers calls the world's largest steelhead hatchery, and that keeps the Clearwater River teeming with fish from October through March. There are a few steelhead around now, but most of them are destined for Snake River tributaries south of Lewiston, like the Grand Ronde. The Clearwater's noted run, the B run (the average fish runs between 12 and 16 pounds, and it's not unusual to find a native in the 20s), will start arriving sometime in October. Steelheading isn't the sole reason I've lived here for eight years -- things like family and career tend to influence a person, too -- but it has certainly been a contributing factor.

Schitzo, where are you looking to hunt? ID or WA? If you are moving to Lewiston area (ID) you will be loaded with choices within a 45-60 min drive WA or ID. The Troy Idaho area is full of whitetails and there's lots of forest service ground with excellent access.
If you are looking in the Colfax area try out the palouse river. Just take the road out past the golf course and there's some feel free to hunt areas out there that can hold some really nice bucks. But these areas do get a bit crowded on opening day. Also, if your the type who would like to talk to farmers and get permission to hunt their land give that a try. With so many deer the crop damage drives farmers crazy so there's a few out there that would love to see some of the deer removed.
So if you need some more specifics send me an e-mail. If you just want to make a trip over to the east side there's always some good areas up around Colville or north of spokane (or even the Blue mountains to the south). I have hunted up in these areas a bit as well if you want any info.

Duke

dnaguy@mail.wsu.edu

Go Cougs! Howdy from a 88 grad! As far as fishing goes, the Ronde is tough to beat. It is good through April, and they will take dry flies in the fall. I remember when I was living in an apartment (north campus heights-aka "bedrock") I used to go down to the dam and use bobber and shrimp for steelies above the ladder after pheasant hunting! Did pretty good and offset the food bills! I shot a deer with my bow every year I was there, mostly near Klemgard Park. The farmers were pretty good about premission, and there are tons of deer as well as pheasant. You could road trip down near Lower Monumental Dam and hunt the breaks but you'd need a boat. If you dont see a hundred deer a day, your eyes were closed! Take time to enjoy everything about your time in Pullman, It ends quicker than you'd like to think! Good Luck, and Go Cougs!