If your list of New Year's resolutions included spending more time on the water, you're in the right place. No area of the lower 48 rivals the fishing we enjoy in Washington and Oregon. Our waters have something for everyone, from tail-walking trout in clear mountain brooks to tackle-busting bruisers in wide, brawling rivers.

We've got it all. But with so many places to fish, where and when do you go for the best angling?

Washington-Oregon Game and Fish magazine knows the Northwest. Not just when the fishing is fine, but when it's fabulous, where to find it, who to call, and how to do it. Here are our recommendations for 36 -- three for each month -- of the Northwest's top angling destinations in 2005.

JANUARY
Steelhead: Wilson River, OR
On the Oregon coast, January means steelhead on the Wilson River.

Go prepared to fish high and muddy or low and clear. In high water, look for softer currents and fish along the edges of the stream or downstream from tributaries. In lower water, look for fast, deep chutes.

The lower river is best fished from a boat. Lob fresh eggs or sand shrimp to target early-returning hatchery fish. In higher water, anchor midstream and cast to shore, bouncing baits in deeper slots running along the bank. Switch to Hot Shots or Wiggle Warts when native fish and hatchery brood stock show up late in the month.

For a guided trip on the Wilson River, call David Johnson's Guide Service at 503-201-4292 Other Choices

Cowlitz River steelhead average 7 to 17 pounds. Fish below Blue Creek, and at the Barrier Dam. Also try the Sandy River, one of Oregon's most consistent steelhead fisheries.

FEBRUARY
Steelhead: Sol Duc, Calawah, Hoh, Bogachiel, Queets, WA
February is big-fish month on the Olympic Peninsula. Drift the Sol Duc, Calawah, Hoh, Bogachiel, or Queets for your crack at fish that average 10 to 13 pounds and go up to 30 pounds. Expect to find more wild fish than hatchery fish this month.

Olympic Peninsula rivers are short and steep. According to Larry Scott, a river guide since 1977, you're looking for "dancing water," riffles around boulders and structure. You'll have the best fishing when the water is emerald green with three to five feet of visibility.

Bait fishing is the predominant method, though some anglers cast flies or spinners. From a drift boat, try side-drifting with cured roe.

For information, call Waters West (360-417-0937), Westward Hoh Resort (360-374-6657), or Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330). For a guided trip, call Larry Scott at West Side Guide Service (360-327-3671).

Other Choices
For winter steelhead in southwest Washington, head to the North Fork Lewis. In Oregon, cast to 4,000 rainbow trout per river mile on the Crooked River below Bowman Dam.

MARCH
Steelhead: Clackamas River, OR
In March, the Clackamas River is full of winter steelhead, anywhere from the mouth to McIver Park. These are big, brash hatchery and native winter-runs.

Side-drifting eggs or sand shrimp has become popular; the boat and bait drift backward, while the fish holds in place. Steelhead almost set hooks by themselves as the weight drifts by. From the bank, you can drift bait or cast spinners. If you head upstream to fish Eagle Creek or the McIver run, bring your fly rod or jig-n-float rigs.

Bank fishermen can find good access at Clackamette Park, Riverside Park, Coffey's Drift, the Carver Boat Ramp, Barton Park, Bonnie Lure at the mouth of Eagle Creek, and at McIver Park.

For stream flows, call the PGE Fish Line, 503-464-7474. For a guided trip, call David Johnson's Guide Service at 503-201-4292. To fish flies or jigs-n-floats upstream, call Rob Crandall at 503-704-6449.

Other Choices
String your fly rod and stretch your legs along the banks of Washington's Rocky Ford Creek near Moses Lake. For sturgeon, hit the Columbia below Bonneville Dam this month.

APRIL
Chinook Salmon: Columbia River, OR and WA
Make plans to fish the Columbia River in April for 15- to 40-pound Chinook holding on shelves and depressions in 12 to 20 feet of water.

Fish the mouths of the Kalama and the Cowlitz early in the run. Later in the month, count on the mouth of the Lewis River, the lower end of the Multnomah Channel near St. Helens, Willow Bar, Frenchman's Bar, the mouth of the Willamette, the I-5 Bridge, Government Island, and the mouth of the Sandy River.

With the tide out and the river flowing downstream, anchor and fish whole or plug-cut herring, prawns, sandshrimp, eggs or spinners. At slack tide and incoming, troll sardine-wrapped Kwikfish or Wiggle Warts.

For information, call Fisherman's Marine Supply 503-283-0044. For a guided trip, call Chuck Polityka of Outdoors Northwest at 503-621-3682.

Other Choices
For limits of rainbows to 6 pounds, head to Oregon's Pine Hollow Reservoir west of Maupin. In Washington, troll for cutthroat and rainbows in Seattle's Lake Washington.