The Wallace flows into the Skykomish 1 1/2 miles east of Sultan on the outskirts of Startup. Trails lead upstream along both banks for a short distance, and Wallace Lake Road crosses the river just below lake. A road from Gold Bar follows the east side of the river to Wallace Falls.

5. SULTAN RIVER
The Sultan is a major tributary of the Skykomish River. It dumps in at the Highway 2 town of Sultan where there is an incredibly popular boat launch into the Sky. The City of Everett has dammed the Sultan about 12 miles above its mouth. Steelheaders take about 20 winter-runs, most in December, in the lower stretch, which flows through a steep canyon. This little river is a good steelheading alternative if the Skykomish is high and dirty. Reiner and Pipeline roads follow the west side, Sultan Basin Road leads up the east side for 14 miles.

6. NORTH FORK
SKYKOMISH
Around 50 steelhead a year are punched on the North Fork, almost all by the same handful of experienced fishermen. The North Fork is a long way from salt water, and most of its fish are caught in February. It merges with the South Fork at Index, and steelhead go upstream as far as Deer Falls, just above Goblin Creek a couple of miles from the end of Forest Service Road 63.

From Highway 2 at Index, turn northwest onto North Fork Road-FS 63, which parallels the North Fork.

7. SOUTH FORK
SKYKOMISH
Followed by Highway 2, this branch of the Sky flows about 13 miles between its confluence with the North Fork at Index and its beginning at the confluences of the Beckler and Tye rivers near Skykomish.

It gives up two to three dozen steelhead a year, and catches are spread out evenly from December through February. It’s a very small river and is wadeable.

8. SNOQUALMIE RIVER
The Snoqualmie is now a shadow of what it offered steelheaders in the 1980s, but it’s still one of Puget Sound’s most productive and popular steelhead rivers. It delivers between 800 and 1,000 winter steelhead a year, most in January, but with good catches in December and February.

Main-stem Snoqualmie steelheading water starts in a plunge 268 feet over Snoqualmie Falls, a natural barrier to anadromous fish.

Below the falls, the river runs north through good winter steelhead structure into the Snoqualmie Valley to join the Skykomish River west of Monroe. Roadside and WDFW accesses lead to a lot of bank-fishing. Jet- and drift-boats fish from Plum’s Landing below the mouth of Tokul Creek all the way to the confluence.

Below Carnation, though, the current slows and it can be a long float without a motor. There is prime water in the Fall City, Carnation area, and the big deep pools immediately below Tokul Creek are very popular with jig-and-bobber steelheaders.

Ramps are at the mouth of the Raging River in Fall City, below Fall City at Nielsen’s along Highway 203 at Neal Road, at the mouth of the Tolt River, Carnation Farms Bridge and in Duvall. Winter steelhead are planted in the Raging and the Tolt, and steelheading is promising at the mouths of those tributaries.

9. TOLT RIVER
Winter steelhead are tough to land in the fast, snaggy Tolt from the mouth at McDonald Park on the Snoqualmie River upstream beyond the road end. By far the best steelheading is in lower six miles. From the center of Carnation, a road runs east along the river, touching several roadside access points and a WDFW access.

A path runs along the river near the bridge in Carnation and provides access to several decent stretches of holding water.

10. RAGING RIVER
The Raging is a small, fast-flowing winter steelhead stream that heads near Highway 18, and rumbles west under Intestate 90 through the community of Preston. Then it turns north for four miles along the winding Preston-Fall City Road to enter Snoqualmie River at a large WDFW fishing- and boat-access site in Fall City.

When it rains, this small stream is an ace in the hole because it clears quickly and is often fishable when larger rivers flood. But it’s snaggy, so bring lots of tackle. The best steelheading is between Preston and Fall City. And for next year, remember that December is the hot month.

11. TOKUL CREEK
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fish in a steelhead hatchery, this is where you find out. The creek — narrow, fast and rocky — is the outlet between the Snoqualmie River and the WDFW steelhead hatchery feeding the Snoqualmie River. The stream is off Highway 202 between Fall City and Snoqualmie Falls.

January is always the hot month, but there are plenty of steelhead available in December and February.

Anglers yank up to 500 steelhead a year from this little water. When the run is in, bring elbow pads and a rock to stand on.