The floods of November 2007 caused some severe damage to the stream, leaving more large woody debris in the river than there used to be.

Grays River
This small river empties into Grays Bay in the lower Columbia River. The main stem is a slow meandering stream, but the upper reaches are fairly high gradient, as is the West Fork where the hatchery is located.

About 40,000 early-arriving hatchery fish are planted into the West Fork, and there is a lot of public access near the hatchery.

A few locals target the hatchery run, and the hatchery area can sometimes get busy. However, anglers willing to hike down or up from the hatchery can find plenty of holes with no competition. Look for the hatchery run to peter out in late January.

The wild run of winter steelhead returning to the Grays is usually very strong. Unlike the hatchery return, the wild segment of the run rarely gets targeted. Returning adults can number from about 400 to 1,000 each year.

This is a result of the excellent steelhead spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Grays and its tributaries. The last few years have been pretty good, and this winter will likely be another fine season for steelheaders.

The best place to take the bigger wild steelhead is below the Highway 4 Bridge. The river is closed from the State Highway 4 Bridge until Dec. 15, and the river closes to steelheading on March 16.

Coweeman River
This stream is a tributary of the Cowlitz River. Its confluence with the Cowlitz is at Kelso. The Coweeman receives about 15,000 to 20,000 winter steelhead smolts each year.

According to Joe Hymer of the WDFW, the river gets a strong run of wild steelhead as well. "The problem with the Coweeman is that there is very little public access," he said.

A couple of bridges cross the river, and there's a small hatchery at Beaver Creek. But aside from that, it's mostly private lands.

The wild run peaks in March, and the river closes to steelheading on March 16. The river is closed to winter steelhead angling above Mulholland Creek.

OLYMPIC PENINSULA
The Olympic Peninsula offers some of the finest winter steelheading in the Evergreen State. Most anglers target the better-known larger streams, but the area is simply laced with small rivers and creeks with excellent fishing for hatchery as well as native steelhead.

These smaller rivers also produce giant wild steelhead, just as the bigger rivers do.

Salmon and steelhead guide Mike Zavadlov has fished many of these excellent streams, and he explains that timing is important.

"These are the first rivers to come back into condition after heavy rains," said Zavadlov. "They also fish better when they are high. Once they drop to lower flows, it's time to switch to the bigger rivers."

He also notes that most of these rivers are not easy to reach: "You have to be ready to do some bushwhacking to get to some of them," he said.

The rewards are often worth it. The fish are really aggressive because they don't see many fishermen.

These creeks have a tannic color to them, and during winter, they tend to run high and dirty, which can also help keep the fish aggressive.

Like most guides, Zavadlov does not take clients to these small creeks, but seeks them out when he wants a little fun for himself. Besides, the remote nature of many of them means that accessing them may be more work than most of his clients are willing to take on.