Guide Gary Lewis and Washington-Oregon Game & Fish editor John Geiger drift the North Umpqua. Drift-anglers can cover more water more quickly than wading fishermen. Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

Some of Oregon's most productive hatchery holes are at the North Fork Nehalem fish hatchery, the mouth of Three Rivers on the Nestucca and at the mouth of Cedar Creek on the Sandy.

2) Parks
Where can bank-fishermen get access on some of the more popular rivers? State and county parks offer this kind of access.

On the Siletz, there's Moonshine Park. On the Sandy, there's Oxbow County Park, and the Clackamas has Milo McIver State Park.

These parks are on sections of river that offer large areas of access for the bank-fishermen. They're most productive during low-water conditions when there will be fewer boats fishing the water -- if there's enough water to drift at all. Also, because fish will be concentrated, there will be less area for you to cover.

Drift-fishing is the most popular technique at Moonshine. At Oxbow, drift-fishing and plunking are used the most. But if you can get away from other people, a sideplaner and plug can work well, too.

Depending on water flows, bobber-and-jigs and drift-fishing are most popular at McIver.

There's good access at these spots on these very popular rivers. But for the bank angler who wants to get out and work for some fish, there's much more out there.

3) Small Streams
Fishing small streams is my all-time favorite way of catching steelhead. Even when I'm full-swing into a season of guiding anglers five days a week, I rarely pass up the chance to fish a small stream on my day off.

Smaller streams are a lot easier to cover on foot. The smaller, the better. And their size makes it easy to cover an entire hole in just a few casts.

Expect to bust some brush, climb over logs and wade back and forth across the river. But all that work is worth it. You may not see more than a few anglers all day.

I like to hike several miles of river and hit all the likely spots with a few casts. If you're fishing with a partner, you can even drop off vehicles at a lower point and an upper point.

You can then fish from Point A to Point B, much as a drift-boater would float from one ramp to the next.

This is where reading water is of utmost importance. Learn to recognize were the fish should be, and then determine the correct technique for hooking one. Float-fishing or drift-fishing? If the current is too fast for the float, use drift gear.

When I approach a hole, I like to start my first casts in the tail-out and then work my way to the head.

If I hook my first fish is in the top end of the hole, it may spook any other fish down in the tail-out.

My preferred method is float-fishing. Years ago, before I started using floats, I actually gave up on some rivers because after snagging up, I spent more time re-tying than I did fishing.

Float-fishing changed all that. A float not only keeps your gear just above a grabby bottom, but it allows you to work seams and pockets not otherwise accessible to drift gear.

I use foam "dink" style floats or Thill Turbo Masters. To use under the Turbo Master, I'll carry a variety of jigs in pink-and-white, cerise, pink-and-purple and orange-and-white. I also use 4-inch pink worms or bait under the dink float.

When I'm using bait, eggs are always my first choice. Sand shrimp, night crawlers and tiger prawn meat are also effective. I found that sometimes, adding a small piece of prawn meat to a jig can entice a bite in extremely cold water.