One favored destination is the Lewis River in Washington.

While not as well known as some other winter steelhead rivers, the Lewis is a great place to catch winter fish.

It's also one of the few rivers left that gets those early winter fish.

They begin showing up in good numbers in early November, and by Thanksgiving, the fishing can be great.

Just ask the locals, and they'll tell you just how productive this river can be.

Mama said

Terry Otto with a typical early-run winter steelhead taken from the Lewis River.

Of course, Mother Nature has a say in such matters, and last year she frowned on some of the Washington rivers in the lower Columbia.

According to Lisa McKannay, fish culturist at the Lewis River Hatchery, last year's collection of winter fish at the hatchery was only about 1,500.

Fish managers in Washington were puzzled over the poor returns last year, and McKannay notes that one of their objectives is to beef up the runs in future years.

Local anglers are hoping for a return to the kind of runs the river had during the winter of 2001-2002, when fishermen enjoyed good flows and lots of fish.

The fish also arrived early that year, coming in on the tail of the late coho run in early November.

Fall rains lifted the river early that year, and that may be key to this year's run as well.

In fact, local anglers had already caught a few winter fish as early as late October.

McKannay also notes that that river levels in the Lewis will be rising soon, whether the rains come or not.

"They'll start raising the river in order to draw down Merwin and Yale Reservoirs, to make room for winter rains," she said.

McKannay also points out that a healthy run of late coho is still waiting for the river to lift.

Those fish should arrive with the higher water, and the year's first winter steelhead should come in with them.

Anglers who target the river in November may find some bright, bonus coho in the mix.

Most Lewis River hatchery steelhead weigh in at about 8 to 10 pounds. However, fish to 15 pounds are not too uncommon.

They'll stay bright through December, but in January many will start to turn dark. By that time the wild fish will be showing up.

Those native fish will run really big, up to 20 pounds.

Prime water

Most of the best water for winter steelhead is located between Merwin Dam and the Lewis River Hatchery for those who target steelhead with drift boats.

The drift from the dam to the hatchery is about 4 miles. Anglers catch these fish using a variety of methods.

Drifting bait works well, especially when the steelhead have just come in.

Sand shrimp is hard to beat, and salmon roe works well too. Other effective methods are jig-and-bobber and pulling plugs.

FlatFish and Brad's Wigglers take a lot of fish, especially the smaller sizes. Good colors include red, orange and bubble gum.

The same colors work well for jigs.

The Fishermen's Depot (360-225-9900) in Woodland carries a wide assortment of jigs with strong hooks, an absolute must if you are going to land these big, fresh winters.

Level headed

Water levels are the key to fishing the Lewis River. High flows will drive the fish towards the bank, and low flows will leave them out in the middle.

If we have a typical winter with lots of rain and the river stays high, bank anglers will clobber the fish at the hatchery.

It's really about the only place to fish from the bank in a typical wet year.

When flows are above 5,000 cfs, look to the stretch below the hatchery intake to get really hot.

There's a long gravel bank that stretches below the intake, and you can see the steelhead moving through in schools. Drifting bait is very effective here.

Sand shrimp and eggs are the best.

Tip the shrimp with a pink, red or orange cheater. Another method that is becoming increasingly popular is a jig-and-bobber.

This works well in the areas where the flow is a little slower.

Plunkers also take a lot of fish here, by tipping a small Spin-N-Glo with sand shrimp or eggs.

The important thing to remember is that these fish will be in close — really close.

If you're fishing farther than a half-cast out, you aren't going to catch fish.

If the winter is a dry one, than it's time to fish deeper. There's a long glide just above the intake area, next to the hatchery ponds.

If the river is running at 3,000 cfs or lower, it's a very productive area. Once again, drifting bait is very effective.

This stretch is also a great area to throw hardware. Although the standards work well, such as Blue Fox Vibrax in sizes three or four, spoons can be very good.

Try a green or blue Stee-Lee, and expect some vicious strikes.

Another good place to fish in low-water years is the deadline at the Merwin Dam.

This is very good water for drifting, and there's some perfect water for fishing with a jig-and-bobber.

However, if the river is running over 4,000 cfs, this can be a difficult area to fish. Anglers who plunk will do better in the high water.

Some local fishermen like to target a riffle just across from The Fishermen's Depot right in Woodland.

However, this is also a good spot during low flows, but tough to fish when the water gets high.

The big bruisers

With the arrival of January, the big wild steelhead will enter the river.

These are the big boys, typically running from 10 to 12 pounds, with a lot of fish coming in bigger than that.

They don't tend to school up like the hatchery fish, but they can be caught in the same areas.

These fish seem to have less of a taste for bait than their hatchery brethren, so a good way to target them is by drifting yarn tipped with red or pink corkies.

The wild fish also seem to like hardware, and hit the same patterns mentioned above.

Expect some competition once the steelhead really move in, and the late run of coho also draws a lot of people.

To escape the crowds, try a little night fishing. The fish are fickle at night, but sometimes the bite is very good.

Fluorescent Corkies are the ticket then, and they work even better when tipped with a sand shrimp.

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