Hey, Wit, do they have steelhead on the East Side? I didn't even know there were rivers there! :-)
*LOL*
I would guess the directions would still work, though you may have to substitute dirt roads for the highway, Ponderosa Pines for the Douglas Firs, or maybe corn stalks, and follow the cow trails, especially those with cow pies. (Remember, though, they're only hard on the outside).
I haven't done any research on the upstream/downstream distinction, but I feel confident that fishing behind rocks is always more productive than fishing in front of them, unless pulling plugs in a boat. In Eastern WA, it probably doesn't matter much because if you go upstream, you'll hit a dam within ten minutes, and if you go downstream, you'll run into a lake and catch walleyes. You'll have to experiment.
Good Luck!