Exploring new rivers... Elochoman?

Was looking at making the drive over this Saturday night with my boss from Yakima and spending Sunday listening to the Hawks on the radio and doing some bank fishing.

Anything going on?
Anybody here fish this?

Looks like a little bit of rain may be in the forecast but Sunday it should fish. I recall reading about this stream years ago in a magazine and always wanted to fish it, so Im going to give it a go.

Any tips or advice you can throw my way would be great, just strung up my drift rod and bobber rod, may throw a spoon or two as well.

If anything it will be nice just to have a change of scenery for the day.

Oh, and any where to get an awesome steak or burger near by?

PM's welcome if you prefer. Cheers,

Thanks in advance,

Tyler

It used to be a great little river for salmon and steelhead, but with all the cut backs , its fair to poor closed one of the hatcheries, years back , and the other produces a few as well as coho... so its very hit and miss... I loved fishing it back in the 90s, not so much now... Good Luck

I wouldn't drive from Yakima to fish there. All those SW streams used to get really good returns of early winter hatchery steelhead. Not so much any more. Sorry.

Sg

That is an honest opinion. Damn, have so many great memories how it was in the late 80's. We jig n bobbered it in tide water before that method became popular. If no one fd the drifts up you could have 20 hookup days, no [Bleeeeep!]! Number reductions there, like everywhere else has made it but a glimmer of what it used to be. So sad.

Better look elsewhere. No fish there anymore.

Isnt that where Merg pioneered the art of twitching jigs?

pretty honest feedback here. sad state of affairs in most western Washington hatchery steelhead fisheries. they closed the upper hatchery and with it out went the steelheading experience, now it is a terminal fishery that is only hit and miss at best.
Good luck if you go.

not to mention the area is starting to look like the wynoochee valley, 5 acre lots and lots of new phony farms, many that aren't too happy with fishermen wading "their" river.

I made that trek from yakivegas back in the this river's heyday (late 80s). never hit it right. save the gas money and hit the naches or tieton. the result will be the same.