Hey Guys,
Found the site a couple of weeks ago and thought that it was time for my first post. It is nice to find a post that has so much eastern Washington content. I am the member of some other sites like this one, that are dedicated to BC fishing and another that is all westside. The one thing that I would say is that a post like this has a lot of potental...the board that I read for BC fishing has a about 15 to 20 guys who are actively posting along with the 1 timers. Even with that small a group it ends up being a pretty good gauge of what is going on out on the rivers. So keep it up and I will try and do the same. So on to my questios, Steelhead on the Touchet. First off I am wondering there is anyone out there that fishes it for steelies and could give me an idea on timing for this river? And second does anyone fish the river down stream on Prescott? I am hoping that there is someone there that can give some advise on where to start and places to focus on.

I can give you some information on the Touchet River around Dayton, WA. I fish this river yearly. You might also do a search on Touchet River from this site and you will see some history.

I am not sure how you fish. I fish the Touchet River with my fly rod. I am usually fishing this river in February and March. I have tried from time to time during December and January, but have been unsuccesful.

I have never caught anything of size on the Touchet, however, fishing with a fly rod makes thing more interesting. The range for size I have seen on the Touchet would be 22 - 24". The Touchet runs fairly fast during this time frame. If you are using a fly rod, make sure you use a sink line or a line with a sink tip.

I am not an expert by any means. If anyone else has anything to offer, please do so.

Also, if you are heading up that far, you might also try the Tucannon.

I have searched the site and did see some of your posts from years back. I have fishing this river for trout several times up near dayton but I have never fished it for steelies. So not much until Feb huh... hard to wait that long, so are you fishing some where between now and then? My prefered method currently is jigs under a float but I would like to learn to fly fish for steelies some time... it is just hard to switch to a method that I am not sure of, when I have a method that I am comfortable with. So the size of the fish tend to be on the small size huh. Do you have any idea why that would be, the hatcheries there are the same strain as the tocannon right and the natives there can get into the 30+ class. The size is similar maybe even a little more water than the tocannon, so I would think the fish could get as big???

I don't have any idea on why they seem to be the smaller length. It could be where I am fishing or the waters I am targeting. If I had the extra time for fishing right now, I would be hitting the mouth of the Tucannon.

I am going to be heading out this Fri am to the walla walla. I am a novice at best when fishing for steelhead, and will be working hard at mastering the jig and float this year. This is only my second year trying, and last year I mainly used spinners with a little success and not much time on the water. I am going to try and spend more time fishing for steelhead this year. I will let everyone know what I find out this friday.

Dev88T

The walla walla will be a good bet right now. There have been quite a few fish caught in the last couple of weeks. As far as the touchet goes there may be a few fish up to touchet bet not many. If we ge another hard rain they will be in there but how high I couldn't tell you. They ussually don't get to prescott until late december. Good luck and let us know how you do.

I've fished the Touchet for steelhead lots of times, but never scored. I've never spent a whole day there; usually just cherry-picking a couple of spots on my way to and from somewhere else. It's a long, long river, so the fish will get pretty spread out. That's why feb/march is the best bet 'cause most of the fish have arrived up stream so they are a little more concentrated.

The Tucannon, Walla Walla, and Touchet are often considered as the same evolutionary significant unit with regard to steelhead, so the fish are indeed similar in size. The Touchet, just like the Tuc and W.W., will get the occasional 28-30" steelhead, but they are the exception, not the norm. I've heard plenty about 30" natives on the Tucannon (I've even seen one or two) but so far, I've never caught a steelhead over 25" on the Tucannon, and I've probably landed a dozen--same goes for the Walla Walla. Every once in awhile, those three streams will get a larger proportion of 2-salt fish, and then you can expect a better chance of the bigg'uns.

I think Glock is right about the steelhead season being a spring event on the Touchet. By the time the run hits the mouth of the Touchet (right about now) the water temps drop and the fish just tend to stall for the winter. Yes--a few will trickle in all winter, but never in appreciable numbers. Once the temps start rising in the spring, the steelhead shoot upstream and will start holding in the upper river waiting out the big ol' spawning party (fish orgy).

Good luck,