newbie to river fishing

[rvrfshr]

But what about landing plenty of coho while fishing for 12 lb. chinooks y.g.? 

Take a look at Cabelas Fish Eagle 2, 10' rated 8-15 for $79.

[Fast- eddy]

As Joe mentioned, the Fish Eagle 2 is hard to beat especially if you purchase the combo with a reel. No matter what anyone say,it seems like eventually we all buy several rods and reels Always seems to be one more that you need Good luck on the new Hobie/Addiction..........

[Chum Man]

i'll third that, my dad's had one of the 10' 8-15 FEII spinning rods for several years and it's held up very well to his abuse.  not a bad rod at full retail, even better when they go on sale for $40 from time to time!

bassandgrass -- those rivers you listed are what i consider my "home water" these days.  i'm assuming you're somewhere between olympia and montesano?  those rivers are all fairly fertile steelhead streams, so if you put your time into learning some areas of them, you should be able to scratch some fish out of there this season.

[bassandgrass]

Codfather,
Excuse my ignorance but are those line weights you suggested for different fish the main line or the leader weights?

Chum man - you assume correctly, Elma. What about Cloquallum creek, are there steelies in there?

[Chum Man]

i'm sure there are fish in there, but i've never fished it and really have no idea what the access situation is(probably a lot of private land there)

[BigCohoTom]

B&G:  If you're gonna fish the Nooch, Satsop, and Lower Chehalis from a canoe, then I suggest you put some running lights on it.  Until just a few years ago, I used to fish those rivers before I lost my ol' fishin' buddy.  Those three cricks are now crowded with drift boats and jet sleds, so I quit fishin' them.  Now I only fish smaller creeks, like the Zipper-Lip.  Last year I never even saw a pontoon boat, let alone a drift boat or jet sled.  And last year was a good year for me !  The Cloquallum sounds like a good deal, but I'm not sure it's big enough to handle a canoe ?

[bassandgrass]

The cloquallum is definately not canoe water. But might be worth hiking.
thanks again everybody for your input!