Quick, before it freezes, get out on the Okanogan River and give it a shot for steelhead. Just like the other rivers in our region the Okanogan is loaded with steelhead this year, and on the Okanogan they are all hatchery fish. The Okanogan is slow flowing stream, so it is usually the first one to freeze each winter, and anglers can’t get back at the fish until the ice breaks up in late February or March. This is an ideal time to be on the Okanogan, and I have had some good reports on the fishing up there. One of the more popular spots is around the bridges right in the town of Omak. There is another place to fish from the bank at the south edge of town, too. Floating the river from the Stampede Grounds to the take out in town of Okanogan will give anglers a tremendous amount of water to fish. I did this last year with Shane Magnuson and one of his clients and we had a blast. At the bottom end, I have taken fish trolling plugs up steam at the mouth where it enters the Columbia, and drifting bobbers through the same stretch.