Bob,

 

I defiantly think it's worth the 30 mile trip, spring or fall. In spring just the steelhead run but in fall the Chinook (king) salmon, brown trout, steel head and coho all run (not all at once but some run's do overlap). We usually start steelhead fishing in the spring around April/may depending when the ice breaks up in certain key spots. It's defiantly not easy fishing though since it's usually so cold your line and pole freeze up. Waders are (in my opinion) required for both spring and fall. I personally don't use a spin reel very often, we use fly rods. Others who use spin reels usually do pretty good with fresh spawn and a bobber but be prepared to snag about a million rocks and lose a dozen bobbers because you really have to drag the bottom.

The worst part of the spawn is fighting the crowds for good spots.

 

The Pike is also nice if you know the good spots, I personally prefer the Root since I live 4 minutes from it and the Root is much wider than the Pike. Every time I go to the Pike I spend my day pulling my flies out of trees instead of out of fish.