WSFR Rivers Reports (Skagit) - http://www.nwfishing.com

	-Thanks to Kim Olson for the photo



	A nice overview is needed, please submit one here. Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates at Newhalem from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates and water levels at various locations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates at Marblemount from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of height at Rockport from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of flow and height at Concrete from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of flow and height at Mt. Vernon from the USGS

	Mar. 4, 2000 Thanks to: Karl Brethauer Started out a bit late, at 9am we had the chrome and blue Hot Shots swimming below the drift boat. We were working the far shore from Howard Miller Steelhead Park when the left rod took a dive. A 10lb. native, not a bright fish but a nice one and better luck than we had for the rest of the day, just dollies. Mar. 4, 2000 Thanks to: Craig Barnhouse Not much happened. Beautiful day with lots of visibilty. We were up past Marblemount a few miles with no action at all. Tried spinners, bait, etc. with no luck (each of us had a bite or two). We were up there for about three hours. The day before I was at Baker River and had a few good hits using Blue Fox, but nothing landed. Feb. 27, 2000 Thanks to: josh mancinelli Well fishin' up at train tracks in Burlington--not to much goin' on down there, but I ended up catchin' a 24-inch native. I was using shrimp and winged bobber with blue/yellow colors. Other than that, not much out there. Feb. 19, 2000 Thanks to: chris ringlee Drifted the upper Skagit from Marblemont to Howard Miller Steelhead Park with Rob Endsley. We hoked four steelhead on plugs and lost them all. Darn single barbless hooks. Caught some dollies about 20 inches. It was a beautiful day and there are plenty of fish in the river but you sure have to work hard for them. Jan. 31, 2000 Thanks to: John Koenig Fishing's been tough guys no question about it. I have been getting a few here and there though on both the Sauk and Skagit. Today, 2 steelies, one hatchery brat around 6 pounds and one nate close to 14 pounds. Also caught one silver, yes, I said silver, and 3 dollies. River is low and clear right now with water temps staying around 38-39 degrees. This is a dollie slam fest year!! I have a couple of openings left the next couple of weeks if anyone is interested. For daily fishing updates or to book a trip check our web-site out and give us a ring. http://home.earthlink.net/~johnsguideservice Jan. 28, 2000 Thanks to: jay adams [We] put in at Hamilton at 9:30, ran up about a mile, just below Rasar Park. Fished till 12:30, no luck. Pulled anchor and drifted down to just above the island. First drift through, my dad hooked a big head: 18-lb. buck. He had been in the river a while. No more fish that day, or the next two. Jan. 22-23, 2000 Thanks to: Kerry Stratton Fished several section of the river both Saturday & Sunday. No steelhead but pick up one varmit at Swift Creek about 187quot; using a blue & black GP. Jan. 22, 2000 Thanks to: jay adams About 10 o'clock caught a 7-lb. hatchery hen just above Fabers. Fished till 1 o'clock, no more fish. Saw two others caught, both hatchery fish. Also heard of three others caught just above Rockport. Jan. 19, 2000 Thanks to: Michael Mills I didn't catch anything but, I spent couple hours on the river. Samish/Skagit/Sauk - Jan. 18, 2000 Thanks to: Frank Cavender Went lookin' fer steelhead. Tried the Samish below old 99 for about 2 hours. Not a single bite. Talked to an old guy who caught 1 yesterday on a yellow & orange corkie. Drove up 20 to Howard Miller Steelhead park on the Skagit and tried there for a couple of minutes. Heard of 2 caught that morning but no luck. Decided to go up on the Sauk and try there. Hit my favorite spot just above Govt. bridge about 4:30. Tried drifting shrimp and an orange corkie for a while but no luck. About 5:00 I switched over to a chartreuse steelie spoon and bang! second cast I hit a fat Dolly 23" long. Second Dolly I've hit there in the last week. Where are the steelhead? The only one I've seen caught was on Pilchuck Creek last Saturday. It was the most beautiful fish I've ever seen. A BIG native fish over 20 lbs. Right under I-5. It was caught on an orange corkie with orange yarn and a small sandshrimp. All I'm getting there is some big cutthroats from about 12 to 24". Nice fish but not the Steelhead I'm lookin' for. Guess I'll try again tomorrow. Jan. 14, 2000 Thanks to: Ryan Lindsay After school my little brother (16) and I went steelhead fishing at the public boat launch by the R.V. lot in Sedro-Woolley. The river was in good condition with three to five feet of visibility and a slight milk/green color. We saw several boaters but didn't see anything get caught. We fished from the shore using a variety of lures such as: Gold Panther Martins, spoons and corkies w/yarn. I caught 1 small trout on a rainbow corkie with red and orange yarn. My brother caught a 16" rainbow on a small gold spinner. We decided to leave about 4:10 due to work. As always we proceded to take our "last cast". I used a 3/8 oz. "fire tiger" daredevil and casted slightly upstream. As it slowly bounced along the bottom I felt a slight tap. I promptly set the hook and the fight was on. At first we thought it may have been a spawning salmon but our hopes quickly rose when we saw a flash of silver. Once landed we realized it was a Dolly Varden. It weighed just over 5 pound and was 25" long. A great way to end the day. Especially after having recieved my acceptance letter to the U.W. today. Skagit/Sauk - Jan. 11, 2000 Thanks to: John Koenig ( John's Guide Service ) Well guys, I wish I had some really good news to report, but I don't. The Sauk and Skagit both have been in Primo condition for fishing, but the fish just aren't showing up in any fishable numbers. Normally I should be hitting 6 to 8 fish a day for my clients right now, but as is I'm only picking up a couple of fish a day. One suprising bit of news is that a lot of the steelies I've been getting have been 'nates. Caught and released of course. Word is right now that they may be shutting down the Cascade until the fish show up, we'll see. Word was last week that they might shut down the Skagit system. I checked up on that one and was told that the Tulalips had their best week of netting last week and that the fish were on their way, so no river closure. Well I'm on the river just about every day trying to find these fish and look forward to reporting back in with everyone that the fish are finally in, until then for daily reports on my progress check our site out at: http://home.earthlink.net/~johnsguideservice/ Jan. 6 and 8, 2000 Thanks to: Rob Markich Well the Skagit is dead slow. We fished hard on the sixth and didn't hear or feel one fish. Rumors are that there just isn't any hatchery fish in the Skagit this year. Barnaby Slough has not gotten one fish up in the pond and rumor is that no one has gotten a fish off the bank there yet. Also there is talk that the Cascade River may close from the bridge down to protect what fish are in the river. So far only five fish are in the hatchery. Being a gluten for punishment we went back up on the Skagit on the eighth and fished again. Lots of boat pressure and we heard of a possible fish caught a few miles below the mix master. All in all pretty dismal. We did hook one fish on the Nooksack on the seventh but unfortunately it turned out to be a native buck. Nice to see a native in the river this early but it sure doesn't do much for putting fish on the table. So..........three trips, fishing hard from a boat and not so good results :( Dec. 23, 1999 Thanks to: Wayne West I have fished the Skagit almost every day this month and the word is "Poor". We have had high water and a lot of off colored water this month but no fish. So far 2 steelhead caught, a couple late dogs and several dollies. Not good for the hours put in. All this is on the lower river. I heard of a few fish caught on the Sauk Bar upriver which is in better shape. Dec. 5, 1999 Thanks to: John Koenig/John's Guide Service Hi guys, guided single boat trip yesterday. Floated Marblemount to Rockport. Steelhead are beginning to trickle in now, lots of spawning Chum, and some really nice sized Dollies hanging around slow water areas and Chum spawning grounds. (lots in the 20" + range) Todays catch: (Boated) 5 Chum , 2 Dollies 20" +, and 1 Hatchery Steelhead (Chromer pushing 14 lbs.) Lost many Chum (10+), Dollies & maybe a couple of Steelies, never saw the fish. Gear used: All Chum & Steelie were caught on Chartreuse billed "Mag Wart", Dollies and other take-downs were on Bait diver and eggs. Remember guys this was a single boat trip (1 client),and a beginner at that. Probably could have done lots better with two anglers in the boat. So, for all you guys wondering where the fish are and when they're coming. They're Coming in now!! Talked to some bank anglers and other boaters this weekend: 5 other Steelies caught by boaters 3 of which were caught below the Dalles bridge. 1 Steelie caught from the bank up by Swift Creek. (Lots of fuzzie Chums and a very few not so fuzzie ones caught by both Bankies & Boaters). For any information on the Skagit or the Sauk (river levels or conditions & fish moving in), or for info on a Guided trip E-Mail me at johnsguidesvc@hotmail.com. Sorry guys, no Web page yet (working on it) I'm new to computers, one of those hunt & peck typers. Oct. 3, 1999 Thanks to Eric Ford: The state fisheries department decided that their were not "enough" Humpies in the run to open it to sports fisherman. I went down to my favorite spoe on Oct. 3rd to fish for Silver Salmon that opened on the 1st. I didn't catch any silvers in the two hours I was there, But I did catch and release six humpies. The day before I caught five Humpies in the same amount of time. This run of fish is huge, normally by this time of the humpy season, we are at the tail end of the run, but not this time. I don't know how the State counts the fish, and decides if there is enough fish, but they had better use a calculator next time. I am very dissapointed in the closure. Aug. 18, 1999 Thanks to: Jerry Ferro Well I drove up to the Skagit to see if any fish were rolling and boy were they. I decided to pull out wy plunkig rod and see if they would bite, at the end of the evening I had released about 10 pinks and lost what probably was a big king. They seemed to favor a chartreuse spin and glo on a #2 gamakatsu hook with a whole sand shrimp, I fished across from Lyons park with a small crowd. Saw a few really nice cutthroat no one believed you could keep the wild ones so I had to pull the old regs book out. The F&G dept said they are going to decide on a season for the Skagit on the 25th, let's keep our fingers crossed. They may also open a small season on Cornett Bay behind Deception Pass acording to a Federal fish checker I spoke with. Mar. 10, 1999 Thanks to: D. Craig Fished up above Rockport. River was very clear. Hooked into a beautiful 13lb. buck that took me on a tour of the river. After introducing myself, I set him loose. 2nd fish in 2 days in upper river, the first being a 19 pound hen, both having a taste for Marabou. Gotta love it. Feb. 18, 1999 Thanks to: Darrell, Jake, Michael We floated the Skagit from Sutter to Favors pulling plugs. The river was clear until we reached the Sauk. Then it had color in it. We had no take-downs, not even a single dolly. We talked to some other guys and they said the same thing. Jan. 3, 1999 Thanks to: Charlie Malmgren Got up to the Sauk/Suiattle confluence at the crack of noon and started working Marabou's. Nobody home. Worked three other runs from the East bank with similar lack of success, though we saw a Spey Rodder walk out with a small hatchery Steelhead. Moved on to the Skagit about 3pm, and worked the head of a large pool (just above Swift creek) and picked up a couple of nice Dollies. Visibility on the Sauk below the Suiattle was about 3', and unlimited on the Skagit. Dec. 12, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller Rockport to Fabers was not an option with all the rain. We ended up at Rockport to drop a rig and still did not know what float we should do. After watching three boats head to Marblemount it was obvious we were going to Rocky Creek. My old fishing partner was off of six month groundation from his wife. It was time to get him and his 15 year-old boy into fish. We launched and I rowed all the way across the river. I gave out plug rods and we started the stay warm game. Let out the rods and fire up the heater. Fifteen minutes later the left rod with the Metalic Pink Tadpolly was slammed. It ended up being the nicest Chum I've seen that far upriver. This fish was bright. 31" X 16" Est. at 10.24 lbs. Ben was able to net his first fish. We continued to pull plugs in the same run when that pink Tadpolly was ripped down again and to my surprise Paul was hooked up with a nice steelhead that ended up 31.5" X 14.5" Hatchery fish Est. at 8.54 lbs. Paul ended up with two nice fish. His boy Ben learned the art of netting hot fish in a drift boat. I was able to stay wet all day and freeze my twinkies off. How's that for karma! Dec. 5, 1998 Thanks to: Liam Wood Fished the Skagit above the Big-Bend pool for hatchery fish. I must've walked miles and miles of riverbank. I fished so many different pools, i can't remember them all. Somewhere above big-bend and downstream from Marblemount I had a tremendous take. Ten minutes later a ten pound, chrome bright fish was landed and released. I hooked it on a purple/pink Marabou Spider fished on a slow sinking sink-tip. Looks like the fish are finally coming in! Dec. 4, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Fished from Marblemount down to Sutter creek today. There are lots of chums in the river still. But they are turning ugly now with just a few worth keeping. I'd give it just about five more days max before switching gear for hatchery steelhead all the way. There was snow on the side of the roads so be carefull driving in the morning. It's starting to get icy! Now is the perfect time to get these great fighting fish on a fly. A pink comet with an orange body worked awesome today. Try not to walk on the redds if you can help it they're everywhere! Good fishing!! (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter Nov. 29, 1998 Thanks to: James Parkinson The Howard Miller steelhead park was very hot for chums. A buddy and I went up there and had a blast. I hooked two but lost them. The chums were very thick. They were jumping quite a bit. We heard some information that the chums are everywhere from Rockport up to the hatchery. Exit 100 to 101 are well-known hot spots for the chums. I have heard from quite a few people that the steelhead are hitting very well on the upper river as well. Sept. 12, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller I floated from Marblemount to Sutter creek with two Redmond firefighters, Kevin Meek and Jeff Alfono. We floated to the little eddie and Jeff tied into a nice silver of about 4 lbs. In the big eddie Jeff hooked a Dolly that was 16". Both fish were released. The day slowed down until we showed up at the big bend hole right along highway 20. I hooked a nice hatchery steelhead of five pounds on a double hook set up with a sherbert corkie between the hooks, topped with sandshrimp. I was ready to leave but Kevin tied on a chrome and blue #3 vibrax and wanted a few minutes in the hole. Wham! He hooked and released a native steelhead that was also 5 lbs. We pulled anchor and sent the plugs down along the wall when the bait diver went down so hard I thought the rod would break. The line would not stop running off the reel. Kevin finally got the rod out of the rod holder and no one was home. What a take down! That was absolutely the coolest take down I have ever seen in 10 years on the river. Sept. 5, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller Two Driftboats and a firestorm. We put in at Marblemount with smoke all through the valley, planes and helicopters overhead. This day would be truly different. Two dollies in the first hole and nothing more for us. My uncle Jerry and his daughter showed us how to fish. After losing a hot silver, they caught and released a king that was 35" x 23" est. weight 23.8 lbs on a gold, black, and orange wiggle wart. Five min. later a nice silver was also caught and released. We moved down the river and saw a boy 9 years old that was stranded on an island. His buddies left him. We put him in the boat and rowed him back to his parents who were drunk and had no idea what was going on. Carma was good the next hole I hit a nice hatchery steelhead 30" x 14" est. at 7.5 lbs. Jerry caught up to us he was holding a nice hatchery steelhead of 6.8 lbs. Yes the man from Texas hooked a small king on a chrome and blue spinner #3 tipped with sandshrimp tail. On my 9' St. Croix spinning rod. That was fun to watch. A roll of film later our day was over. Fire, smoke, and some fish. Along with a boy who will not be on the news at 11:00. August 24, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller Ray Coffell, Dave Thompson, and myself floated from Marblemount to Sutter creek. Dave has never river fished before so this would make for a interesting day. We floated to the big eddie and saw a Hyde driftboat backbouncing quickfish. They hooked and released a nice king of about 25-lbs. I always figured this backbouncing to be taboo when the river is closed to king fishing. We moved across the river and tossed bait. Wham a nice unclipped silver was caught and released. Twenty min. later a king jumped all over my line. This hog was all of forty pounds, but after run after run my 12-lb. line was no match for his power. I retied and continued to fish. It was double time Dave and myself had two silvers of 4-5 lbs. on at the same time. We photographed these fish and released them. Will we ever have a season on clipped fish? You know we will not have a king fishery with all of the poaching and taboo fishing going on. What do you tell the new guy who just spent 30-40 dollars on tags, who fishes the right way and watches people fish any way they want? I can't believe the nuts on some of these people. They borrow a buddy's boat to backbounce quickfish right next to HWY 20 at 1:00p.m. Skagit River - August 22, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller My wife, myself, and Ray Coffell floated down from Marblemount to Sutter creek. We had a late start after dropping the kids off at Grandmas and Ray locking his keys in the truck at the take-out drop off. We floated to the little eddie and saw four boats and five bank anglers. One boat had a fish on and lost it at the boat. This hole was full. We continued down to the big eddie and saw two jetsleds and one drift boat along with two bank anglers. One of the sleds was our favorite boat WN 0706 RG. See the earlier report. Anyway, we made a little room and started to fish. We saw one jet sled hook and land three kings over thirty pounds and release all unharmed. We had some fun also. First was a silver of 4.5 pounds, then a 16" dolly, followed by a silver that was 28" long and 15.5" in girth. Doing the math it was figured to be 8.6 lbs. All the fish were on film and released unharmed.The river was very low and clear. It made for a wonderful day. The river gods smiled on everyone. P.S. We did see another king lost at the boat at the rocky creek hole. This was another nice fish over twenty anyway. July 19, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller My wife, Paul H., and myself floated from Marblemount to Sutter Creek. We dropped the kids off at grandma's in town then launched. We pulled up to the little eddy and watched a bank angler hook and release a nice spring king. This was to be Paul's first time rowing the river from launch to launch. We knew this was to be a good day. However, all good things must end. As we floated down to the next hole, I saw a bank angler leaving the hole and we already had a Jetsled with four guys fishing the hole. I told Paul to row over to the other side of the river to avoid the jetsled's water. Just then, a mad dash broke out, and all four guys jumped in the boat and raced across the river to the new vacant hole. No problem, we will fish their slop. After an hour, one of their rods went off and another nice king was landed. The party was over, one person ran up the hillside with a "nice sockeye". We left in disgust only to see three people left in the aluminum/blue Woolridge #WN 0706 RG. One poached fish for four can't be all bad! When will people learn? March 17, 1998 Thanks to Dennis Dickson for the following report: Fished the Skagit River today with a couple gentlemen from Seattle. I am still recovering from my week on the Gold River. Sauk is starting to get a little more pressure now, so we fished between fabers and concrete on the Skagit. The Skagit was up to a nice fishing height but the water is running 8 feet vis, even below the Sauk. We concentrated on pools with shade when we could. (Not easy on the Skagit) Water temp. at 2pm was 43 degrees, due to the cool nights. We fished rifflely heads and broken tailouts mostly. Ron found a nice hen fish about 9 pounds at first light on a black GP 1/0. No hesitation here, she just creamed it. Ron is not what you would call a "runner" but he was running now, trying to catch up to his departing flyline. I brought the raft down. We didn't land her til we reached the next bar which took us out of the pool, but the boys were happy. Fished hard through the day with nary a pluck. We did find a big Dolly down below the Baker River. Word is, the fish are coming! Oh, I wrote a big article on the Gold River Flyfishing in my "Hows Fishing" section of my web site. If you think you might be heading over you might want to check it out. It is an amazing river system!! Strickly flyfishing at www.flyfishsteelhead.com March 6, 1998 Thanks to Rick Poor for the following report: Just as the week before, I found myself on the Skagit at first light. This week I decided it may produce better results to fish the lower river, (below the Sauk). I fished the first few hours of daylight on the fly using leach patterns then moving on to egg patterns, and at last resort some little stonies, no luck. I gave in and went back up to the truck and fetched up my noodle rod and some fat nasty eggsacks,(chartreuse). Wow! Hooked into a beauty of a beast on the second cast. He was a stud, weighed in at 11 lbs. Big bright native. I quickly released him in hopes of seeing him 3-5 pounds down the road again. For the remainder of the day I coudn't hook into another steelie. However there were a few dollies with my name on 'em. All and all a pretty fine day of fishing. My opinion: The fish are showing up but they're still yet down low. Best bet would be to stay below Concrete for a few more days. The river is in mint shape. Try a walk down to the river via Rasar State Park in the Birdsview area and head east about 200 yards. You can wade out comfortably to the deeper waters edge and be in great water. February 26, 1998 Thanks to Rick Poor for the following report: Not much action on the Skagit this day. I fished the river at Rocky Creek on the fly and later in the day I switched over to spinners and spoons. No luck at all. However I did spend the first light of the day up on the cascade river below the hatchery. I had one on but the big big big log jam claimed him. It seemed to be a pretty fair fish. I would put it at the 8-10lb bracket. It engulfed one of my custom purple perils. Good Luck and Good Fishing to all. Feb. 18, 1998 Thanks to Dennis Dickson for the following report: Both the Suiattle and the Sauk were running low and clear, not my favorite condition for chasing the early large native steelhead. They tend to move quickly into the heavier faster water until low light. We continued onto the Skagit where we had done well last week. The water was down about a foot, running gin clear above the Sauk. The Sauk gets the early fish so we would concentrate our fishing below its confluence. We started our fishing on a small pool Bill had hooked a fish that looked to be in the mid twenties, the week previous. Only a dolly came to the sparsely tied black marabou spey this time. We decided to move down to the mixer but a fly boy had just stepped in the water. I knew he was a local for the obvious detentification 1) double handed rod 2) a black dog, any breed will do, but it has to be black. We decided to drop down and fish some pools below fabers. I managed to release a nice male (34") in a pool I call the farm drift. I am particularly fond of this pool because I puts some of the holding rocks in it myself. This fish took a 1/0 black G.P. Caught a few more dollies in the tailouts. The day was dark and drizzley, water temp at 1pm was 42 degrees. Snow was just above us, and the river barge boys buzzed us all day. Dennis Dickson Flyfishing Guide www.flyfishsteelhead.com (360) 435-6499 Skagit Rivr - Feb 11, 1998 Thanks to Dennis Dickson for the following report: Fished the Skagit River today with angling client, Bill Jam. The gauge height is 17.5 water visibility above the Sauk was 12 feet, below the Sauk, 6 feet. Spent the day fishing steelhead pools below the Sauk. This tributary carryies 50% of the wild steelhead run. Six steelhead were taken in the lower Sauk last week. Reports are, they were all wild fish 15-20 pounds. Wild Dolly Varden lie in the same pools as the steelhead we fished. These are the large return spawners coming out of the Sauk tributaries. The population is building well. Important for two reasons. One, Dollies spawn in small, high mountain streams. They require stable waters with good spawning gravels. Their building populations means the Sauk drainage is recovering from the clear cut logging that has hurt this water shed some twenty years ago. Two, Dollies are finally getting their respect as a beautiful wild game fish. They do not jump much but they take the fly well and they are very strong, especially the large ones. We caught Dollies in every drift we fished. Smallest was 17", six were over 20" and two were 25". The presentation was the grease line swing on a 13' type 4 sinktip, 6' leader tapered to 8# maxima ultragreen. The fly is an injured smolt pattern a client apply named a couple years ago, "Cop Car". Our secret, Right? Bill also managed to raise the largest steelhead of his life, (which is saying a lot) but it came unbuttoned. It looked to be in the mid twenties. This was on the same fly. The snow line was just above us but the day was warm and pleasant. Look for the fishing to improve early this year if the Wildlife department keeps the "Wild Fish Release" in effect. With the advent of no major winter flooding the Sauk and Skagit rivers are fishing well. Should be another great season. http://www.flyfishsteelhead.com December 20, 1997 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: Fished the Skagit and seems almost like we had the river to ourselves. Floated from Sutter's Creek down to Rockport and didn't even see anyone fishing around Barnaby Creek. After a full day on the river we figured it out. We didn't touch a single Steelhead but did hook four Coho. Amazingly enough they weren't in that bad of shape. After fishing all day we talked to a local that told us fishing has been horrible so far this year. Last weekend there was lots of traffic on the river and only one fish caught. My friend that lives in Rockport, and has the advantage of going all the time, has yet to hook a fish. I'm really starting to think the hatchery Steelhead are going to follow the way the Coho came in this year. The Nooksack when it should have been hot in September didn't turn on till October and the Skagit turned out the same way. I wouldn't doubt it that the warmer ocean currents have the fish a little mixed up as to when to shot for the river. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so. September 17, 1997 Thanks to Liam wood for the following report: Where oh where have all the humpies gone? Ok, I'm kinda pissed now. Last year I limited out every day i fished the Skagit for pinks. This year I had one week of good fishing. I fished the river again on Wednesday and didn't touch a fish. I fished from Lyman down past Mt. Vernon, using Humpie Specials juiced with shrimp oil. I saw only three fish roll. I'm waiting for those chums now! They never let me down. September 14, 1997 Thanks to Liam wood for the following report: I fished the Skagit river near Burlington on sunday and found no fish in my favorite spot. What a dud run this year! Their were nets all over the river which made fishing difficult. I decided to move up river to the Lyman area. I walked the river for about an hour and saw about a dozen fish roll and hooked a small trout. The water by Lyman was clear and low, perfect for fly fishing. Maybe the water is too warm right now at the river mouths and in the sound? No one seems to be able to explain why the run is so small. September 7, 1997 Thanks to Liam Wood for the following report: I fished the Skagit just above Mt. Vernon on the seventh. My buddy and I fished from the south bank of the river at a drop off that usually produces fish. We saw numerous fish roll within a few feet of the shore. I guess the pinks are starting to come in! I managed to hook four fish and land three. All about 5-6 pounds. I used a Humpie Special jigged along the bottom right next to shore. Nobody but me seemed to hook any fish. I think it was because they were using bait and I also have a "secret" little spot where the fish seem to stack within about ten feet of the bank. The fishing looks good and I'll be there when the main run surges through the river! August 26, 1997 Thanks to RexTak@msn.com for the following report: Where, oh where, have all the pinks gone? After last week's encouraging signs that the pinks might have started coming into the rivers, I decided to make another scouting trip up to the Skagit River. This time I went further upriver, to Steelhead Park, to see if the pinks had moved upstream at all. On the way, I stopped in the Lyman area and saw that the Indians have placed some nets in the river. I also saw other fishermen, but saw no signs of fish. The weather was overcast and drizzly, with air temperatures in the mid-60's most of the day. Water temperature at Steelhead Park was a chilly 52 degrees, and at Lyman it was 55 degrees, or a couple of degrees colder than last week. Maybe the overcast skies would account for the lower temperatures? It seems to me that rain would warm up the water, but then again, maybe the rain increases the snow melt and brings down the water temperatures? Anyone have any ideas about that? The water level was noticeably lower than last week, for reasons unknown. We first fished a bar just below the Skagit-Sauk confluence. We saw no signs of fish, and after one pass I turned to my friend, John, and said "Let's go... there aren't any fish here." Of course, just to prove me wrong, a fish was tugging at my line at that moment. It turned out to be a very nice, chunky Dolly Varden about 17 inches in length. After releasing it, we moved downstream to the Mixer Bar. We fished the Mixer Bar quite thoroughly over a couple of hours, but had no bites and only saw three fish surface, but I think they were kings as they were way out in the middle of the river. My conclusion was that the pinks had not made it up to the upper portion of the Skagit. We then moved down to the Lyman area, but didn't see pinks surfacing like last week. Where did they go? My best guess is that they've moved back out to salt water. Maybe the colder water drove them back out? We didn't touch a fish in the Lyman area, although there were a few kings surfacing, and I think one pink was showing itself. I watched the Indians pull up one of their nets, and they only had one chum (yes, a chum!) and one pink, which confirmed my opinion that the pinks are not in, at least in numbers that would allow for good fishing. My friend on Port Susan (where the Stilly runs into Puget Sound) is also not seeing any fish in the salt water. Well, hopefully this rain will encourage the fish to come in, but I think I'll give it a week and a half before trying it again. August 23-24, 1997 Thanks to Steve Yoder for the following report: I fished the Skagit last weekend hard on both Saturday and Sunday. Only saw about five fish caught on Sat. and six on Sunday by anyone. Even the Indian nets were coming up empty or near empty. Should be soon though. There were two boats in my group and we had not even one bump. August 20, 1997 Thanks to RexTak@aol.com for the following report: I'm happy to report that a few pinks (humpies) have started to show up in the lower Skagit River. It seemed like the pinks should be coming in by now, even though I haven't heard of any good reports, so I decided to take a day off from work and conduct a scouting expedition. A friend who lives near Kayak Point, just south of the Stillaguamish River delta, told me that he started seeing some pinks rolling in Port Susan a few days ago, but they've all disappeared now. During the peak of the pink run, he sees them going by his place very near the shoreline. Maybe the warm water temperature is keeping the pinks deep? But the initial report encouraged me to go take a look and see if any of the Skagit pinks have shown up. The Skagit run is so much larger than the Stilly run that I figured some early birds would likely be in the river by now. A friend and I went up to the Lyman area of the Skagit (about 15 miles east of I-5), where I've had good luck before when the pinks are in the lower river. There are a few spots in that area that are friendly towards flycasting, if you don't have a boat, like me. Water temperature was a relatively warm 57 degrees, and I'd guesstimate that the air temperature fluctuated between the low to mid 70's. Morning thunderstorms gave way to a constant drizzle, but whether this rain will be enough of a freshet to bring in the fish is open to question. Of course, I don't know if pinks like a freshet to be encouraged to move in, like steelhead, but I would think it likely. Water color was normal for the Skagit, with moderate to poor visibility, definitely hindered by the inflow from the Sauk. Altogether, I think I saw about a dozen pinks surface or jump out of the water. I say, "I think," because there were also old kings and silvers jumping around as well. I saw one bank fisherman land a big old silver, and a guy in a boat hooked several old kings. My friend, Tom, had three pinks on and landed one of them (a male). It was the brightest, shiniest pink I've ever seen in any river, so it must have just come in quickly and hadn't had time to change colors or shape. Tom also landed a Dolly Varden. I had two pinks on, but lost both. It seemed to me that there were small pods of pinks coming in, as we'd see one or two surface, and maybe have a little action, and then nothing for a long period of time. Usual techniques didn't seem to work, probably due to the lack of fish concentration/population. But by using a sink tip line to get the fly down, Tom found that the pinks would take on the retrieve as we stripped in line. Maybe the pinks are so fresh that they still have the feeding instinct? Anyway, I hope that this pink run is just late and not a bust. Maybe higher river water levels due to increased snowmelt is affecting the run? Maybe the higher salt water temperatures is keeping the fish in the deeper salt water? Maybe we need a good rain to bring in the fish? As usual, I have more questions than answers, but the next week or two should clear up whether this will be a good run or not. By the way, I heard that the reason the pinks at Hoodsport come in so early was that apparently those fish are a different variety of pinks than the ones we normally run into. The hatchery wanted a strain of pinks that would come in early so as to not compete with the native runs. August 16, 1997 Thanks to Michael Thompson for the following report: I hit the Skagit on Humpy opener before sunrise. There were a lot of plunkers and boaters anticipating a great day on the river even though most of the fish were still far west in the Sound. Earlier reports that week indicated there were fish around and waiting to be taken on the opener. As the eastern sky began to lighten the river it became obvious that Saturday's opener would be a bust. The Skagit was running a concrete gray with 1-2 inches of visibility. After a few futile hours I took out and drove around to the various holes on the river. I talked with dozens of fishermen and no one had taken a fish, in fact only one boat had spotted a fish, that's how bad it was. But never fear with cooling weather and the fish moving in we will soon be catching our limits on the Skagit. July 26, 1997 Thanks to Rex for the following report: Seeing how the Stilly was not fishable for the most part, I decided to drive up to the Skagit and see what was happening there. Drove through Darrington and up by the Sauk River to Rockport. The Sauk was as cloudy as it usually is this time of year, but better than the Stilly. Went upstream from Rockport to Sutter Creek. The Skagit there was just perfect with the right shade of aqua-green color to the water and a nice 54 degrees. Didn't touch a fish and didn't see any. Heard of one caught at Rockport State Park. Decided to go downstream to see if the pinks or humpies were coming in yet. Stopped near Lyman, but didn't see any signs of fish at all. Must still be too early for humpies, but they should be coming in within the next two weeks, as they are already showing up at Hoodsport on Hood Canal. Despite the absence of fish, it was still a beautiful day and good for the soul. May 3, 1997 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: Fished the Skagit long and hard on the last day of the season. Got out at daybreak and fished till about six o'clock. I had a report from my friend that lives on the river that they really hit them good about four or five days earlier. Between three of them in a jet sled they hit over thirty fish and landed eighteen with two over twenty pounds. I was not so lucky. My first fish I hit at about four in the afternoon and watched it skim across the water before it came off. I finally decided to call it a day and just drift down the river the rest of the way without anchoring and low and behold I hooked two fish just cruising along. The first one was chrome bright and strong about ten to twelve pounds, the second was sporting some color but strong and about the same size. Too bad it's closed down now, it seemed to just be getting good! Skagit Fish Killers Thanks to Jason McKinney for the following comments: My name is Jason and I'm a student at WSU. I wrote you once before and since have taken to being a passive participant. Now I have something that pisses me off; due to the great stupidity possessed by some fisherman (one in particular), so I thought I would write you. My dad called me yesterday to talk about the latest hap's from the west-side, particularly fishing. He had been out looking for a second-hand pontoon boat. He found one at a garage sale and began talking to the owner of the pontoon about steelhead fishing on the Skagit, which [by] word of mouth has been outstanding. The guy informed my dad that he had a friend that was fishing around the mouth of the Cascade River last weekend when he caught a forty-one pound fish [really?]. Then the man preceded to inform my dad that the fish was killed and taken home. What the hell kind of stupidity possesses this person? The whole reason to implement the catch-and-release is to preserve the native run while allowing fisherman to enjoy hooking once in a lifetime fish. That 40+ pound fish has got to be rare. The potential for that fish to spawn and ensure future 40+ fish inhabit the Skagit is crucial. What that fisherman did was way out of line. The spring lake slaughter opener was last weekend, why not go there to fulfill the need for [killing] fish. I sit, on-fire in front of my computer 300 miles from the Skagit, wondering what can be done? Are we as fisherman going to bend over and take it while Neanderthals trudge the banks and slay one of the last true steelhead gems of the state? If there is anyone who can bring this guy to justice I will be the first to commend this person. I'm only twenty and plan for my grandchildren to be able to enjoy the state's steelhead resources, so I will try to do all I can to help. Please, take heart in this letter. Editor's commentary: I currently believe that the decision to kill or not to kill a Steelhead (when legal to do so) is a religious decision and thus is personal to each fisherperson. I also believe that if we as a state of fishing peoples were truly concerned about slaughtering the native Steelhead still struggling to make their way back to their natal rivers to replenish their race, we would not allow indiscriminate killing of these precious fish at the mouths of most of Washington's rivers by monofilament nets. This is not to say that I promote the killing of native steelhead (or salmon). Rather it is just to point out that if we really want to see what it is that we in the state of Washington are committed to in the area of saving native anadromous fish, all we need to do is take a look back over the past few years to see what we are in fact doing. We are killing thousands of native steelhead and salmon in monfilament nets at the mouths of virtually all of our state's rivers, year after year. David Weitl - Statewide Editor April 1, 1997 Thanks to Garrett Ogle for the following report: I flyfished the Skagit from Rockport to Concrete with guide Scott Odonnel on April 1. Excellent visibility 3'-5'. Had one "freight train" grab my fly at Jackman Creek and head down river as I was turning to speak to the guide...before I could get composed, the fish had broken off. Bummer! But exciting... February 16, 1997 Thanks to James Petker for the following report: I arrived on the Skagit at 7:00 a.m. I fished the Corkindale Creek gravel bar, visibility is good, and the river level is just about right. A few other people were on the bar, but had know luck, a few did have strikes. I landed one hatchery fish around 8 pounds, and lost another. I have heard of good reports from the RockPort area, a few people said that there catching them at the Howard Steelhead park, the river is in good condition above the Sauk, below, the river gets a little muddy, and also the Baker is putting some silt into the river. February 7, 1997 Thanks to the venerable John Jones for the excellent report: Thought I should leave a word on the upper Skagit. I've been away for awhile, but was able to make it over to Seattle for the Sportsman show. I and a friend got away for a day to the upper Skagit on Feb 7th. The water was up a little, but clear and beautiful. It hung around 37-39 degrees. We spent the day on a couple of the more popular runs. With clear water and blue skies we stuck to large, subdued patterns. I managed to roll a steelhead twice about 11:30. Wasn't sure I could trust my eyes until that second flash of movement. I backed up and switched to a black GP and hooked a 20-22 inch Dolly on the hang down. I pulled the fish pretty hard to get it out of the territory because I knew it was not the fish I was after. My friend came to take pictures while I landed this fish. After helping him with a new fly selection I told him where to walk into this drift and make sure to cast a little upstream to allow his fly to get well down in the water column. He made 2 casts and was hooked into a very bright steelhead. Typical winter run Skagit Steelie. It wasn't to be landed that day! A beautiful day on a beautiful river ... nowhere would I rather be. God, I love Steelheading ....... February 5, 1997 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: Floated the Skagit on February 5. Fished the Rockport area and got in the hole just before daybreak. We were there for about ten minutes before I got a nice Dolly Varden. Let that one go and about five casts later hooked a nice 12 pound chrome bright hen. My partner hit one about thirty minutes later but lost it before he got much of a run out of it. Fished hard the rest of the day but with the sun out and beating on the water didn't have anymore luck. Pressure was extremely light, saw one drift boat and one sled. I stopped in to see my friend in Rockport and he informed me that it's really slowed down the last week for hatcheries. He thinks the best is over and we need to wait for the natives before fishing good again. January 25, 1997 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: Water is in great shape and if you know where to fish there seems to be plenty of fish but also plenty of pressure. Started fishing just above Rockport and fished it hard but without any results. Than I went up around Marblemount and saw three fish caught with about eight guys fishing on the bank. I only had half a day to fish so I ended up getting the skunk. On the way back down river I stopped by Rockport to see a friend that went out that morning in a sled. They fished one slot all morning hooking ten fish and landing six. This guy has the advantage of going fishing just about every day and has caught lots of fish this year. He must of felt pretty sorry for me cause he gave me one of his fish. A nice chrome bright seven pound hen with eggs. I've also heard in the last couple of weeks of a couple nice big natives getting caught, both in the 20's. Jan. 21st Thanks to Ryan Bennett for the following report: This report is for 1/21 the upper Skagit was about 2 ft of vis. We put in at Howard Miller Steelhead Park, & ran up stream. I caught one nice Native 15lbs hen & an 8lbs hatchery buck. December 13, 1996 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: The Skagit is starting to see some fish! The local boys fishing Barnaby Slough are catching a few fish a day. My friend who lives in Rockport got four last week and told me in the upper river there was fifteen fish caught on Saturday. He informed me where to go and sure enough I caught a nice ten pound chrome bright hen. I also saw another one caught that was showing some color but not a bad fish around eight pounds or so. The reports are the boaters that know what their doing are getting one to two fish per trip out. This friend seems to think this will be a good season since it's started out as good as it has. So far he's always been right. Skagit River above Rockport - November 7, 1996 Thanks to Ken Elsea for the Following Report. You can reach Ken at his own home page at http://www.premier1.net/~fishwash/ or you can e-mail Ken at: fishwash@premier1.net Tons of fish mostly Coho and Chums and remember you can only keep the Chums. Coho seem to take Steelhead gear just fine. I use Pro-cure fluorescent red eggs and drift. A few Steelhead are taking the hook also. Chums are slamming the Drift gear tipped with shrimp and for those of you that have a boat or know how to use a side planner, plugs are hard to beat. The fish are in great shape and average 10lbs. to 14 lbs. August 21, 1996 Thanks to Ken Elsea for the Following Report. You can reach Ken at his own home page at http://www.premier1.net/~fishwash/ or you can e-mail Ken at: fishwash@premier1.net The Skagit is crystal clear and the river is low. Jet boats be aware on the upper section, above Rockport. Steelheading is poor but the river is full of fish. Yep, those pesky salmon again. King and Coho are all through the system and they are easy to catch. Run a bait diver using Gamakatsu # 1 hooks tied in tandem and use McCoy 15 LB leader four feet behind the plug. Use sand shrimp or a glob of eggs that are cured with Pro Cure's Florescent Red. Put the rods in the rod holders and watch your 8 1/2 foot rods turn into 14 foot rods. What a pounding! July 20, 1996 Thanks to Rob Markich for the following report: Spent the afternoon till early evening fishing the Skagit. Rumor was that there were quite a few Kings in the river but maybe because of the high water last week they moved up river. I fished one of my favorite King holes and didn't touch a thing. Last year's high water has really changed the hole so it may not be that good of holding water for them anymore. I did catch one Jack King about 5 to 6 pounds up river but it didn't put up too much fight and had a fair amount of color to it. I also caught one Dolly Varden about the same size that tugged alot but didn't take too much line out, that one was released. I finally finished up fishing the "Little Eddie" which normally holds lots of fish but I didn't have any bites and amazingly didn't see any fish jump. Maybe in the next couple of weeks things will perk back up. June 17, 1996 Thanks to Ken Elsea of Steelhead Sue's Guide Service (360) 653-5924 for the following report: Skagit River is running at normal springtime high levels with about 2 feet of visibility. There are fish throughout the river mostly between Concrete and Sedro Wooley. Most guys are boodogging, plunkers are also doing well from Cedro Wooley on down using spin & glow with sand shrimp. Chinook are also being taken, but remember that Chinook are not legal to keep. Skagit River, Marblemount to Rockport - April 8-11, 1996 Thanks to the Montana Men for the following report: High water but improving at end of period. 44 degrees. Hooked two steelhead, one landed, 26 1/2 inches. (Nelson, Cavanaugh, Fritz, and Cunningham -- continuing the quest) March 14, 1996 Thanks to Ken Elsea of Steelhead Sue's Guide Service (360) 653-5924 for the following report: The levels are normal for this time of year. The dam effect is approximately 18" lower in the afternoon than in the morning. Be careful if using a jet boat as there will be gravel bars showing that weren't there first thing in the morning. The vis is 20-24", some areas above Rockport is over 4 feet. The fishing has been relatively slow with less than 1 fish per boat average. Most people are boondogging using eggs. Bank fisherman should use eggs either bottom bouncing or under a float. There are many natives in the river now as well as some late hatchery fish. There is a catch & release policy for all natives on this river. There are some hatchery fish being taken in the high teens and even an unconfirmed report of a hatchery fish of 21 pounds. Good luck and feel free to call Ken Elsea at 360-653-5924 for more details! March 2, 1996 Thanks to Greg Freeman for the following report: The Skagit River is doing well about everywhere since the water levels are down. This would be my first choice. Check the regulations on closures before heading out. January 20, 1996 Thanks to Rimkus for the following report: River is in great shape. Nobody fishing and snow all day. Must be between runs because the river is in good shape for no fish.