WSFR Rivers Reports (Skykomish97) - http://www.nwfishing.com





	This page is the Archive Page for the Sky for calendar year 1998. If you are looking for the most current reports, please click on Skykomish 99. Originating from the North and South Fork, the Skykomish offers angling opportunities for winter and summer run steelhead, humpies (pinks), coho, chum, summer chinook, and searun cutthroat. Late November through mid February the Sky receives its bulk of hatchery fish, while February through the closure (April 30th) native steelhead are present in respectable numbers. Summer kings and native steelhead need to be released at all times. Starting in early September salmon begin to arrive in good numbers. In odd-numbered years humpies arrive in early September or a little later depending on river level and precipitation. Humpies spark the beginning of the salmon runs. They are followed by the silvers, chums, and finally steelhead. Hatchery fish and fisherman stack up at Rieter Ponds in front of the hatchery creek located outside Gold Bar. For those who seek solitude, a drive up highway 2 will point you to many famous fishing spots. On the south side of the Sky the Ben Howard road will lead fisherman to many pullouts and a boat launch. Below Rieter, boats can launch at High Bridge and float to Gold Bar or continue to Sultan. The most popular drift is from Sultan to Ben Howard or continue a little farther to the Lewis Street bridge. The Skykomish joins the sluggish Snoqualmie and they form the Snohomish River which flows into the Puget Sound at Everett. -Overview by Cameron Dannar Current Conditions - Graph format of flow rates of the Skykomish at Gold Bar from the USGS Current Conditions - Graph format of the Snohomish River Basin from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

	Dec. 20, 1998 Thanks to: Bret Carpenter On the snow covered banks of [the] Skykomish off of Ben Howard Road, I caught a nice Steelhead Hen. Using a spinning lure (Orange & copper) slowly retreiving. I saw the Hen flash after the lure stopped. [It] looked at it and then struck. What a great sight! Put [up] a great fight and sure made a great dinner! Dec. 19, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush All things pointed to a good day. The river was dropping in nicely. It had been up for the past few days wich had brought in fish as far up as Reiter's hatchery. Also it was suppost to be clear and sunny. Well, we were already in fishing position as the sun began to rise. Surprised to see all the clouds, it looked as if it could start to snow. Definitely cold enough! My anchor rope was already frozen. Anyway we pounded the Sultan hole, then slid down to Taylor and someone caught and released a fish from the bank. Must be our turn now I thought. Nothing doing. Down the river we headed only to find blizzard conditions around the corner. Wow, it was really coming down. We stuck it out and fished hard, around the heater of course. Then I saw it. A car had dropped off the cliff at Ben Howard and had landed between a couple of trees at the bottom. Must have fallen about 45 feet. Covered with lots of snow I wondered how long it had been there? At least since this morning. I was curious if anyone had reported it yet. See I'm also a full-time firefighter and needed to take a closer look. My clients agreed so I started rowing that way when I noticed a Fire Rescue boat screaming our way. Better let those guys check it out first. Then I saw a blue object near the water but completely covered with snow. Could it be? I yelled out but they were busy taking pictures of the car. They must known what it is already I thought. Then I saw them pull a bodybag from the boat. Sure enough, my question had been answered. I always wondered when this would happen. Anyway anxious to clear our thoughts and get back to fishing. We started pulling the stretch below when the left rod got yanked to the water! Fish on! Finally I thought. Well we fought this steelhead for about five minutes and had him close to the boat when he decided to make run down river and spit the hook at us in the process. Oh well. I don't think we were up to keeping anything now, anyway. We landed at the take-out to find 6 inches of snow and a truck stuck on the ramp. Somedays I wish I could snap my fingers and be sitting at home next to the warm fireplace. (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter Dec. 19, 1998 Thanks to: Charlie Malmgren Got the boat launched just as the snow began falling, and quickly rowed down to our first drift. My son Dan, his buddy Larry and I had all been eagerly tying flies in anticipation of the start of the winter season so we drew lots for first water. I won, and started thru with Dan and Larry behind. Just into my second cast, Dan let out a whoop. I turned to see line peeling of his 7 weight. 15 minutes after his first cast of the season, we had a 6 lb. hatchery hen on the beach. Heavy snow (4" in the boat), icing guides and a cold wind conspired to make it a short outing. Only one other take (two head shakes) all day. Dec. 12, 1998 Thanks to: Matt Caskey Fished the Sky on Sat. I started at Proctor Creek, water was high with about two feet of visibility. Caught one steelhead jack about 18&quopt; and released. Tons of sand filling the whole, "gee could it be the logging on the hillside above proctor cr.?" Anyway, moved on to Reiter about 2:00 p.m. only about 8 guys, I was in shock. Fished for 1-1/2 hours till dark saw about 6 fish hooked (all chromers!!) and four landed. No hook-ups for me, I think I'm cursed! Oh well next weekend, perhaps will be different. I heard Tokul was on fire Sunday... Dec. 5, 1998 Thanks to: Bill Bradshaw Fished the Sky Dec. 5 in the late afternoon near the public fishing area in downtown Sultan. Caught and released a few fiesty chums but the fishing wasn't nearly as good as earlier in the week. Thursday morning caught and released about a dozen and kept a couple for the smoker. There were fish all over the place and they were slamming a pink marabou jig fished 4-6 feet under a float. Fish ranged in size from about 8 lbs to a whopper that probably went 20. The best days for chum may be behind us, however--Sunday was not nearly as fast and the fish caught were not in as good condition. Those brutes are an absolute hoot to catch and the color they prefer seems to be pink--going against the conventional wisdom that says chums only like green. Chums get short-changed as table fare as well. Not only are they excellent smoked but are tasty broiled or baked. You bet I'll be after them again next year! Dec. 1, 1998 Thanks to: Chad Keller Took my dad out with guide Ken Elsea. We caught several scrappy chums ranging from 10 to 18 lbs and in good condition. Get out there quick!! Nov. 20, 1998 Thanks to: Lonnie Baird It was a dark and stormy day, but so what! The river was in good shape so I headed up to the "flats" above the Big Eddy hole, trying to avoid the crowd I knew would be at the hatchery hole. But I could not find a single fish in any of the usual places. Decided to hit the highway side at the hatchery hole. It was crowded as expected. I started floatin' my bright pink jig in the first hole I came to at the bottom of the trail in. The first drift was half way through when the float went under! the fish fought well but it didn't feel like a steelie and it turned out to be a nice coho hen, in bright spawning color but I didn't land her because she broke my leader. After tying on a stronger leader and new jig, I picked up another fish in the same spot. This one was a very nice male coho in full spawning color and he put up a good fight before I got him in and released. Never did find a steelie though. Nov. 28, 1998 Thanks to: Charles Johnson Had a few hours this saturday and I decided to take my daughter out on the Sky. We put in at Ben Howard about 1:30 pm and noticed that there was about 3-4 feet of visibility. The start of the float it looked like things would be slow, but we managed to land a sea run cutt before to long on a green bunny egg sucking leach. Then later we ran into some chum rolling around the surface. However they would have nothing to do with the green bunny fly. I switched to a pink marabou pattern and lost one fish shortly after I switched. Then on what was to be my last cast before heading on down to the take out I hooked a chum. After about a 15 min. fight, the fish was landed and released. Not a bad afternoon for a boat ride, sunshine and fish on Thanksgiving weekend. Nov. 19, 1998 Thanks to: Lonnie Baird I was able to get up to the Wallace for some Chum fishing and it was great! Big fish and lots of them too. The fast water areas held the the real BAD boys, they seemed to slash at the green corkie and yarn I sent their way, and were fair-hooked or snagged around the head area, more often than not. These fish have got to be the hardest fighting brute's ever. I was fishing with a 9 1/2 ft. heavy action rod with 14-lb. Ande line and I had all the "bent-double" arm bustin' action I wanted in the three hours just before dusk Wednesday. There were 10 or 12 other guy's there and everyone was having a real good time. If you want to get in on this you better get going, it won't last long! Nov. 17, 1998 Thanks to: DJEARL I know the Skykomish is more a chum river this time of year but last Thursday before the rains hit I landed and released a beautiful 14 or so lb wild Coho. The big buck was still really bright with very little coloring yet. I was fishing below Taylor creek using a float with a pink jig tipped with a piece of prawn. As of this writing the river is still way high but dropping and should be marginally fishable by thursday before another storm is due on Friday the 20th. I hope with the large and early returns this year of coho that wild early winter run steelhead will follow suit-- the fisheries biologist in the area believes that this may be the case but we will have to wait and see.it has been a few years since the Sky had a really good year for early fish. We did pickup a small 6-lb winter run 2 weeks ago on the Snohomish river near the Cheapskate hole. So there are starting to be fish in the system. Oct. 24, 1998 Thanks to: Barry Hohstadt Fished the south side of the river between Monroe and Sultan. Used spoons and spinners, all the usual shapes and colors, no hits. The bait fisherman were not doing any better. Saw plenty of fish rolling and jumping. Very frustrating, as it has been for the past two weeks. None of the Drift boats I spoke to were doing any better. Hope this turns around soon! Oct. 18, 1998 Thanks to: Kurt Bosselman My usual fishing partner was busy so I talked my wife into coming along. We launched the boat and hadn't been fishing five minutes (I had Barb on the oars while I was finishing setting up the rods) and Barb starts screaming we got one! Sure enough the rod in the left rod holder in bent double and there is a steelhead tail dancing out in front of the boat. After a bit of a chinese fire drill, while I try to play the fish and direct Barb to row to the nearest bank where I can get out and land the fish, we have a nice 8-9lb steelhead beached. It's a wild fish so back in the water it goes. Things were uneventful for a while after that. So I decided to have Barb row again while I cast a spoon accross this flat area. Sure enough about 5 min later it's fish on! A nice bright coho is jumping and tearing around. Barb has the beaching process down this time. So after a very good fight I land the salmon. This one was a keeper and ended up on our supper table. Since we had caught dinner Barb figured it was time to call it a day. Not wanting to push my luck, it was hard enough to convice her we needed to get up at 5 am to go fishing, we pretty much just cruised the rest of the way down to the take out. Oct. 18, 1998 Thanks to: Chuck Spani The usual story here....TONS of fish and a few anglers at the mouth of the Wallace to the Sky and nobody is getting bites. Seems these little buggers are just too committed to the hatchery and nobody else. There were about 10 people fishing and only saw one fish caught all morning. Weather was about as good as you could ask for so the day was still wonderful. I think it is time to get ready for the Chums and forget the rotted ol' king. Silvers were there but not as many as the Kings. Oct. 10, 1998 Thanks to: Tyler Celli Tons of fish. What do they want? I fished the Skykomish from 12:00 - 4:00. I caught a 3" trout on a Dick Nite spoon #1 50/50 gold/silver. This river is loaded like the Snohomish. I've tried everyting, they don't want anything. I saw a rotten king float right past me, it was barely alive. Please email me if you have any tips on any rivers please! TYFLY84@YAHOO.COM Oct. 9, 1998 Thanks to: Lonnie Baird Fish-Fish everywhere, or so it seems. The Reiter area is really hot, haven't seen any reports from anyone but I know there have been a lot of steelies caught lately with the rain (at last). I went up Friday AM and got an 8# hen. Went back on Saturday and took a 6# hen. Just average cookie-cutter hatchery fish but I've seen some real big ones caught too! Drift gear, spinners, jigs, and shrimp or eggs all are working, just depends on your preference. There are also a lot of salmon in the lower river, the Wallace is jammin'. The fish are all over in there but hard to catch, at least they were last week. By the way I saw a guy catch an Atlantic Salmon with a small home made spoon right in the hatchery hole at Reiter on Monday 10/5, it was big about 12-14#s. Those fish are still out there. The "experts" say they won't spawn in our rivers, but I wouldn't bet any money on the "experts" say so... Oct. 3, 1998 Thanks to: RD Fished up at the Wallace for silvers using fly gear. I saw alot of dark fish (always do). I saw some bright ones in the main river. Well I didn't catch anything. Partially because I thought the river would have more flow and the Wallace was a little colored. That made sight fishing hard, the best way to fish the Wallace. So a lot of fish are in, and I'll be out agian. Good Luck! Sept. 20, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush River Otter Guide Service The Skykomish is low but the fishing is anything but slow. While fishing for steelhead we caught and released over 10 silvers the biggest two where around 12 lbs. each, the average being about 6 lbs. The silvers will be legal to keep on October 1st so gear up for some hot action and head for the Skykomish or Snohomish. Techniques to use are a number 1 dick nite spoon in 50/50 silver/gold on a 5 foot ten-pound test leader. Cast towards rolling silvers and get ready for the slam as you retrieve. Make sure you reel it all the way to the shore or to the boat. They are famous for the last minute strike. Other techniques include very small cluster of eggs on a #2 hook or try bait divers. Have fun and good luck! (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter Sept. 10, 1998 Thanks to: Shinji Unno I hit the run where I caught a small steelhead two weeks ago before dawn. After covering the upper run without any sign of fish for two hours, I changed from a bomber to a low water fly and grease-lined it a lower pool. Nothing happened until the last cast. I was really going to go home after this cast. I carefully maintained the broadside view of the fly until the fly almost stalled, and I began stripping the line. Something stopped the fly and started running away. This one was powerful but slow. It jumped only once. Very typical of a big buck. After 15 minutes, I beached and released a 32 inch hatchery fish with pink on its sides. Water is extremely low and clear now. This may present a tough challenge for stealhead fishers, but fish must be concentrated somewhere. If you can find them, some of them might play with you. Oh yes, I went home smiling right after releasing the fish. August 24, 1998 Thanks to: Ron Bob We put in at Sultan and floated or scraped down to Ben Howard. The water's pretty low in some spots and gin clear. Picked up a nice 8 lb. hatchery summer run in the first hole and that was that. Fished hard all day using every thing we had including the beer. The fish was a bonus as the day was beautiful, the fishing was great and we didn't see a sole almost the whole day. I feel for you all that had to work. August 1, 1998 Thanks to: Dan Stevens Took a guest out on Saturday. Put in at the high bridge at 6:00. By 6:10 the rod took a hard dive, that led to a 15 min fight and ultimately the catch and release of a nice 14-lb King. Moved on with great expectations. No strikes until right before lunch, when the right rod took another plunge. The 10-lb leader snapped after a short but viscous battle. The water is very low and clear. The low water makes drifting the upper sky a little hairy. The lower [section] may be the better choice in regard to preserving safety and your boat. July 23, 1998 Thanks to: Steve Sande My friend, Mike Rex, and I joined guide Bill Davis for a beautiful float trip down the Skykomish River. We launched at the confluence of the Sultan and Sky near the town of Sultan. We fished the "Cracker Bar" with sand shrimp and eggs for a few minutes. On the Hwy 2 side of the river two bank anglers hooked, netted and beached a nice Chinook. The keeping of Chinook in the Sky is prohibited at this time. When it appeared that the two bank anglers were not going to release the Chinook, Bill yelled out to them to put it back in the river and they basically yelled back for him to mind his own business and threw the fish in the river like a football. We moved on down the river and caught several trout and Jack salmon but no steelhead. The river was crystal clear and very low. The day was incredible for nice weather and peaceful conditions with only one other boat on the river during our whole drift. We passed Elwell, toilet bowl, 2-bit, barking dog and I don't remember all the other "holes." Still no steelhead. Finally at the downstream end of the large island in the Sky we anchored right across from our predetermined pull-out spot and pulled plug/diver shrimp combos and pitched eggs for the last time for the day. "Well boys..pull em up!" (That was Bill Davis)... Just then we saw a big fish jump in the current in front of us. My pole jumped once and then again and again.. I set the hook and BAM...Four near spoolings later I reeled in a beautiful Chinook of 15+ pounds. We took a couple of quick pictures and gently revived the fish in the water and off he went. One year after his bypass x 6, Bill Davis is a joy to fish with especially on such a great day. No steelhead today but the thrill of a nice Chinook in a sparkling river is hard to beat. July 22, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Having fished yesterday with success my confidence was high. We started in Sultan with a slam on the middle rod with a diver bait combo. Get him! He's GONE! Back up to the top well try that again slam the right rod is down hard and a fish rolls, takes line and is gone. How in the hell? Check the hooks? Ouch! No, thats not it. Well lets try that again nothing. So on we go down to the the rock wall. Fish on!! Out of the water jumps a hot steelhead and the fight is on what? He's off!! Why me? I ask. Now I know getting into another fish would be asking a lot from the fish gods but it happens one more time while drifting sandshrimp. I'm snagged. Uhm Oh hey fish, fish, fish! I've got him yells my client and we're into a hot very fast summer steelhead! We even had a audience cheering us on from shore to get him. Well 100 yards down river and we have our first in the box on ice. Yes!! Lots of different fish caught throughout the day one steelhead, dolly, a cutthroat, jack king, and a fat 14" resident rainbow. Lot's of action anyway. But only the one on ice. Still a great day. (River Otter Guide Service) 425-334-6318. July 21, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Hey, finally started to hit fish from Sultan down. Fishing with plugs on the outside and a diver bait combo on the middle rod. Got slammed on the right rod next to Jim's rock but didn't get a hook up. Damn! Ok OK OK! Next shot was at Elwell hole this time we landed a nice fat chrome steelhead of about 9lbs. We had another shot on the left rod but missed it. We had to release our fish because it had not been clipped but was definitely a fresh fish. Watch out for unclipped steelies. We had a lot of them last summer! Good luck out there!! (River Otter Guide Service) 425-334-6318. July 21, 1998 Thanks to: Steve VanRensum Fished Reiter Pond this morning and thought there would be a number of fish caught but only saw one taken about 8:00 am water level was low and visability was unlimited. July 16, 1998 Thanks to: Scott G. Fierst Decided to hit the river after work today, along with another fishing partner. Floated Gold Bar to Sultan. Had a great evening fishery. Four takedowns and two in the boat. Eight and ten pound chrome Summer run hatchery Steelies. Hit all fish on a baitdiver and sandshrimp combo. The river is getting low enough now that the fish should start to slow down and stack a little more. Look for the deeper holes, slots and tails with current and transition. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll Free: (888)204-5327 July 11, 1998 Thanks to: Rick Mueller My wife and I and a buddy floated from Gold Bar to Sultan. The first part of the morning was slow-the river was low and clear. My wife picked up her first steelhead of about 3-4 pounds at the Barkin' Dog hole on a metallic gold & green corky with black yarn, tipped with sand shrimp. It was photographed and released. I picked up an 8-pound summer run on the stretch below the log jam. This was the most active fish I've tied into for some time, cartwheeling and tail-dancing across the river. Who'd have thought it would be on the same rig that my wife caught her fish on. It was pretty! July 5, 1998 Thanks to: Erik Benjaminson I fished the Skykomish at Sultan from about 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Not a single strike. I did see a King roll in the tail-out below where the Sultan River dumps into the Sky. I used sand shrimp and black spinners. One fisherman that I talked to said that the Cable Hole was hot on the 4th, and he saw several fish caught. The River was in excelent shape with the flow at 3,000 ft/sec. July 3, 1998 Thanks to: Doug Pearman Steve and I floated the "camo Alumaweld" from Sultan to Ben Howard. The river conditions were excellent, lots of water and great color. We were ready for some warm and dry weather, too, but since it was almost the 4th it rained most of the day. The Cracker Bar was crowded so we moved pretty quickly through there. Tried to plug the log jam just below Jim's Rock, but the slot has moved. Worked the 2-bit hole hard. We took the side stream behind the island where Elwell Creek dumps in. The tree in the entrance makes it a little tricky, but the rest of the water was great. We had only one hard hit. It was on a bright pink Tadpolly. No hook up, though. Heard reports of a couple of fish at Sultan. We also talked to another boat that caught and released a native. I am still hopeful we get a good summer run. June 30, 1998 Thanks to: Erik Benjaminson I fished the confluence of the North and South forks of the Sky. Released One LARGE King, and two Bright Summer-Run Steelhead. I fished from the Highway 2 side using sandshrimp. June 30, 1998 Thanks to: Richard Ro I went fishing after work with a few friends we fished bate and jigs and we didn't catch a thing. There were a few people on the other side of the banks up at Gold bar, and they didn't get a thing as well. June 27, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush River Otter Guide Service Went after some summer run steelhead today. The water looked great with about 4 feet of visibility. Tried bait, divers with bait, plugs, you name it I tried it! One bite on the diver with shrimp all day with no hook ups! Only heard of one caught in the Sultan hole off the cracker bar by a guy out of a boat. I saw it and it looked to be about five pounds and chrome bright. Well, I always have tomorrow? June 27, 1998 Thanks to: Rosco Went fishing for the first time this summer with a couple of friends today. Started out up at reiter no luck went down to Wallace flats and hooked a king and let it go, that was fun. Fished there a couple more hours then went to Sultan and finished the day there no luck. June 15, 1998 Thanks to: JERRY FERRO Just thought some of you would like to know that the mettle heads are starting to show on the sky. I went out to cable hole on Monday and had my but kicked by two nice fish. I got them to strike on a Blue Fox size 5 with a blue body fished in a swinging fashion. I was fortunate enough to have the river to myself and the rain was coming down like crazy, the river is running really high but the color is perfect. My next stop is going to be on the Cowlitz, I've heard they are showing there too. Who knows? There may be hope for a good summer run this year! If any one wants to talk about some good fishing spots give me a holler at jerry_ferro@hotmail.com June 14, 1998 Thanks to: Charlie Malmgren Took the ladies out for trip down the Sky on Sunday. The river was still running high with the last of the spring run off. As the group's casting skills were on the low side, we opted for running bait and divers. We worked a few drifts without success until lunchtime. With visions of the gourmet fare my accomplices had packed in the cooler I had them run out the gear for a quick pass before hitting the beach. Of course a chrome bright, 7# hatchery buck chose this time to clamp on to the left rod. Needless to say, I got to eat while on the oars trying (unsuccessfully) for another. June 5, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush - River Otter Guide Service Well the river wasn't perfect at 7.5 feet and flowing just under 6,800. My clients from California seemed to be on a roll how ever. They had just won a trip to the Northwest with all expenses paid from a radio station contest. Anyway they chose to do some summer steelheading with me while in the area. I told them that I thought it my be slow for summer runs but we would give it hell. It wasn't long before we hooked into a steelhead and the fight was on. My client had caught many saltwater fish and handled this one with no trouble. As he fought this fish another one rolled right next to it on the gravel bar. I thought we would get another fish for sure in this spot if we worked it over hard enough! The fish finally was landed and was a wild buck of about 8lbs. So we let it go after a quick snapshot or two and headed back out for another try. After trying everything, we gave up and left that spot. We never did get any more chances. Summer runs aren't showing in any large numbers yet. But they will soon! Apr 29, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Got to the river today to find a lot of snow melt. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it! Well we decided it wasn't going to stop us, so off we went after our prey. We launched in Sultan and didn't get a bite until the last hole just before the take out at Lewis street. The right rod finally got hit and fish-on! It was a small hen of about six pounds but very fresh. We were all very happy for the action and enjoyed her beauty only for a moment then slid her back into the frigid water. Talk about a half court shot at the buzzer! Next to come, summer steelhead and sturgeon. Rod Bush (425) 334-6318 River Otter Guide Service www.greatnw.com/riverotter Apr 21, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Well the Skykomish has finally come up a bit thanks to some much needed snow melt. I fished from two-bit down today hitting four fish and landing two. Caught both on plugs today. One was a buck of about ten and the other a nice 14lb hen. Glad to see some change in the river level finally in the upward direction. Should be a great finish this year!! (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter Apr 17, 1998 Thanks to: John Cunningham Water temperature 42 degrees at 7AM. It is a 4AM rising in Wenatchee to reach the Skykomish as the river wakes up. A clear night has given way to a frosty morning and the senses are keen with anticipation. However, after an hour and a half of frigid waist-deep water and a rapidly ascending, numbing paralysis, I am beginning to have concerns for my sanity not to mention my health. Suddenly all is chaos as a bright fish races about the run and throws itself skyward. A passerby takes pictures of the struggle and in the end we admire the ten-pound native chromer. Truly a fish like this is a blessing, but today I would be twice blessed as this scene is repeated again with even more fury than the first. Soon, however, the sun is on the water and all is eerily calm for the remainder of the blue-sky day. As I looked in the water the undulating fly, a popsicle. I couldn't help but anticipate getting off the now warm neoprenes and celebrating with a real popsicle at the 7-11. What a great day! Yahoo! Apr 16, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Today we put in at Sultan. The water was very clear and low. We had a little bit of rain but things were looking good for some great steelheading. We hit our first fish in Yonker's on a tadpolly. It was Greg's first steelhead and what a jumping fool he was. I mean the fish, although Greg was excited! We landed a nice little 7 pounder to start the day. We didn't hit anything else until boondogging down by the afternoon hole wham Greg's spinning rod was singing and so were we until the line snapped. My fault I must have missed a knick in the ten pound mono from an earlier snag. Anyway feeling bad I had them put out the plugs once again and Greg's rod buckles under the weight of a nice fish. Get him I shouted, right rod! Greg went for it but it was too late, he's gone. I hope it's not going to be one of those days I thought to myself after just coming off a five fish on five fish off day! Shane my other client has still not had his chance yet but his boss was getting his share of the action. As we were letting out the plugs in another hole the middle rod got a back-lash in it. As I was trying to feed out the knot believe it or not, that rod gets hammered and out of the water comes a 15lb or so hen chrome bright! I handed the rod to Shane after reeling in as much line as possible to get some over the knot we still had on the spool. But Shane's looking at me like what now? I said we will try to chase him with the boat before she gets to the knot. Well it was over before I could get a stroke on the oars she ran down river and broke us off! My favorite plug gone, it was a sad moment for me and for Scott. One more quick take down and no hook up. What a day on the river. River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318l Apr 13, 1998 Thanks to: Rod Bush Put in at two bit today and decided to go down to Ellwell and start out there. I had a couple from Texas with me today and after giving them the low down on what to do and what to expect. I dropped anchor at the top and had them slide the plugs out. No sooner then when Skip put his rod in the holder and started to let go, his rod slammed down hard! What the hell! Fish I yelled," get him." Well needless to say, neither Skip nor I was ready for that quick of a response and he didn't get this one pinned well and it was over as fast as it had started. The barking dog hole was our next shot and again it came on the right rod. Skip was ready for this one and set the hook into "Crap he's off!" 2 to 0, the fish were kicking our butt today. To make a long story short we hooked and LOST a total of five today! I'm still wondering why? These are the same plugs and hook set ups that have given me about a 75% hook/catch ratio this season. How do they do it? Well there's always tomorrow!! One more thing, I witnessed a gentleman in a new drift boat today in the afternoon hole slide a native onto the hot sunny rocks! Please don't do this ever! These fish are here to spawn and we are allowed to enjoy them for a short period on the end of our rods. Let's not hurt them by dragging them on the rocks. Hello is there anybody home? I would love to educate anyone I see using this technique! But I had clients and thought my time will come! River Otter Guide Service (425) 334-6318 or www.greatnw.com/riverotter Apr 13, 1998 Thanks to: Ted Fehr Did a quick float from Sultan to Ben Howard. Found a 12# and a 16# hen. Chrome bright w/sea lice. Hooked one on a plug at the Cracker bar tailout and one in the Afternoon hole with an Aeorfly. Heard every boat hooked at least one! Good fishing. Apr 10, 1998 Thanks to Rod Bush for the following report: Fished the Skykomish on 4/10/98 visibility was 10 feet and water level was low. We started the day at Yonkers and hit a 8lb. hen right off the get go. She was a little worn out so she didn't fight much. The next fish came while free drifting a corkie through a hole just above the afternoon hole. George was into one, and the fish came soaring out of the water and showed herself to be a 16lb. Hen and chrome bright with a snow white belly! She continued to come out of the water over and over while screaming across the river to the far bank. I saw that something was wrong with the reel and quickly ran over to investigate the problem. It was a spinning reel shimano sedona and the line wasn't in the roller of the bail, it was slicing into the plastic right next to the roller. It had cut a groove into the plastic and damaged the line pretty bad too! How much longer would it hold? This hen showed no sign of giving up either she continued to strain the rod and reel combo with tail walking runs. Finally we were able to tail her, take her picture and release her back into the Skykomish to do the wild thing. What a fish! We caught two others that day but both were around 6lbs. and nothing like the other. Good job Gordon and George! (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (425)334-6318 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter April 3, 1998 Thanks to: B.K. Ammenwerth I fished Sultun to Monroe and hooked one fish near Buck Island. I WAS PULLING PLUGS JEFF! How can you say pulling plugs isn't fishing? Are you dumb or just plain ignorant? Pulling plugs is one of the most effective ways of fishing for steelhead. Its just as much fishing as tossing spoons or drifting roe, even casting a fly. Boat position in key. NOT ALL PLUG FISHERMAN ARE ASSES THE WAY YOU MAKE THEM OUT TO BE. I will let anyone by me who feels I am holding them up. All you have to do is ask nicely and be polite. It sounds to me your the one who thinks you own the river! Mar 31, 1998 Thanks to: Shinji Unno I threw big dark and bright flies for three hours this morning near Monroe. Water was low and clear unlike last week. A fish bumped a bright fly, but I failed to connect. I hurried the next pitch right down the middle at the same location. "Swung on and belted!" (Today is the opening day for the Mariners.) This time, I connected. The steelhead began to run downstream and jumped twice. Then my Lamson LP-7 started to spool out freely. NO DRUG! I tried to palm the reel, but the fish was too strong and fast. The fish turned and was now running straight at me. I tried to reel in the line as fast as possible. It was difficult to wind the reel that was spinning freely without clutch and drug. I struggled with the reel for a moment. The fish unhooked itself. I did not have any other action for this hook and release day. Mar 29, 1998 Thanks to: Saul Bankaitis Fished the Skykomish from Sultan to the Ben Howard launch. The river had excellent visibility and had dropped some overnight. We got into our first fish in the Taylor flats, a bright 5 pound native buck. This was my first Washington steelhead and it only took 23 hours of fishing to get it! (what's the average?) After a few hours of quiet fishing, we hooked into a large hen in front of the Thunderbird Resort. After a sluggish swim towards the boat, the fish took a run like I've never seen and surfaced, slipping the hook. We saw that it was a bright hen and guessed at 13-15 pounds. Mar 29, 1998 Thanks to: Jeff Johnson I made it out to the sky yesterday for a couple of hours. There were a ton (I counted at least 20 different trailers) of boats pulling plugs. Something needs to be done about them. They just sit in pools with out consideration for others and harass the fish. That is not really fishing that is boating. I know that they have just as much right to the water as I do. If I get beat to a hole by boats pulling plugs that is good for them and they deserve the water. But they should keep moving down the run at a good pace just like other fisherman so others can work behind them, not anchor at the top of Buck Island and sit there. And there there was the boat that kept rowing back up stream and zig zagging the water. They are fishermen and they do enjoy what they are doing and I am happy for them and happy they are out fishing because the more people we have that C&R wild fish the more political power we will have in the end. But I am just saying I ran into a couple of boats that weren't following proper river politeness, just like last week when there was a fly guy camped at the head of a pool and refused to work down. I am sorry for generalizing and you are right we don't need to be seen as snobs. Ok off my soap box. Water was in great shape. 3 feet visibility (it was close to 5 ft when I left at 5:30) at noon 44-45 degrees. Even with all the traffic I did manage to hook a fish at about 12:30 on a black an purple leech down by Monroe. But since I had 10 plus feet of line in my had it got tangled and lost it on it's first run. It was a beautiful day to be on the river, except for the plug pullers that kept zig zagging the pool the rowing back up stream. Great day out. Mar 22, 1998 Thanks to: Jeff Johnson I fished the Sky yesterday for 4 hours or so. Walked down to BucK Island and there was a guy at the head of the run whom wouldn't move for anything. Low-holing someone is probably the only thing worse then not moving down a run in my opinion. So finally after a half-hour of sitting on our hands we asked to go below and he said fine. We went down 50 yards and started fishing above the first snag, 5 minutes later he left the river. I had a good take on a black and purple leech above the snag then had another down below the second snag on the same fly. My fishing buddy, Brian, had a fish just about take the rod out of his hand but didn't hook up. We drove up river for awhile to a couple more runs. They were full then down river to the reformatory and Hansen--they were full. So we headed back to Buck Island after it had rested for an hour plus. This time we had the run to ourselves. I had a brief hook-up down at the tailout on a Popsicle. The fish took lightly started shaking and twisting then ran at me and through the hook since I couldn't keep pressure on it. Overall a good day for me: 1 hook up and two more takes. Mar 19, 1998 Thanks to: Tim Sheppard Drifted the Sky from Sultan to the Ben Howard, plugging with three rods. Landed and released a six pound native buck and had two other take-downs. Heard of a twenty pounder being caught which was later verified by another fisherman. Light pressure today. 7 to 8 feet of visibility. Maybe there will be some fish this year! March 17, 1998 Thanks to Tee Fehr for the following information: Jere Crosby asked about the two bit access on the Skykomish when the property is sold. The property has been sold. The person selling the property has asked the new buyer to continue to allow fisherman access to the property under the same conditions. Word has it the the access will still be available. We all know how property values have risen and in a show of good faith maybe we should be giving a dollar instead of two bits. Let's say this would be a show of good faith. Mar 15, 1998 Thanks to: Doug Pearman We launched at the Sultan River and were fishing by 7:00 AM. There must have been a dozen boats ahead of us. The river was up a bit from earlier in the week (based on the USGS web page) and had great color. We backtrolled a couple of silver Hot Shot 35's with the obligatory single barbless. We were only halfway down through the Cracker Bar on the rip rap side when my rod doubled. As the oarsman I had to get us to the other side to anchor, so my sidekick Steve Thomas kept him on for the trip across the river. I fought the fish for several more minutes, a jump, and three of four solid runs before he was tired. A bright, estimated 8 lb native. Photos and a quick, soft release. The rest of the float was wet and uneventful. No other reports of fish on the river. Mar. 15, 1998 Thanks to Jere Crosby: Jeff Hale and myself shoved off the Cracker Bar at 8:30 A.M. behind roughly a dozen boats. What a day! Shirtsleeve weather and no wind by about 10 AM. When we reached the take-out at the Ben Howard there was lots of grousin going on. Nobody had seen a fish all day. The word was Olsen's guide service had gotten one. We smiled and didn't want to rub it in, but we had both hooked up and on flies; Jeff on a #2 black marabou pattern and mine a "rainbow" marabou,(lots of colors in it). Both fish were not far from the put in after most of the boats had raced through it. Besides fish, the talk at the takeout was "what's going to happin to our "two-bit" access when the property is sold? That site has been a part of Steelhead lore over many years. It's going to be a sad day if it's closed to anglers. Mar 11, 1998 Thanks to: wes I hit the Sky, in the Monroe area, after work. Weather conditions: Sunny and 60 degrees. Water conditions were low and clear. I had a pretty good idea I was in the right place but the wrong time. I only had a couple of hours to fish so I decided against leaving this section for better, shaded water. I took about five minutes of second, and triple guessing before I came to the conclusion that I may seriously be wasting my time out here. I stood tough, though, since I had that "fishy feeling" just pulsing through me. After about a half hour, the sun was getting the best of me. My confidence and my "fishy feeling" were almost completely gone. I moved down to this best part of the run and on the fifth cast, i felt that "soft" bump I was hoping for. I set the hook, hard!...a solid snag. SNAG? no way I thought! A half second later the snag gave me that familiar headshake I was hoping for and the dance was on!!! I knew I hooked into a big boy right away! He immediately went deep. I tried to keep him from going into the main current. He peeled off about 40 yards in his first run. Three hard head shakes couldn't lose me. I tried to gain some gound after his first run, but this bad boy had no part of that action. Once he felt me trying to gain line, he bolted outta there, BIG TIME! The second run was quite impressive, another 50 or so yards in about four seconds, and he STILL was in the soft water. I knew if he hit the main current I'd be toast. I strarted to get a bit nervious at this point. Just then he stopped dead cold, right in the seam. He wasn't more than two feet from the heavy current. I couldn't move him one inch. I am really getting nervous about now since I knew he was doing something bad down there and I couldn't do anything about it. After five, long, seconds, he bolted for his third run. This time he was coming at me, and I knew he was going to break the surface. As I an! ticipate a spectacular tail walk, all I see is this HUGE jaw bone, just barely break the surface, and my poor float flying back at me. The BIG BASTARD bit me off! The 8 lbs test that worked so well with the hatchery brats at Reiter was a JOKE! I ended the day with a quick trip to Sky Valley for some 14lbs test....THESE NATIVES ARE NASTY! March 10, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: The Skykomish River was what we opted for today. The Sky at was running at 2240 / 5.06 at 6 am while the Sultan was running at 186 / 3.7 at 6 am and at 211 / 4.2 by 6 pm. What does this mean? This simply means that the Skykomish above the Sultan River dropped through out the day, while the Skykomish below the Sultan River actually rose through out the day. I had two people today, and the weather seemed as though it would hold off from raining for most of the day, as it only rained for about an hour or so all day. We launched with about 2-3 feet of visibility, and the river on the rise, due to the Sultan River. When the river is on the rise the fishing usually tends to be off, as the day would prove. We had two good take downs, but both fish were missed. By the time we reached our take-out on the Snohomish we had a foot or less of visibility. All though we landed no fish, you can be assured that they are there. When the river comes back in it should be dynamite. Also, we have seen a batch of fresh hatchery fish on the Snoqualmie, and even a Silver that was not in too bad of shape. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll Free at (888) 204-5327 or (206) 609-5327 E-mail DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM March 7, 1998 Thanks to: Joe Blaseg Fished the Skykomish from Monroe down with the legendary Ole Olson. Hooked 3 fish in the first hour and managed to land one that went about 7 lbs. I also hooked one late in the day but lost it. Saw 2 other steelhead, both 7-8lbs., get caught as boats cut ahead of us in pools. Excellant day fishing and Ole is truly a class act and a tireless guide. March 7, 1998 Thanks to Charlie Malmgren for the following report: As usual, got on the river at the crack of noon. Two lovely ladies up front (my wife and her friend). Found nothing from our launch at Monroe till we got to the Llama Farm, and there had a vicious take down, which eluded the ladies grasp. That was it for our trip down to Douglas bar. March 7, 1998 Thanks to Brett Wedeking for the following report: I started fishing up river at high bridge and the water there was pretty low with at least six feet of visibility. I didn't hit anything there fishing shrimp under a float, so I headed down to Elwell Creek. There were two boats already there so I went all the way down to Tualco road access but there was nothing going in the way of fish there either. I did see one guy fishing with shrimp for Suckers for some reason. I decided not to say anything about the bait ban though. Now that the ban is in effect in the lower river it makes it kind of tough for bank anglers, limited pretty much to jigs and floats and in some spots plugs. I hope others had better luck than me.(I'm not condoning the use of bait by the person mentioned above) March 6, 1998 Thanks to Rod Bush for the following report: Fished the Skykomish on March 6th. The weather was great all day. The river was slightly low and about 5 feet of visibility. There were about ten boats on the river looking for the elusive steelhead. We hit a 8 lb. buck that fought like a fish that would have gone in the high teens. We got it on plug in the Two-bit Hole. Not a bite all day after that. Talked to the fish checker and he said that we had caught and released the only one out of the boats he had talked to and we were the last one coming off the river at Ben Howard. But, he had just witnessed two being caught right in front of the launch in the last 30 minutes. Too late we had already packed it up! Maybe a fresh run of fish pushing through? (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (206)399-7145 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter March 5, 1998 Thanks to Rod Bush for the following report: Had a half day trip on the Skykomish today. Put in at 11:00 am at Sultan. We hit our first fish at two bit on a plug. It was a buck of about nine pounds. After a couple pictures we released him back into the river. Our next fish hit in Elwell and took a quick thumb burning run for the tailout and then threw the hook. We got one more chance in the next hole down, and lost that one too. The water looks great-about five feet of visibility and just a hint of green. Talked to two flyfisherman that had just released a 14 pound fish. Not bad for a half day trip! (Rod Bush) River Otter Guide Service (206)399-7145 or rvrotter@gte.net http://www.greatnw.com/riverotter March 5, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: Fished the Skykomish today. The weather was great, and the water perfect at 1840cfs., and about 6 to 8 feet of visibility. The Skykomish itself was low but with the help of the Sultan, which was running high, the river was perfect. Fun-fished today, taking along a friend and his 11-year-old daughter. There were only a couple boats to be seen today, pretty quiet over all. We fished half the day before a takedown, which turned out to be a dandy, a 16lb. native buck. What a nice fish. About an hour later the left rod slammed down. This turned out to be a chrome native hen, again a beautiful fish. It is definitely time to get Catch and Release fever on the Skykomish. Keep your eyes open for those not abiding by the Catch and Release and or bait and hook restrictions. This is a Catch and Release only fishery from the Sultan to the mouth with single barbless hooks, no bait and fishing from a motorized boat is an absolute violation. This is a precious fishery we must protect. If you would like to Book a Trip and Experience the Finest Steelhead Fishing Washington has to offer, receive more information, a 1998 Schedule or just talk fish give us a call or E-mail us. Scott G. Fierst Professional Northwest Fishing Guide Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll Free at (888) 204-5327 or (206) 609-5327 E-mail DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM March 3, 1998 Thanks to Dennis Dickson for the following report: Today I am fishing a couple Doctors from Texas. They want to fish new water each day so we decided to start on the Sky. I have spent so much time on the Sauk and Skagit I almost forgot how many memories I have on this river. The river was low and clear. Not my favorite condition, but stayed overcast and it seemed we had the whole river to ourselves. The water was a cold 40 degrees at 10am. Air temp was 42. Visability was 7 feet. We started at the two-bit hole. Moved a nice fish in lower third of the flybar (across from Eagles nest) on a blue/purple marabou. Fish came unbuttoned when it rolled in the surface and ran straight upstream. Poor Frank had flyline draped all over him trying to catch up to that steelhead! A couple boats passed us, so we headed on down to Thunderbird. Didn't have any action here but it fished very well. Try fishing a light sinktip when the water is up. It looks like it will hold fish well. Did not fish the island drift because nobody was down in the IRS pool (view hole, barn hole). Dr. Yin rose a really good fish towards the tailout. This big buck ran and plowed and jumped all over. We finally got some nice pictures. He was still covered with sea lice. Frank put down the camera, grabbed his rod, waded out and hooked a steelhead on his second cast! Guess what? it ran upstream. Guess what? It came off! Poor Frank was about to cry. We headed up to Taylor Flats. A gear guy was in the water I wanted, so we ran on up to Jim's Rock. Somebody there too but we did manage to fish Taylor's after all. Fished well, no action. Stopped and checked licenses with the cutest game wardan I have ever seen! Anybody else seen this gal? She is a knockout. Sky appears to be intact from winter floods. It should have a nice native season. Tomorrow we will fish the Sauk. Dennis at www.flyfishsteelhead.com March 1, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: With the hard rains Saturday I wondered what the river would look like at 6am Sunday... As it turned out the Snoqualmie did not come up much, and the main river was in good shape, at 1500 cfs. The Raging River was mud, as was Tokul Creek and the Tolt, yet the Snoqualmie it self above Fall City still had 1 to 2 feet of visibility, not bad for the previous days down pour. We fished hard on top and after an hour had a good solid take down on a plug. After a brief battle the Chrome Native won and faded back into the depths. About another hour passed when the bait diver combo was taken to the liking of another fish, this one however got the bait and was not seen. We finished out the day with no more takes. We talked to some bank fishermen below Fall City whom had seen many good sized Steelhead rolling all morning and managed to hook into a few as well. The Natives are showing up everywhere in decent numbers, when the River gets back some clarity I expect it will be hot. If you would like to Book a Trip and Experience the Finest Steelhead Fishing Washington has to offer, receive more information, a 1998 Schedule or just talk fish give us a call or E-mail us. Scott G. Fierst Professional Northwest Fishing Guide Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll Free at (888) 204-5327 or (206) 609-5327 E-mail DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM Feb. 15, 1998 Thanks to Russ Wise for the following report: We put in at Sultan at about 5:30 am. The river was in nice shape at 5.2 feet and running at 3200 CFS with about 3+ feet of visibility. The weather was mostly sunny. I noticed about 10 other boats on the water. We plugged the usual holes pretty hard and boondogged as we traveled. We had one violent takedown in Thunderbird, we never got a chance to see the fish, so we moved on down to the afternoon hole where we landed a real nice 21 lb. 6 oz. Buck which we weighed in a release net and released him to be caught another day. He was slightly colored but still an awesome fish. And wouldn't you know it, my client was a first time angler. If you would like to see a picture of Bernie with his fish, you can log onto my new site at http://home1.gte.net/wisegyde/wiseguide.html Remember the Sky went to Selective fishery on March 1st. February 24, 1998 Thanks to Ted Fehr for the following report: Did the Sultan to Ben Howard float. Pulled plugs, floats and drifted eggs and shrimp. Hit one fish in the flats just below the Elwell hole. The fish was a native buck and weighed about 12 lbs. Fought like a native and showed us quite an aerial display. Caught this one on a backbounced spin-n-glo and sand shrimp. I saw three other fish caught. One at the Cracker Bar, one at the Two-Bit and one just above Ben Howard takeout. All were native except the one at the Two-Bit hole which was about a 5lb. hatchery fish. Natives are definintely in the river. By the way all natives were released like they are supposed to be. There were about 10-12 drift boats on the river. The people I saw were very respectful of each other and the fish caught were released expertly. Way to go guys. I wish we had the resource we had 20 years ago. Our smokers would be in overdrive! Wouldn't it be nice if the Indians did the same thing? Feb 23, 1998 Thanks to Wesley Chinn for the following report: There are fish all over the place. I've mainly been concentrating on the upper sky, but I also wet the line in the Monroe area. No fish taken from the reformatory area.(when I've been there), but the water looks good. Seen fish taken at both the Teepee hole and Reiter. Fish at Reiter are beginning to darken but I have seen a few chomers. Any news on the Natives? I keep hittin' the Monroe area with hopes of tagging a few but I still have yet to see any numbers roll in. I went out after work on Friday. I drove directly to the TEEPEE Hole, in an attempt to gain more confidence out there. Again, no luck! I walked all the way up to the big hole only to find a drift boat sitting right in the middle of the hole. This caused me to skip the middle/lower tailout and begin downstream a bit. Needless to say, I fished the rest of the drift like a dork and wasted about an hour or more. I had next to no confidence in what I was doing so I finished the drift and walked to the car. I bolted to Reiter to try my luck and see the water before it got dark. I hit Rieter at about 4:15pm, only six cars in the lot. Everyone was near the mouth of the creek. I gave them room and walked downstream. I hit a nice 12lbs buck just before it got dark, good color, but not a freshy. Got him on a pink, rabbit fur, dr john's. I was pretty happy. Went back at 6:00am on Saturday. Fished until about 2:00pm. My buddy had a good strike but was way too quick and yanked the hook out. It seemed like the rain kept the fish down tight. I saw about five get hooked and only two were landed. All the fish were hooked on drift gear, small peach corkies seemed to be the ticket. The float/jig fishermen got crushed by the drift/corky men that morning. I didn't see one float/jig combo with any takedowns. I think the constant rain kept them lower and "socked in." Feb 19, 1998 Thanks to Patrick Reilly for the following report: I started fishing at around 12-noon at the mouth of the Wallace, and fished hard for about 3 hours with not so much as a bite. I then went upriver above Goldbar. This turned out to be a good choice. Caught a 17 inch Dolly using a #4 spinner; nice fish. About an hour later, after switching to bait, I started to get some action. Got two good strikes that cleaned off my bait, then hooked and caught a small Hatchery Steelhead. It measured 25 inches, about a 5-6 pounder. Not the big Native fish that I was looking for, but I'm not complaining! Feb 17, 1998 Thanks to Ken Eslea for the following report: I know it's hard to believe but there are fish in the Sky and the river conditions are as good as they ever get. My clients and I have hit seven fish in the last couple of trips and there are no boaters on the river. If your readers need a sick note to get out of work I'll make up one. Boy's it's time. Get out the rods and get slammin'em. For those interested in a guided Steelhead trip, I still have a few days open the last week of February. Remember guys, the river changes over to catch and release on March 1st. Check out one of the year's last Metal Heads Ken Elsea fishwash@premier1.net Washington Fishing Adventures Feb 16, 1998 Thanks to Brett Wedeking for the following report: Arrived at McCoy Creek at 8:00, more than a half hour late. Fished there and below it. Fishing with straight eggs and a float I had one fish, (probably a Dolly) toy with me but it never took it all the way. Later I had one fish hit, roll on the surface, and spit the hook. That was it for the rest of the day for me. I saw about eight different boats but only saw one take a fish and that was down by the reformatory. Water was fairly low and had a good three feet of visibility. February 15, 1998 Thanks to Clint Crookshanks for the following report: Fished the Skykomish River above Gold Bar on Sunday. Tried different flies but didn't get a strike. February 8, 1998 Thanks to Lonnie Baird for the following report: Got up at 6 am and headed for the Sky, weather looked good and I was hoping for a good day today. I went straight to the Big Eddy hole and hiked up river to the "Flats". It's kinda' funny how everyone you meet has a different name for areas of the river, I used to call the spot I was headed for the "Garbage Dump Hole", because when we first started fishing it, there was a lot of junk all over, like old wheels and tires and rusted metal from all kinds of stuff. I had recently decided to start calling it the "Teepee' hole because there is a big white Teepee on a bluff on the other side. I was talking to some guys later at the boat launch area and they called it the "Horse Ranch Hole" because there is a horse ranch/rental place where the Teepee is!. Well whatever you want to call it that's where I was headed to fish the "skinny" water below the big hole. Today was my lucky day! I was running a blood red rabbit fur jig, tied to six inches of 8lb. leader under my float, through the slots. The water had good shape and flow, even though the level was a bit low. It didn't take long for the float to finally go under, I raised the tip of my 10 1/2 ft. graphite spinning rod and the battle was on! The fish took off straight for the middle of the river. I could tell by the speed she was going I would have to just let her run. After about a 40 yard dash she turned down river and started to come back toward me, I quickly regained line, as soon as I was able to get pressure back on her, she cleared the surface with a twist and took off again. After several more less strenuous runs I finally got her in, tailed her and saw that this was a hatchery fish and a good sized one at that. This was a spawned out female that was 31 in. long and weighed in at 10 1/2 lbs. Whew!, what would she have weighed before spawning?. One other thing, I had the river all to myself which was real nice, I heard that Reiter Pond opened on Saturday and that a lot of fish were taken. I went by there on my way back home, about 11:30am, and there were a lot of people there on both sides of the river, I did see quite a few fish being carried out but none were caught in the half hour or so I was there. February 8, 1998 Thanks to Dugan Harmon for the following report: Fished the Skyomish around the Lewis Street Bridge on Feb. 8th. My buddy Dave Hunt and I started casting flies at daylight and working our way through some nice holding water. The river was low (about 3.5') and with 4-5 feet of visability. Finally about 9:00, I was rewarded with a nice firm tug on an orange butted skunk. The fish made two nice runs, held for a while and then agreed to come to shore. It was a native buck around 25". We took a quick picture and then he was on his way back upstream. Fished for another couple of hours but with no more action. Feb 1, 1998 Thanks to Crosby Tackle for the following report: Jeff Hale, a flyfishing guide, and myself took in a feather dying seminar at Creekside Anglers* in Issaquah on Sat. On the way home to Fall City, I stopped and got a very disappointing report from fish checker, Tom Cox. One fish, a summer-run caught below the bridge was it for the day. We decided to try the Sky on Sun. The lot at the mouth of the Sultan was jammed with rigs. We were putting in behind them, which is what I like to do on Wk-ends. Armed with my new, hot, pink rubber worm rig and lots of big, bushy Marabous in florescent red and orange we headed down to the Ben Howard in what looked like ideal conditions; perfect water height,mild day and not much wind(it had been howling when I left Fall City). Perfect but for the fish! There were none. We didn't hear of a fish all day. There can be a distinct lull between the hatchery run and native returns. Typically, Feb. can be a slow time with Hatcheries ending in late Jan. and native returns peaking in mid-Mar. Let's hope the native return is much better. There are some indications it may be. Crosby Tackle Co. (425) 222-7556 Email: jcrosby@premier1.net Jan 31, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: I had two clients today, with the wind blowing hard on both the Snoqualmie and Skykomish Rivers today we chose the Sultan to Ben Howard Drift, as did everyone else for the day. The Monroe, Ben Howard, and Sultan lots were all packed full with vehicles and trailers. The Skykomish was at 4010cfs / 6.25 feet, with visibility around three or four feet. Over all, not bad, just windy. We launched around 9:00am fished the usual hole without success. Finally around 12:00, we had a take down on the middle rod (baitdiver and shrimp), the fish got the better part of the shrimp but managed to avoid the hooks. Ten minutes latter in the same hole the right rod slammed down hard, Mark came back real hard on it, but missed the fish, which from the take down appeared to be a nice fish. The plug came back with only scales and no fish. We sat in the hole for another half-hour and again the middle rod (bait diver and shrimp) went down. The hook was set, but the fish again escaped, leaving us a scale on the #2 trailer hook. We sat in the hole for a while longer with no further action, so we proceeded down river. We managed a few small ones on shrimp latter, but that was it for the day. The river had been producing well only days before, with a good mix of Hatchery and Native Steelhead, with so many sleds and driftboat on the River today maybe the fish were holding with lock jaw or moved up to the windy stretches, higher on the River. Only three fish were checked on the River as of 4:00 PM. Two were Summer and one a Winter fish, all Hatchery and no reports of Natives for the day. I bet if we checked the Nets in the Snohomish we would find plenty of Steelhead! Then again that is another sore subject of many, perhaps were better off not looking at the nets. The fish are out there, good luck! * If you would like to book a trip on the Snoqualmie, Skykomish or Sauk Rivers we are offering a special for the Month of February. Give us a call or E-mail for the details. See you on the River. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll free (888) 204-5327 E-mail: DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM Jan 31, 1998 Thanks to Lonnie Baird for the following report: Went up to the Skykomish this AM, The sky was just getting light as I passed through Sultan and the wind began to blow hard as the old fishn' wagon got bounced around a bit. I had a felling right then that it was not going to be a productive trip, not with that much wind! But I was already more than half way there so I decided to go for it anyway. The river was in great shape, good flow, good color too but wind gusts were actually blowing spray right off the surface! I'm not kiddin' when I say that some of those gusts had to be 25 to 35 mph. Well as you may have already guessed, NO FISH. Lots of drift boats on the river though, the launch areas at Sultan and Big Eddy were real crowded. I'm sure there are good numbers of fish in the river and I'm going back up Sunday to try again. Jan 31, 1998 Thanks to Charles Malmgren for the following report: Made the mistake of floating the Sky from Big Eddy to Sultan in the big wind last Saturday. Heard the term "blew my doors off"? My drift boat no longer has doors. Standing on the oars would keep the boat off of a plane, but just barely. There must have been a dozen of us fools fighting the wind that day, just trying to stay in the middle of the river. I guess the old standard, "If the flag is flappin at Sultan, turn around" is still valid. The bright spot on this piece of foolishness was that my brother Kelly and I found about 100 yards of calm river to fish, so we climbed out onto the bank and pitched bugs into the drift. About 20 yards into it, Kelly started heaving at what seemed like a log, hung in the seam. Wasn't no snag! After 6 strong runs, and about 20 minutes we were able to tail and release a chrome bright, 17# wild hen. I just love seeing those high, straight dorsal fins. p.s. QFC is selling hatchery Steelhead for $2.39/lb. If you love em' let em' go. Jan 29, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: Today, friend and fellow guide Rod Bush, Kelly Hobbs and I did a little fun fishing on the Skykomish River. The Sky was in great shape today, with a flow of 3770cfs / 6.1 feet, emerald green water, 4-feet of visibility and good numbers of both Hatchery and Native Winter Steelhead in the System. We hit the River at about 7:30 am, got into the first hole, let out the plugs and about ten minutes later the middle pole was bent down. Rod grabbed the Steelhead laden pole, set the hook, and fought a chrome Native Hen weighing about 9 or 10-pounds. I beached the boat, grabbed the camera, took a few pictures and released the fish. We fished a few more holes before the wind began to pick up, but had no further luck. We headed for the takeout and loaded up by 12:00, just before the forecasted wind and rain began. We talked to a few people whom were fishing the lower river. A bank fisherman said he had hit a nice Native Hen off the Cracker bar and released her, a guy in a driftboat had a hatchery Steelhead taken on a plug, also off the Cracker bar, and A couple guys in a sled also had a Hatchery Hen, taken on a baitdiver and sandshrimp. The Hatchery Steelhead are in the River now, along with excellent numbers of Native Steelhead showing up as well. It looks like were in for a dynamite Native Catch and Release season this year. Good fishing. See you on the River. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service Toll free: (888) 204-5327 E-mail: DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM January 22, 1998 Thanks to Lonnie Baird for the following report: I'm sure glad I have the job I do, because I can take a day off now and then to go FISHING! That's what I was able to do today and I'm glad I did. After hearing that we were in for rain almost all weekend I decided I should "Hit the River" before it was blown-out. I started out on the highway side below Reiter, didn't find any action there so after about an hour and a half I headed down to the Big Eddy hole. Oh, I was going to mention how spooky the hatchery hole is at Reiter. It sure seems weird not to see a bunch of guys there, anyway, I the head of the Big Eddy pool for awhile and thought I would go up river to what we call the "Garbage Dump" hole. As I got closer the "Flats" just below the big hole, it looked real good. The water was just right so I started running my rabbit fur jig through any likely looking slots. On the fourth or fifth cast through the second drift, it happened......the float went DOWN!. I raised my rod and there she was: a beautiful bright native hen. After she cleared the water three times and made four very strong runs, I was able to work her to shore, that's when I saw that lovely adipose fin. I knew I didn't want to take her out of the river so I got her into position and was able to reach the jig, which was firmly set, in the upper right corner of her mouth. What a great day, I had the river almost completely to myself, of course I missed the good company of my best fishing buddy, but it was fun telling him about it. January 21, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: Had one client today, Richard, from Ontario Canada. It rained during the night, but not enough to raise the River; today's forecast called for rain as well. The Skykomish still on the drop was at 3600cfs / 5.8 feet, with about four feet of visibility. The River again looked good as it had yesterday. We threw spoons and pulled plugs through the first five holes without any luck. Next, we anchored. Here we tossed eggs for a while. After about 15-minutes without success, Richard decided to try his luck with an Ontario Steelhead trick of his own, a sinking blue and white Rapala. On his second retrieve, he had a solid hook-up. (Besides using a Rapala, he also was using a 5-foot Shimano travel rod he had brought along) The fish made a few nice runs, before coming along side the boat; here I could see it was a Down Stream Buck . (Spawned summer Run Steelhead) The fish was 32-inches long, probably weighing around 11 or 12 pound 6-months ago, but now no more than 7-pounds. The fish was tailed, measured and released. A few hours passed before we had another takedown. This time in a tailout on a plug. This Steelhead was real hot, reminiscent of one from the previous day, running hard and jumping many times. After a fight of about 10-minutes, the fish, A Native Hen Steelhead measuring 34-inches (about 13 to 14-pounds) was tailed, measured, photographed and released. We finished out the day free-drifting eggs, but had no further luck. The sky broke open and the rains began as we reached the take-out, other than that the days weather was good, subtract the wind and it would have been great. If you are interested in a Guided Drift Trip on the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Sauk or Peninsula Rivers, would like more information, or just to talk fish you can either call our Toll-free number or drop us a note on our E-mail. See you on the River. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service (888) 204-5327 E-mail: drftingfly@aol.com January 20, 1998 Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: With the weather holding nicely, we headed for the Skykomish River which had been on a steady drop from 7400cfs on 1-17-98, today we had a reading of 4400cfs / 6.2 feet, with about 4-feet of visibility, just perfect for the drift we chose today. The third hole we fished sent the middle rod down, not hard but Salmon like. (Soft pulls) On the forth take, the hook was set. After a short fight, the fish was brought to the side of the boat where we could see it was a Silver. This is very late in the year for silvers, but not unheard of. I had heard reports of bright Silvers caught a few weeks earlier on the lower river. I beached the boat, tailed the fish and released it. It was a hen about 8-pounds and still in good shape, appearing to have not yet spawned. About an hour went by before we got any more action. This time the right rod went down. After about 10-minutes, an 8-pound Buck Winter Run Hatchery Steelhead was boated. A few holes down the middle rod again went down. This time we boated a Chrome Bright sea lice laden 10-pound Winter Hatchery Hen Steelhead. This was a hot fish, breaking the surface and displaying aerial maneuvers like an Olympic gymnast. We'll be back out tomorrow. See you on the River. Scott G. Fierst Drifting Fly Guide Service (888) 204-5327 E-mail: DRFTING FLY@AOL.COM January 20, 1998 Thanks to Karl Casey for the following report: I live up in Big Bend above the High Bridge and I have seen a couple taken along that stretch in the last couple of days. All were bright hatchery fish. The river conditions are excellent as of today. Editor's note: We've been starting to get some favorable reports coming in, particularly on the Sky. Check out Rod Bush (guide) for a great time to hit the river! Mike Carey - Editor, Seattle Region* January 19, 1998 Thanks to Rod Bush for the following report: The Skykomish is getting some fish!!!!!!! I got my clients into two on fly rods yesterday and I saw two others caught. January 10, 1998 Thanks to Karl Nelson for the following report: My fishing buddy (Erich F.) and I hit the Snoqualmie River early at the first hint of dawn, Jan. 10th. Fighting the symptoms of sleep depravation, we rigged our poles and got ready for a hot day of fishing. Our pray was steelhead. We fished the Snoqualmie at the mouth of the Tolt; a popular spot for shore fisherman like ourselves. The water looked clear as gin, back-washed with bits of last night's guacamole dip. The air was bitter-bitter cold and we had to periodically break ice from the eyes of our rods. We were happy to see a few other fishermen braving the cold. This early in the morning, they looked either sleep depraved like us, or like Monroe inmates out on day-passes. We repeatedly tossed corkies and yarn into the ripples and patiently waited with numb fingers for the feel of the bite. After two hours of fishing, the only hint of fish was the smell of Erich's armpits penetrating layers of garments. The cold chased us back to the comfort of my sports utility vehicle and we headed down the road towards Monroe and the Skykomish River. We followed the river east, driving the Ben Howard Road stopping at choice spots along the way. Talking with fellow bank anglers, we found out that no one was catching fish except perhaps a whitefish here or there. Nevertheless, we set out anew and pushed forth to the famous Cracker Barrel hole in Sultan. A couple jet boats were aggressively throttling up and down the hole. They were working the Cracker Barrel as if in utter despair. We saw a good dozen people fishing both banks of the river, all empty handed. We began upriver and eased our way down the hole, casting a variety of corkies and yarn, aeroflies and spinners. A bald eagle took off over head, circled once or twice then landed on our side of the river. He too was obviously distraught over the lack of fish. And then, wham! A jet boat nails one and the fight is on. From our vantage, we see the fish fight like Iron Mike with a piece of ear stuck in its mouth. They skillfully battle the fish and after about ten minutes, bring aboard a fresh, bright 10-pound steelie. A small amount of froth formed in the corners of my mouth. We began casting in the general location of where they hooked up. Meanwhile the same jet boat motors upriver and maneuvers back into position. Wham! The jet boat nails another. The boat drifts past us fighting another Iron Mike. What was the secret? Erich and I finished the day empty handed but not defeated. We will be back. January 10, 1998 Thanks to Charles Malmgren for the following report: Walked into a drift on the Upper Sky near Goldbar on Saturday afternoon to throw some flies at whatever was around. Water temp was 38, and had about 4' of visibility so I anticipated an even chance of hooking up. It appeared that I was a bit late, as the group before spoke of 6 hookups, one being a large wild fish (released). After three hours of picking ice out of my guides I headed out. While working through the drift I was visited by a lovely pair of WDFW enforcement ladies out visiting the troops. They had seen no fish, but had only been in the upper stretch (Goldbar to above Index). Well worth reeling in and wading out for a license check. On the way home I stopped in at a launch to talk to a guide who was pulling out. He had seen three taken from Sultan to Monroe that day, but had no hook-ups himself. For previous year's reports, click on Skykomish 97.