Murky Water Swingin' - Skykomish River Report

With the Endangered Species Act season quickly approaching causing most Puget Sound rivers to close January 31, we decided to hit the Skykomish on Sunday, regardless of river conditions. The clouds dumped the two days before shooting the river up to about 15,000 CFS. The Skykomish fishes decently anytime it drops below about 10,000 CFS, so we decided to play it by ear.  Woke up Sunday and made a game time decision.



Skykomish River January 25th, 2015

Flowing about 13,000 CFS Sunday morning, it was dropping quickly. We decided that waiting until mid morning to launch would give the river some time to clear. After a breakfast sandwich and a couple cups of coffee, we rolled into High Bridge/Big Eddy access about 9:30. The river was still running hard at 12,000 CFS. She was high and swift, but surprisingly there was hint of green and about 1’ – 1 ½’ of visibility.
High water allowed for an easy launch and made our trek down the sketchy boulder field below the railroad tracks a walk in the park. It’s always interesting to see the river in different conditions. Many of the typical spots where we have hooked fish in the past were not there or the water was cooking through way too fast. We stopped at we have deemed “one fish hole”. I’m sure there is a different name for this stretch, but this spot seems to consistently put out one fish of some kind. Today was no different.

Skykomish River Dollies

We parked the boat river right and got ready to swing. With low visibility, we decided to wade in no more than knee deep and fish the shallow water right next to the shore. T-11 is too much for two feet of water… It’s funny how it takes twenty minutes to tie a fly you are so proud of and two seconds to lose it in the rocks. After a couple lost flies and a few “choice” words, too lazy to change tips, we were back in with lighter flies. Mine a black intruder and Katie’s a pink bunny leach. After retying, I went down river below the boat and Katie went above. Half way through my swing, I pick my nose, look up at the bluebird sky, and then peek up river to see Katie’s rod in full bend and water swirling in front of her. Seeing the head pop out of the water at first I think steelhead, but after getting closer, it was monster dolly varden. Hooked in about 8 inches of water right next to where the boat was parked. Snap some pics and off it goes back to its cloudy home. That was it from “One Fish hole”. On we went.

We played hop scotch with a couple other groups of fly fisherman all day, and as they were in some of our normal runs, we decided to pull over on a place I hadn’t fished before. With the water swift, and basketball sized boulders in about 8” of water along the shore, I pulled a not-so-graceful sideways drift boat parking job slamming into the shore at the top of a run. Just before my crash job into the bank we see 4 or 5 large shadows swimming all different directions and tails splashing out of the water. This caused several more of those “choice” words. But it did confirm that in murky water you fish the shallows next to the shore!! Fished down a ways to no avail with the wind howling and then continued our quick float down river.



Skykomish Swingin

One or two more spots swinging through along the way. Katie hooked a second dolly that was long distance released. This one on a white bunny. I have always heard to use big and black in muddy water to create a large, easy to see profile of a fly. I didn’t get a tug or a sniff all day fishing large and black. Katie fished medium flies in bright colors and hooked two fish. So much for the large and dark in dirty water theory. But that’s fishing.

Pulled into Sultan about 3:00 pm and heard of no fish caught. But the best advice to give any fisherman is to go every chance you get, every time you can, and learn. I’ve never fished the Skykomish River in conditions like this, and it was definitely and exciting learning experience.

  

 

 

 

Is it Fall Already?

Fall time in the Pacific Northwest normally consist of rain storms, blown out rivers, and fantasy football. It is also about filling the freezer with salmon. It is now mid October and we are just starting to feel the effects of fall. It has been dry and the rivers have been running low and clear. The past few years have seen solid runs of coho salmon staging themselves in the Puget Sound waiting for the first rains and an opportunity to make their journey up stream. And the rains have been late.

 

 

Fall Coho

This fall has been dry, rain is just beginning, but the salmon have been making their way up river. We have hit the Skykomish river several times and had the holes all to ourselves. This is a rarity out there. Low river flows below 1000 CFS have scared people away and kept the jet boats away from the Sultan and Monroe boat launches. It was so low it kept most drift boats away as well. We have made the float from Sultan Monroe several times, and have also fished from shore around the Sultan area and have managed a couple fish.

 

Salmon season is a great time to learn the ropes of fly fishing. A common term is “lock jaw” but these fish are willing to take a fly in the rivers. Fishing early morning hours is a must and lockjaw does seem to happen when the sun gets high in the sky. Pink and Purple bunny strip egg sucking leaches will catch just about everything that swims in a river, including Coho. You can swing them with a spey rod, dead drift under and indicator, or slow strips near the bottom with these ESL's. Small twitchy strips in a slow swing on the spey rod with a fast sinking poly leader and 3 ft of mono seemed to work well. Any fish on a spey rod is fun, and you can find Coho, Bull Trout, Sea Run Cutthroat and whatever else is swimming around this way. The best part about fall is that all these fish are there!

There's something about fishing rivers that I love much more than any other body of water, but if it doesn’t rain, it doesn’t rain. So the smart move is to hit the salt water. We had an opportunity to roll over to the Hood Canal and cast for more silvers. We hit one first thing in the morning  chucking gear, and a couple sea run cutties on the fly but that was the end of the action.

 

This rain should push fish up the river (and fisherman) and we should start seeing some  chums roll in as well which are always a fun battle. Fall is one of the best times of the year in the PNW. It is much more fun to fish when the river is full of action and splashing fish with the orange trees in the background.