Skagit River Report 1/25/08

Posted on January 30, 2008
Filed Under Skagit Steelhead Weekly River Report |

Stick a fork in the hatchery fish..they’re done! Angler’s are still picking off 1 or 2 hatchery fish a day, most of the hatchery fish have been caught below the Sauk river. There was 30,000 smolt planted in the Sauk two years ago and these fish typically return a little later then the Cascade and Barnaby fish. However the Wild Steelhead are increasing in strength every day. Several of the fish being landed are big guys! We are seeing quite a few fish with gill net marks on them, commercial Steelhead fishing is going on right now in the Skagit, if you are planning a trip you can always check the Tribal gill netting hot line at 360 466 4112, it announces the days they are scheduled to fish. I have heard that they don’t always follow this schedule due to ceremonial fishing. The upper Skagit above the Sauk has almost unlimited visibility, and dam flows are pretty consistent. The Sauk is adding a tiny bit of color into the Rockport to Concrete stretch of the river. The Skagit below Concrete looks great in the morning before the Baker river dam releases, and then it turns into 2-3 feet of visibility. By the time the river settles out near Hamilton, it’s a lovely shade of Steelhead Green. Plunkers in the Mount Vernon area have had some good days and some bad days(typical January on the Skagit). However most of the plunkers are reporting large fish over twenty pounds.

Sturgeon fishing has slowed due to tremendous pressure, a popular fishing magazine just did an article about Skagit Sturgeon fishing so there has been an emphasis for Sturgeon in the last week. Sturgeon fishing is good on the Skagit, but the numbers of fish aren’t huge. When three or four guys are working the same water every day it will slow down. It remains a sustainable fishery because the crowds always thin out after a few skunk days.

Dollie Varden fishing is OK at best, we just aren’t seeing the numbers of years past. You can still pick off a few if you specifically target them. Free drifting a single #14 peach corky, and a #4 hook on a five foot leader is a pretty good setup. Or a floating Rapalla in the two tone grey color works pretty good as well.

Boat launches are in rough shape, the Rockport ramp takes a special finesse with a guy in the boat, and a guy in the truck. Fabers is all muddy and has some nasty rocks in the water. Birdsview is pretty much not worth going to, it’s definitely a 4×4 only ramp and still is pretty scary. It has a paved part but don’t use it, there is a 12 inch drop off that will surely high center your axle.

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