2024 Skagit Steelhead

[Smalma]

Chris -
Am hanging in there.

Without a doubt the gear guys do significantly better than the fly angler and generally the boat anglers do better than the shore anglers regardless of the gear type. Forcing folks to fish from the bank regardless of whether gear or fly would reduce the catch (just fish that can not be effectively reach. With the popularity of personal watercraft, fishing with floats and jigs/beads/worms not sure forcing the Sauk boat anglers to the bank would buy a lot of relief and suspect it would actually increase the interactions between the gear and fly anglers.
Curt

 

[_WW_]

Is there a breakdown of what is the most efficient angler - boat or bank and is there a breakdown of gear to fly - I looked around to find the creel results from past open seasons - with no success. I am very curious to see those numbers broken out. I was on the coast last week and got checked by a fish checker and they asked a number of questions for data.

Instead of a closure - they could push everyone to the bank and reduce encounters by a rather large percentage. The boat gear guys eat those percentages up and with all the other systems in the state closed, popularity of an open river systems is really appealing.

I hope all is well with ya Curt.

I think the least appealing aspect of that is it would create more division amongst anglers. Remember the resource is for everyone. If fly guys feel the need to catch more fish then they should consider changing methods.

 

[Jake Watrous]

If fly guys feel the need to catch more fish then they should consider changing methods.

Not yet, man. I just bought a new box of toothpicks.

 

[speedbird]

Hit three or four runs in the Sauk and two on the skagit with my buddy. Skunking as usual besides a very pretty Bully from my buddy @BigFishRandy but definitely a good trip where I explored new water and discovered some productive runs. Saw not one but two anglers loose a fish at the last one we hit on the Sauk. One was very nice, in the 15lb size class. I only got a glimpse of its impressive tail. Was a great trip minus leaving my wallet at the Mt Vernon Olive Garden and having to drive all the way back

 

[_WW_]

Did you see anyone trying to pet the elk?

 

[speedbird]

Did you see anyone trying to pet the elk?

No surprisingly

 

[Josh]

Was a great trip minus leaving my wallet at the Mt Vernon Olive Garden and having to drive all the way back

Yeah, but Never-Ending Soup or Salad and Breadsticks. So at least you got that going for you.

 

[M_D]

Did you see anyone trying to pet the elk?

we’re not supposed to do that?

What’s the worst that could happen?

 

[Dustin Chromers]

Chris -
Am hanging in there.

Without a doubt the gear guys do significantly better than the fly angler and generally the boat anglers do better than the shore anglers regardless of the gear type. Forcing folks to fish from the bank regardless of whether gear or fly would reduce the catch (just fish that can not be effectively reach. With the popularity of personal watercraft, fishing with floats and jigs/beads/worms not sure forcing the Sauk boat anglers to the bank would buy a lot of relief and suspect it would actually increase the interactions between the gear and fly anglers.
Curt

The no boat fishing rule actually wrecked the experience of steelhead fishing on the peninsula. I hate side drifting with a passion as it's just a boat race and courtesy as well as skill left the room with its advent in popularity. However that said the same discourteous anglers are now pushed onto the bar I want to fish. The end result, I stopped fishing. They can have it. This was less of a moral decision and more of a decision based on the fact I didn't want to spend my time fighting over a fishing spot in my backyard. Long story short I would rather have them drift over, through, below, and above me because they are at least gone in a few moments. Perhaps a rule about fishing out of a moving boat would work but then again we don't enforce the rules we have. I've accepted that it's simply over. I no longer wish to participate aside from a token few afternoons after the crowds subside to walk the river and maybe hook a fish or two. There should be collective shame at the state of a once great fishery. Popularity and lazy tactics have rendered steelhead angling something I no longer wish to participate in on the coast. A side drifted fish is a participation trophy and souless as an achievement.

 

[BigFishRandy]

Hit three or four runs in the Sauk and two on the skagit with my buddy. Skunking as usual besides a very pretty Bully from my buddy @BigFishRandy but definitely a good trip where I explored new water and discovered some productive runs. Saw not one but two anglers loose a fish at the last one we hit on the Sauk. One was very nice, in the 15lb size class. I only got a glimpse of its impressive tail. Was a great trip minus leaving my wallet at the Mt Vernon Olive Garden and having to drive all the way back

View attachment 103876

View attachment 103877

What a trip.

 

[dabobbay]

Swung the Sauk Saturday and the Skagit today. Lots of people out but nobody I spoke to had found a fish. Beautiful and dry weekend to be out.

First season on this river system and there sure is a lot to take in. The river seems pretty low recently. Any advice on flows you like to look for that make it easier for bank anglers?

 

[Chris DeLeone]

I think the least appealing aspect of that is it would create more division amongst anglers. Remember the resource is for everyone. If fly guys feel the need to catch more fish then they should consider changing methods.

There are definitely a lot of complexities to all of this. TLDR: I would love to see more data. I don't think a resource can be managed well without measuring it on a consistent basis. It would allow us to see the results by type of angler and their efficiency. Right now, there may be inequalities that can be managed, but we just don't know it. My point is, let's just say that boat/gear anglers are taking 85% of the allotted percentage, I would a least like to know how its broken out before I make decisions on our angling methods throughout a season. If the resource is for everyone and one group is consistently eating up a larger percentage of the encounters, wouldn't it be fair to have an analysis of it, if the season is cut short?

I am a big waterfowl hunter. In Washington state we are not allowed to use battery operated decoys - they really bring in the birds in parts of the season. They provide an advantage with realistic movement in a decoy spread, but I am fine with not using them here in Washington state because it allows everyone to have some of the most liberal bag limits and season lengths in the US: 7 greenheads per day and we hunt until the end of January - which is a nice long season. Some states stop hunting the first or second week of January and they are allowed to use those battery powered decoys. We understand that that limit gives us an extended season and agree as waterfowlers with the state and their bag limits to keep the season longer.

Right now, I am leaning toward closing a season or two early because we've hit our collective allotment, I am just really happy we can fish. If we had data, I may try to influence folks to ask for limited angling methods but right now the best solution is unclear because we don't have data or don't have access to review that data.

That is all I'm saying Wayne - I would just like to know.
I hope you and your family are well!

 

[speedbird]

There are definitely a lot of complexities to all of this. TLDR: I would love to see more data. I don't think a resource can be managed well without measuring it on a consistent basis. It would allow us to see the results by type of angler and their efficiency. Right now, there may be inequalities that can be managed, but we just don't know it. My point is, let's just say that boat/gear anglers are taking 85% of the allotted percentage, I would a least like to know how its broken out before I make decisions on our angling methods throughout a season. If the resource is for everyone and one group is consistently eating up a larger percentage of the encounters, wouldn't it be fair to have an analysis of it, if the season is cut short?

I am a big waterfowl hunter. In Washington state we are not allowed to use battery operated decoys - they really bring in the birds in parts of the season. They provide an advantage with realistic movement in a decoy spread, but I am fine with not using them here in Washington state because it allows everyone to have some of the most liberal bag limits and season lengths in the US: 7 greenheads per day and we hunt until the end of January - which is a nice long season. Some states stop hunting the first or second week of January and they are allowed to use those battery powered decoys. We understand that that limit gives us an extended season and agree as waterfowlers with the state and their bag limits to keep the season longer.

Right now, I am leaning toward closing a season or two early because we've hit our collective allotment, I am just really happy we can fish. If we had data, I may try to influence folks to ask for limited angling methods but right now the best solution is unclear because we don't have data or don't have access to review that data.

That is all I'm saying Wayne - I would just like to know.
I hope you and your family are well!

It would be neat and useful scientific data, but I always figured not knowing what the best gear was is just part of fishing. When we choose to use flies to fish for Steelhead, we are accepting that we are going to encounter drastically less fish, and I am not sure if I would support using regulations to artificially increase the amount of fish we encounter. I would support things like fly only regulations for example when they allow a higher utilization of allowed take without taking opportunity from other anglers. For example, in years when encounters from the largely troll based gear fleet would be too high on a Puget sound coho season into October, but a shore fly only fishery would still leave encounters left on the table, fly only regulations are a great way to create maximum fish caught. Or with this fishery, lets say by March 31st, it is projected that with the current encounter rates we will surpass allowable encounters, we could make April a swung fly only fishery to extend the season

 

[_WW_]

There are definitely a lot of complexities to all of this. TLDR: I would love to see more data. I don't think a resource can be managed well without measuring it on a consistent basis. It would allow us to see the results by type of angler and their efficiency. Right now, there may be inequalities that can be managed, but we just don't know it. My point is, let's just say that boat/gear anglers are taking 85% of the allotted percentage, I would a least like to know how its broken out before I make decisions on our angling methods throughout a season. If the resource is for everyone and one group is consistently eating up a larger percentage of the encounters, wouldn't it be fair to have an analysis of it, if the season is cut short?

I am a big waterfowl hunter. In Washington state we are not allowed to use battery operated decoys - they really bring in the birds in parts of the season. They provide an advantage with realistic movement in a decoy spread, but I am fine with not using them here in Washington state because it allows everyone to have some of the most liberal bag limits and season lengths in the US: 7 greenheads per day and we hunt until the end of January - which is a nice long season. Some states stop hunting the first or second week of January and they are allowed to use those battery powered decoys. We understand that that limit gives us an extended season and agree as waterfowlers with the state and their bag limits to keep the season longer.

Right now, I am leaning toward closing a season or two early because we've hit our collective allotment, I am just really happy we can fish. If we had data, I may try to influence folks to ask for limited angling methods but right now the best solution is unclear because we don't have data or don't have access to review that data.

That is all I'm saying Wayne - I would just like to know.
I hope you and your family are well!

Every time I get checked I am asked what method I am using. The information is there. Gear fishermen can fish water that is nearly impossible for me to present a fly in. I'm okay with that - it keeps them out of my way.

I can imagine that somewhere on the web there are gear guys complaining that fly guys take up all the good bank access sites. Then we have the guys using fly rods and lines with bobbers and beads. And some, (I won't mention any names) that throw Well's Spoons with their spey rods.

 

[_WW_]

Anyone running shuttles on the Skagit or Sauk?

 

[charles sullivan]

There are definitely a lot of complexities to all of this. TLDR: I would love to see more data. I don't think a resource can be managed well without measuring it on a consistent basis. It would allow us to see the results by type of angler and their efficiency. Right now, there may be inequalities that can be managed, but we just don't know it. My point is, let's just say that boat/gear anglers are taking 85% of the allotted percentage, I would a least like to know how its broken out before I make decisions on our angling methods throughout a season. If the resource is for everyone and one group is consistently eating up a larger percentage of the encounters, wouldn't it be fair to have an analysis of it, if the season is cut short?

I am a big waterfowl hunter. In Washington state we are not allowed to use battery operated decoys - they really bring in the birds in parts of the season. They provide an advantage with realistic movement in a decoy spread, but I am fine with not using them here in Washington state because it allows everyone to have some of the most liberal bag limits and season lengths in the US: 7 greenheads per day and we hunt until the end of January - which is a nice long season. Some states stop hunting the first or second week of January and they are allowed to use those battery powered decoys. We understand that that limit gives us an extended season and agree as waterfowlers with the state and their bag limits to keep the season longer.

Right now, I am leaning toward closing a season or two early because we've hit our collective allotment, I am just really happy we can fish. If we had data, I may try to influence folks to ask for limited angling methods but right now the best solution is unclear because we don't have data or don't have access to review that data.

That is all I'm saying Wayne - I would just like to know.
I hope you and your family are well!

The duck hunting decoy analogy is a good one.

I get to hunt the elk rut with a bow. That is why I choose that season.

There is a lot of parallels to hunting reg's.

I think we all know the basic difference in effectiveness. The big issue is that we are in a management paradigm where we are required to count all the fish that have been caught. This will naturally pit more effective gear choices vs. less effective gear choices. This tends to divide anglers as a whole. I don't know of any way around it.

 

[Creatch’r]

Edited

 

[Pink Nighty]

Last year the sauk and skagit didn’t open until prime time. The river was loaded with fish that hadn’t seen a boat or a lure and were basically sitting ducks ready to chew the laces off your boots. It’s not surprising to me catch rates were really high, even for spey anglers. For the month of the fishery there wasn’t a single blow out day and only one pretty minor bump in flows, otherwise things were steady. People got locked in! Before we start worrying about the river closing early let’s see what Mother Nature gives us because it’s not as easy to consistently hammer em with a more dynamic water table. One blow out weekend makes a difference.

Swinging flies is a personal choice man. It’s fun, it’s rewarding but it’s certainly less effective. And it’s not up to you how others make their own choices with their time and money. I think the opportunity to change regs was lost after Occupy Skagit. The river was closed perpetually and there was no opportunity to take away only to give, so it was the perfect time to make regulation adjustments to restrict boat fishing, guides or even a fly only season. All of which I was really in favor of at that time because I knew exactly what was coming. But that time has long passed IMO and at this point, any talk of further restrictions is just another stain on our little niche community and we don’t need that in 2024.

Man you really know how to make a fella feel ashamed of their skunking last season....

 

[Stonedfish]

Looking wet starting this coming Sunday.
SF

 

[Creatch’r]

Man you really know how to make a fella feel ashamed of their skunking last season....

If that number of 2600 encounters last season that Smalma quoted is the real number that’s pretty damn wild. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was out there throwing my back out lifting chromers with a shovel all day but rereading my hasty post I see it comes across that way. I was more trying to say I think the catch rate had something to do with the late opening, the steady fishable conditions and of course the high level of effort and I don’t think that’s always gonna be the case. At the end of the day the management plan is still the most conservative out there, it’s already limited by the amount of river miles open and it’s only 5 days a week with the most monitoring I’ve ever seen personally. You start trying to further regulate it at this point and it just comes across the wrong way IMHO. If it ever closes down early then that seems like it’s just another sign the management plan is working as it should. Cheers.