Lower Skagit March Opener

[M_D]

Thank you. I've gotten similar info from a couple other people here and the guys at the local fly shop. I'm feeling pretty good about it and once I saddle up I'm sure I'll be doing my usual stupid shit in no time

I'm actually pretty excited to try out a new to me fishery

 

[charles sullivan]

Sounds like a good spot to initially explore by paddling a canoe or kayak.

Because those are safer?
I would rather be in a power boat than a raft. Canoes are as dangerous as crystal meth, or at least any hair dresser named crystal.

 

[Matt B]

Because those are safer?
I would rather be in a power boat than a raft. Canoes are as dangerous as crystal meth, or at least any hair dresser named crystal.

Well sure, if you suck at canoeing, it’s dangerous as all get out, same as power boating. If you are competent, they excel in shallow water where a prop just won‘t work, and the consequences of running into a sandbar are a lot lower. A canoe can be portaged, a 14’ smokercraft and 15hp OB…less so. That’s what I was thinking.
I have seen people who simply cannot stay stable in any canoe. I’ve been in canoes with them, even.

 

[Josh]

I just don't want to have to paddle upstream.

 

[charles sullivan]

Well sure, if you suck at canoeing, it’s dangerous as all get out, same as power boating. If you are competent, they excel in shallow water where a prop just won‘t work, and the consequences of running into a sandbar are a lot lower. A canoe can be portaged, a 14’ smokercraft and 15hp OB…less so. That’s what I was thinking.
I have seen people who simply cannot stay stable in any canoe. I’ve been in canoes with them, even.

I suck at canoeing.

I do not like padling. I prefer rowing.

 

[BDD]

I'd like to look into the spring season on the lower Skagit a bit more for cutts and bulls.

Funny folks keep mentioning the chum fry (both on here and on the internet) when the chum returns have been critically low for what seems like over a decade now. When you only have a few thousand coming back, how many fry can you really produce? The north Puget Sound chum collapse is heartbreaking, considering how far the fall has been from a couple of decades ago.

I got a bike for Christmas when I was 12. I would ride down to the Highway 9 bridge over the Skagit and plunk worms for cutthroat...beautiful fish. I don't even recall what time of year it was, I saw others so hopefully I was not fishing out of season. At 12 years old, I knew there were seasons but its not like I read the regulations or worried about my license.

I remember running on my first (and only) sandbar just upstream from Sedro Woolley when in my mid 20s. I was with a couple friends. The water was clear and I could see bottom. I was expressing how cool it was to be running in very shallow water when all of a sudden, it dawned on me what we were doing and I did exactly the wrong thing...I panicked, slowed down, coming off plane and we settled right on the bottom. If I would have kept my cool, we would have buzzed right over it. Luckily we were able to all jump out of the boat and it floated off bottom. We walked along the sandbar holding on to the side of the boat and one by one, climbed back in as it got deeper. A good lesson learned with only a bit of pride damaged. On another trip we ran out of gas in Hamilton with the same group of guys. We beached the boat on a gravel bar and drew straws as to who would go ask a local resident for gas, which was just a short walk away. Fortunately, those are the worst things I can think of happening to me while boating.

After experiencing the stability and comfort of a flatbottom jet boat, various wide model rafts and pontoon boats, even my 10 foot pram, I don't feel the need to ever use a kayak or canoe in moving water. For me, I just don't feel the benefits justify the risks. Probably the reason I never got into canoe/kayak sales.

 

[Matt B]

Okay now, the part of the river we are talking about, I don’t think a raft or a pontoon or really anything you row is very practical. Is it? It’s not really a put in, float down, take out situation. Technically moving water but...barely.
A used canoe is a few hundred bucks and fits on top of most cars and lots of people have access to them. A used jetboat is $15k or more and you need a truck to pull it and not many people have access to them. And if you run it up on a sandbar, you’re probably in deep shit for a while.
I have a canoe. I don’t know anyone with a jet boat. I was going off my experience and situation, sorta figured M_D might be in a similar situation since he was asking about using the boat he already has to go after some cutts, not getting a dadgum jet boat.

 

[M_D]

It's all good, guys. Matt was just providing some options.

Before I started this thread I was strongly considering picking up a kayak and doing Mike Cline's last mile first thing, but it's time for me to either start using this boat again...or sell it. And I figured the lower Skagit is a good place to give it a go since it is so mellow.

That said, I'm having a hard time seeing myself have the cajones to keep it up on a plane should I start seeing the bottom come up

 

[Salmo_g]

I just don't want to have to paddle upstream.

I've used my canoe to go with the ebb tide from Conway (on the South Fork) and then come back upstream with the flood tide. Worked pretty well, but I don't remember catching any fish that day either.

 

[Matt B]

I've used my canoe to go with the ebb tide from Conway (on the South Fork) and then come back upstream with the flood tide. Worked pretty well, but I don't remember catching any fish that day either.

But, you survived! Amazing.

 

[kerrys]

But, you survived! Amazing.

He got lucky.

Although I’ve done basically the same float out of Wiley Slough and caught several fish.

 

[master baiter]

Does this fishery really require a watercraft, or are there any places to fish with bank access?

 

[kerrys]

Does this fishery really require a watercraft, or are there any places to fish with bank access?

There are places that you can fish from the bank. Several WDFW accesses, a couple of parks, and places where roads are close to the river. Be careful scrambling up over dikes to get to the river. Most of the dikes are owned by dike districts and most limit public access. Almost all of the property along the lower river is privately owned land.

 

[M_D]

I've haven't contributed for a while so I thought I'd share this even though it's not much of a report....

I've made 3 outings to the lower river in the last 5 weeks or so and I've found the learning curve to be kinda steep. This stretch of the river seems like the muddy Mississippi...or any other flatland river in the midwest where I grew up....and nothing like the up river stretches I'm more familiar with.

The good news is I haven't needed a helmet and cape, water wings, or a sleeping bag.

The not so good new is I haven't needed my net, either.

Attempting to 'read' the river has been challenging. I've found that pretty much all I'm doing is using Google Maps and looking for slower moving water and then using my depth finder to figure out how deep it is since visibility is has only been 1-3 feet....and in the process I figure I'm likely scaring off any bull trout I'm hoping to tangle with.

My first outing was downstream from Mt. Vernon and I didn't die...so that was a plus.

I guess I found some decent water (although I didn't realize it at the time) cuz there was a drift netter working it for springers this past Monday. That said, I swung and stripped these guys through there but didn't do jack.



For the next outing, I decided to head further down stream after getting some intel from Brandon at the local fly shop. I worked one of the forks up to here....




...................................................by the way...for those who are wondering....my poor man's casting brace is money.

.....continuing.........for this trip, I brought along my 5 wt and although I evidently don't know what I'm doing, I tried my hand for cutthroat too, but again...didn't do jack for either species....again.



The goal for this past Monday was to head directly to here...

and then fish my way back down. This day was looking good cuz there was a bunch of surface activity in the early morning....AND there were some springers flopping around....but still I was like Yukon Cornelius and got...

It sucks to not catch anything, but in the 'everyone gets a trophy' line of thinking, I've learned something each outing and the scenery is kinda cool...



Plus, the river gods decided to NOT keep my anchor after a little game of tug of war...which I was rather thankful for.


Finally, with the forecasted heat, subsequent snow melt, and some other stuff I have going, it'll probably be a while before I get back but maybe next time I'll need my net

 

[HauntedByWaters]

I spent years working around the lower Skagit in a jet boat and it was always thrilling and timed by the tides because it had to be. We had a team of guys in a big Wooldrige Alaskan so it usually worked out if we got a little stuck.

Anyway, before that I spent a lot of time canoeing in this area but not during big runoff time, it was usually during the low flows of summer. I’d always recommend a canoe for down there, it is very lazy and fun as long as the river isn’t trucking.

One Spring while working an area over several days I saw risers everywhere. Pretty big risers and I thought must be big cutts. We weren’t allowed to bring fishing rods to work because a guy had gotten too carried away with it and got into trouble so I headed out in my canoe on the weekend and started fishing those rises and to my surprise it was bull trout and lots of them. Didn’t catch a cutt. It was probably alder flies. This was all around Milltown Island and the other island that I forget the name but it is still actively farmed and has the barge for tractors down stream of the Conway bridge.

 

[Pink Nighty]

Did you try fishing any fry type patterns down there? Those flies you posted are cash money upriver when they are eating sculpin and whiteys, but maybe they were keyed in on chum fry?

Good on you for giving it a real shot and for the report!

 

[Matt B]

Did you try fishing any fry type patterns down there? Those flies you posted are cash money upriver when they are eating sculpin and whiteys, but maybe they were keyed in on chum fry?

Good on you for giving it a real shot and for the report!

Maybe a good candidate situation to try a two fly rig, big meat and small fry, given the "figuring-things-out," prospecting nature of the mission.

and yeah, thank you for the report, @M_D !

 

[M_D]

Did you try fishing any fry type patterns down there? Those flies you posted are cash money upriver when they are eating sculpin and whiteys, but maybe they were keyed in on chum fry?

Good on you for giving it a real shot and for the report!

I tried fry patterns the first two trips but not this last one. Scott down at Confluence suggested working the top fly in the above photo....so on Monday's outing, I alternated between the top two flies. (by the way, that top white one is a heavy bugger. It pays to duck when ya hear it coming close....just say'n )

Also FWIW, I didn't see any fry moving about so I stubbornly stuck with the larger patterns....hoping the next cast would make it all better. That said, I occasionally saw some smolt sized guys zipping around like their butts were on fire or sumpin' bigger was after them... which got me excited and kept me going but still there was no love for me.

On a side note, you don't think the occasional monster fly splash down scared the fish away....do ya??

And Matt....

Maybe a good candidate situation to try a two fly rig, big meat and small fry, given the "figuring-things-out," prospecting nature of the mission.

and yeah, thank you for the report, @M_D !

....um, you've never seen me cast a two fly rig....I don't know how Tom does it... this is after my two fly attempt

jk

Too bad the river is forecast to blow, otherwise I'd try it early next week



Mike d

 

[Pink Nighty]

I tried fry patterns the first two trips but not this last one. Scott down at Confluence suggested working the top fly in the above photo....so on Monday's outing, I alternated between the top two flies. (by the way, that top white one is a heavy bugger. It pays to duck when ya hear it coming close....just say'n )

Also FWIW, I didn't see any fry moving about so I stubbornly stuck with the larger patterns....hoping the next cast would make it all better. That said, I occasionally saw some smolt sized guys zipping around like their butts were on fire or sumpin' bigger was after them... which got me excited and kept me going but still there was no love for me.

On a side note, you don't think the occasional monster fly splash down scared the fish away....do ya??

And Matt....


....um, you've never seen me cast a two fly rig....I don't know how Tom does it... this is after my two fly attempt

jk

Too bad the river is forecast to blow, otherwise I'd try it early next week

View attachment 64819

Mike d

I run a zuddler in the same color scheme as your top fly as my go to, confidence bull fly on the Skagit so I would probably have stuck with it as well.

 

[Wanative]

I tried fry patterns the first two trips but not this last one. Scott down at Confluence suggested working the top fly in the above photo....so on Monday's outing, I alternated between the top two flies. (by the way, that top white one is a heavy bugger. It pays to duck when ya hear it coming close....just say'n )

Also FWIW, I didn't see any fry moving about so I stubbornly stuck with the larger patterns....hoping the next cast would make it all better. That said, I occasionally saw some smolt sized guys zipping around like their butts were on fire or sumpin' bigger was after them... which got me excited and kept me going but still there was no love for me.

On a side note, you don't think the occasional monster fly splash down scared the fish away....do ya??

And Matt....


....um, you've never seen me cast a two fly rig....I don't know how Tom does it... this is after my two fly attempt

jk

Too bad the river is forecast to blow, otherwise I'd try it early next week

View attachment 64819

Mike d

Thanks for the detailed updates Mike.