Washington Salmon, Steelhead, and Sturgeon Fishing Guides, Charters & Trips
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Summer on the Sky means steelies, chinook
Washington fishing map feature
By Joel Shangle
Fishing and Hunting News
Still a little sore over the "Great Columbia Springer Debacle of 2005" (not to mention the "Great Columbia Springer Debacle of 2004") we've decided to err on the side of caution in regards to the summer-run steelhead and chinook season on the Skykomish River. Perhaps there may possibly be a number of fish, which could enter the river system at some point. OK, so that's a bit overboard, but the point is, instead of competing with Mother Nature and mercurial creatures like migrating fish, we'll first stick with what we know as gospel:
Eye on the Sky The first bit of advice about steelhead and chinook on the Sky is to forget the very recent past on the Columbia system and pay attention to the indicators that drive the Snohomish system's chinook and steelhead fisheries. "The Columbia springer runs and Snohomish system runs are absolutely two different things. From what I hear, there are fish out front already." "The early reports from commercial test fisheries are very, very positive, and if we get good early returns to Tulalip Bay, we should also see good early returns to the Sky. Those two runs are, for all intents and purposes, one and the same." One more little reminder about the Sky's relation to Tulalip: Remember the last few days of the recent blackmouth season in Marine Area 8-2? It was a pretty well-kept secret, but the handful of sharpies who worked the Tulalip area hard in April caught more honest-to-God springers than resident blackmouth. Water we going to do? The summer season of 2004 was pretty well defined by razor-thin water, which severely limited the chinook hunters in the crowd (more on this later). The first few days of the '05 season, though, could see significantly more water in the Sky: NOAA's long-range forecasts for Western Washington call for rains throughout the end of May, which could/should translate into higher water and lower visibility than early-season '04. "Rain is the wild card, but if the rain and cool spring continues, I'd expect marginal to slightly high water on the opener," "Last year, we had a large snowpack and no precipitation in May. This year, it's no snowpack and a wetter late spring. Of course, this will all change rapidly if (we) get a dry June. By July, bring a gallon of water to the river if you come."
Fish it and they will come If you're part of the circus at the Sultan launch on the opener, you're likely stocked up on well-cured eggs. If you're not, you should be, because the Sky's kings will bite eggs as readily as plugs. "The No. 1 option, Plan A, if you're fishing out of a sled platform, is to swing eggs," Nelson advises. "The most successful dudes will be the ones who hit the water with bait right off the bat. You have to remember, there's some overlap of steelhead and chinook water on the Sky — you'll find steelhead in shallow riffles early and the kings will be more in the gut of the holes, but there are plenty of places on the Sky where those two water conditions are side by side. The species you're targeting will be more a function of the kind of water you fish rather than your technique, because the Sky's kings are egg biters." On the flipside, the Sky's steelhead will bite a plug too. That means that the driftboat-backing brigade should consider a combination of FatFish or Hot Shots and some form of bait on at least one rod. "If I was backing a drift boat down the Sky, I'd have a couple of fire tiger FatFish out, but I'd also tie on a Hot-N-Tot with a 6-foot leader and a gob of eggs. Multi-tasking, my friend!" King for a day The Skagit's king hunters will likely be rolling out the big banana plugs when that fishery opens this year for the first time in years, but those big Kwikies and FlatFish are much less likely to entice a Skykomish king into biting. I'll run FatFish, but I seriously doubt I'll roll out any of the Magnums. If there's any issue with visibility early in the season, I'll slow down the presentation and add some bait. Bait divers are dynamite ways to catch both steelhead and chinook, but I'd keep the big plugs in the box." The friendly Sky Back to those predictions: "There will always be steelhead in the Sky on opening day," said Nelson. "It doesn't matter what else is happening out there, the dudes who know what they're doing will catch fish." Places those dudes will hit hard: Taylor Flats, McCoy Creek, Elwell Creek, Ben Howard flats, the Stilt Hole.
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Copyright © 2005
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