Friday, August 21, 2015

 
Underwater Pinks salmon shot


The rivers are starting to get some pink salmon. Still on the early side but about to get crazy. 
Johnathan Knapp has been guiding with me and has been doing quite well on the beach fishing during high tides. If your looking for a place to go look for any of the points off the coast. Locally our options for keeping fish in the rivers are the Snohomish River, and below the Dalles on the Skagit. There is a 4 fish limit. I'm not much of a fish eater but if I smoke them and then my wife makes a cream cheese dip out of them.... Damn that is good.
Because the areas of the rivers are slow it's a good option to use a small motor if you can.

The Sauk River is running dirty due to the rain we got last Fri/Sat. It has made the Skagit from where the Sauk dumps in down run with a bit of color and is slow to clear. If your fishing there I have been using big flies. From Birdsview down is best. The mouths of some of the creeks give you a touch of clarity. 


I don't put a lot of time on the Snohomish River due to the crowds, jet boats and the water isn't as pretty but it would take more considering due to lower visibility on the Skagit.

Above the Dalles on the Skagit has had great fishing for Dolly Varden and Dennis has been catching some sea run cutthroat. I normally don't catch cutts up that high but I usually don't use the right flies for them either. It's possible they are liking the colder water up higher in the river. I'm really missing the cutthroat fishing on the Stillaguamish. It is one of my favorite local fisheries on a light rod. The Stilly is soooo low though. I wouldn't be able to float it if it were available. Maybe in October as it cools and we get rain. On the Skagit we have also had a few Kings grab our Dolly flies which makes things interesting on a lighter rod. 

On September 1st the Skagit is open to keep pinks from Marblemount down. There isn't many up there yet. With lower water they will be slower to move up. 
 If you are looking to learn how to catch pinks I am doing a half day class that has room for up to 4 people. we will do a float and wade, learn, and catch fish. 
It's $99 pp here is the page to sign up - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/flyfishing and pay Mike.

We have some casting, and river float classes. 
Links on our home page on the top under classes. - http://flyfishsteelhead.com

Check out our calendar - http://flyfishsteelhead.com/guiding.htm


For more info check out and join our facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/248375167480/

Happy Fishing,
Mike Dickson
Head Guide
Flyfishsteelhead.com
Streamsideflyshop.com
425-330-9506