It’s late spring in Western Washington and June 1st signals the opener for our local rivers. Summer-run steelhead fishing has finally arrived. Although the calendar might say it’s the sixth month and New Years is January 1st, I tend to count my years starting mostly with the steelhead seasons. So June 1st to me is the start of a new year for fishing tallies.
Knowing this rain was on the way and with the Christmas season starting to get crazy at the store, I fished the lower Skykomish today since it could be my last chance to get on the water until January. I fished two runs pretty hard but didn’t find a fish willing to eat.
With Joe continuing to have great reports for him and his clients on the Sky, I dropped everything on Tuesday and headed out to get in on the action. The river jumped to 15,000 cfs on Monday so I was hesitant to go that day… but Joe and clients hooked FIVE that day! Sure as shit, I was out there the next day with the river still running at 12,000 cfs in the morning. Despite fishing in the trees on some of my favorite holes, the water clarity was good. I put the boat in at Monroe and headed all the way up to Gold Bar, then fishing my way back down. Only a few boats were on the river so that is one benefit of high water. It scares away most of the other anglers.
Fished the upper sky with Mason Denger of PFF, John Farrar of NW Flyfishing, and myself. It was cold, and very wet. And, by wet I mean the river was on the way up way up, at the end of all of it all the river had come up over a foot on us.
The nice thing about fishing water like that is that you end up with the river all to yourself. Fishing tends to be tough with the river moving up the way that it was but we were able to dig up one player towards the end of the day. Had a few more rolling around but only could get one to play.
After a 6 month hiatus for most of our local rivers they are all finally open to fishing again. That means no more traveling to the coast or the Columbia River trips to get my fishing fix in. After a brutal winter fishery with the wonderful weather we had this fall, winter and most of spring, this weekend finally showed signs of summer.
That means summer run steelhead are in full swing on a few of our local rivers. The Skykomish opened up on the first of the month and with it being at a fishable level for the majority of anglers in the state, they all showed up en mass. For as crowded the river was there should have been more fish caught. Which tells me that the low water levels we have had for the last month or so has yet to bring in the bulk of the run.
So its Fathers day. Couldn’t hit the river with pops this morning which is too bad. But for the middle of June the river has been pretty non-forgiving as of late. June is the time of year on the Sky where usually a skunk doesn’t happen let alone three in a row. But today I finally got out of the foul odor of the skunk. It wasn’t a banner day on the river didn’t see anybody else with a fish. Hopefully this warm weather stretch will bump the river up to big and get those fish that have been hanging out deep in the lower river moving up and into the fly water.
Fished the Skykomish on 6/28/2010 with my buddy from S.Cal, Steve. Steve and I worked together at Sport Chalet in the Fishing Department when we were in college down in the L.A. area. Steve was raised down there and is proof that just because you’re from S. Cal, you can still be a great fly fisherman. During our day on the water, I was reminded of how spectacular it is just to watch him cast.
Fishing on the upper sky has been great. We have had lots of bent rods, plenty of swings and misses. Much like the Mariners lineup we cant seem to score but we can get to the plate.
Between lost cameras and plenty of lost fish this will be a summer to remember. Biggest problem of the year so far and a little tip for those coming out for the first time or just getting into it. Please if your making the transfer from trout fishing to steelheading, never assume you will be playing these fish with the strip. The reason we have these nice big reels with lots of stopping power is so we can play these fish on them. Do yourselves a huge favor if you have yet to catch one of these beautiful fish, let the line go and play it on the reel. We have lost 6 fish because of that this year so I thought I would mention it because it looks like its not just a one time deal.
Another good day on the upper Sky, we were able to miss a few fish and land one nice one for the fish box.
The river has been up a dirty for a little while now, but anybody who knows me, knows that I wont be deterred by those conditions. The flies of choice for these kinds of water conditions are big and burly. Light lines and big flies end up for some good early river fishing. Bennett’s Steelhead Exasperator is one of the favorite patterns for this type of water conditions.