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.
The river was dropping from the rain a few days ago and I was hoping to find some newly arriving winter steelhead in the lower river. I put the boat in at Lewis Street in Monroe and motored up about a mile. I fished two spots pretty hard for a total of four hours. The monster rain storm that has been predicted in the news appeared to be starting so I cut the day short (but it turned out I should have stayed the rest of the day). The river was in good shape, flowing at about 5,000 cfs and 2.5 to 3 feet of visibility. Just the way I like it.
So, no grabs for me except a sucker that probably has a sore back today and about a four-foot long stick that drifted downstream, took my fly and started taking line. Man, I would have bet serious cash that I was hooked up with a nice fish when that stick started pulling line!!!
Today one of our customers, Allen, came in and he fished higher on the river above Sultan. He found a nice hatchery fish to take his fly but it found freedom just before he could beach it… the way steelhead often do. I’ve talked to a few other guys that have also been finding some fish in the river so they are in there… just a matter of being on the right spot at the right time.
Hopefully this flood won’t take too long to go away. The river is currently at 57,000 cfs. Ouch.