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Winter brings hatchery steelhead, Dolly Varden, and a few wild winter run steelhead. On this trip we float a fairly large section of the river and stop and fish the productive gravel bars. This is primarily a sink tip show where you will get a lot of practice using some different sink tip techniques. We also spend some time with floating lines and heavy flys working the deep pools as we float from hole to hole.
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Earl with a Skykohomish River Steelhead |
The spring rains bring the large native winter steelhead into the Skykomish River. These are strong fish that pull hard and do everything they can to loose the fly. If you keep a sharp hook and pay close attention to the depth of your fly and the movement of you line, you will have a good chance of hooking into one of these beautiful silver bullets.
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Saul with a Big Summer Run Sky Steelhead |
The early summer on the Skykomish River is primarly a steelhead show. The fish that are in the river are either the native winter steelhead that on their migration route back to the saltwater, or the returning hatchery and native summer steelhead. On this trip we float a large section of the river on 9 ft personal pontoon boats. During the float we stop and fish the productive gravel bars that are holding fish. We float the river and fish until noon, take a short break for lunch, then continue to float and fish until we reach our take out.
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Jason & Amy on the Lower Sky. |
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Millie with a Skykomish River Pink Salmon. |
This is a great trip with typical beautiful weather and moderate river flows. We meet on the bank of the Skykomish River and float a fairly large section of the river. During the float, we stop and fish a few runs that provide good holding water, but a lot of the fishing is done from the boat. I now use a 16 Clackacraft drift boat. In the afternoon when the river is running clear and the sun is on the water, I fish with a fly that you can see up to 30 feet away. You can actually watch a pack of salmon turn and follow your fly. One salmon darts out of the pack and grab the fly. It is a total blast!
We fish with 8 wt rods that show off the strength of summer steelhead, silver salmon, and pink salmon (odd years), but also allow you to land them pretty quick. Typical gear includes floating lines, 11 foot leaders, and 9 lb florocarbon tippet. Flies include spiders, skaters, and wakers for surface presentation. We also use weighted marabou type flies for sub-surface presentation.
We generally meet in the morning, then float and fish the river until noon. We stop for lunch, then continue with the same float.
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Scott's Summer Steelhead. |
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Scott with a Skykomish River Chum Salmon. |
The Skykomish River is very productive when the weather is cool and wet and the flows are high. We meet on the bank of the Skykomish River and float a large section of the river. During the float, we stop and fish a half dozen runs that usually hold fish and provide execellent fly water. We fish with 7 wt or 8 wt rods that can wear out these big fish as fast as possible. Typical gear includes Type III to Type VI sink tip lines, 3 ft to 6 ft leaders, and tippet between 8 lb and 10 lb for Steelhead and dolly varden. Flies generally include weighted marabou streamers and leach patterns. The most productive gear for salmon includes floating lines, 9ft leaders, and weighted marabou and bunny strip flies.
We meet in the morning, then float and fish the river until noon. We stop for lunch, then continue with the same float until we reach the take-out. We use 9ft personal pontoon boats for transportation. They are easy to maneuver, very stable, and a blast in the chopy water.
