09-15-2004, 02:18 PM
Skykomish River - September 13th, 2004
supplied by: [url "http://www.fisheyesoup.com/redir.php?recKey=48,re"]Dickson Flyfishing Steelhead Guides[/url]
FISHING: Fair
"You really don't want to fish there."
Did someone mention rain?
After the great deluge, our rivers have all peaked since yesterday, and on their way back down.
Mike & I can report some happy fishing on the North Fork Stilly, but with the silt load coming in at the slide below C-Post, the only decent fishing before the rain, was either in the upper river, or all the way down into the tidal waters below Silvana. After the rain. Nada.
Weather patterns: Wow, not looking good for the cowboys. Rivers are at saturation levels, which means: Any significant rains are going to make your rivers jump. Keep one eye on the weather Doppler and the other on the USGS river gages.
I look for poor bay fishing in the saltwater, because the fish will pull right into the rivers with the high waters. River conditions are up and down faster than the stock market, and the tributary fish is an October gig. Here is what I see:
Tuff gig:
I like clean water for both tidewater Coho and SRC. Coho see the fly better, and SRC aren't feeding along the bottom, as if when the water is dirty.
Skykomish System:
The Sky also took it's jump but now back down to 3,640 cfs, as we speak. The early pulse of even year Humpies had their day, but now it is the ever-loving Wallace River non-biting Coho that runs the show. Don't dishearten. The bigger wild fish are on his heels and these fine biting bigger Coho will push right up into the forks. Follow your fishing regulations, please. Presentation is everything.
September is a fine month for the Olympic Peninsula streams. The never-ending theme is of course is watch those river flows. I always cringe a little when there is enough water for the locals to start running their hardbottoms, again. River attitude changes back to the winter kill mentality when the whack-em & stack-em starts up, again.
I guess the good news is, these guys don't mess with the SRC. The Bogey, Sol Duc & the Calawah rivers, all have fine populations of this underrated fish.