skagit river

[Eric]

anyone been up there recently?? water dropping?
with the mosqitoes being so bad this year even in places that are not known for them , it might be horrendous up there this year.. might even keep me off the river this year.

[phearless]

Ya nobody is going up.
It is so bad they are flying away with small children.

No fish this year either.
The mozzys are getting them when they rise for dries.
No really.

[professori]

Ya nobody is going up.
It is so bad they are flying away with small children.

No fish this year either.
The mozzys are getting them when they rise for dries.
No really.

Well, Friday, June 13, I hit the Skagit (upper) for the second time this year. The water had receded about 3 - 6 inches since opening dayh, which is to say that at Sumallo Grove and down from there the river was basically unfishable. After trying to coax something out of the water for about 1/2 hour, we decided to drive further up river to find skinnier water. We stopped at the Cayuse campground and went down to the river. There were lots of small pools and runs and, aside from deadfalls everywhere, it was very wadable. The good news was that in the next couple of hours we were into 10 to 15 fish each on the dry fly. The bad news was the largest fish was about 9 or 10 inches. Still on light fly rods we often felt like we had a fish on. The fish were son new to the game that virtually any dry fly you chose to use would produce takes. I think the river is going to need at least another 2 weeks to even start to come into shape. Still visible snow up in the mountains to melt yet. The mosquitos aren't ( and never have been) a factor on the upper river, yet another reason I won't waste my time fishing the lower. The other reason is that I never see many anglers on the upper river. For example, yesterday we were the only vehicle in the Sumallo Grove parking lot. Anyway, the fishing was goofy, but the day was not wasted by any means.

[BrownDog]

still high
and this rain wont help

[Fish Finder]

Anyone over last weekend?


Finder

[troutchaser]

Here's the skinny on the Skagit as I've been told by someone who I would call a very reliable source. I haven't been up myself though. The bugs are bad, but not a whole lot worse than what is typical for the Skagit. Just cover yourself in deet. But the fishing hasn't been very good. Shiners are starting to pollute the flow and the numbers of trout are thinned out. The fish themselves are a little bigger but expect to have to cover quite a bit of water without great results. I'm holding off for now and waiting for the big green drake hatch to form any conclusions of my own.

[professori]

I was at Sumallo Grove on Friday and Saturday and fished a couple of km's of the river. There are virtually no mosquitos at that end (as is always the case.) The fish were there, but they were not as numerous as in the past few years. I think the past summer's low water had really stressed the fish and then the massive rains and flood conditions, I think had a very adverse affect on the trout population. The water was in prime condition and dropping. There were lots of caddis and mays in evidence, but the whole 2 days I never saw a fish rise (except to my comaraduns and Madam X's). It was fairly tough fishing for August.

[zugger]

Im new to fly fishing and have my father-in-law in town from France who is an avid fisherman; so i decided to go up there with him after some reading some posts on this site and a recommendation from my local tackle shop.

I have to say.....what a river!!!!!..... I had the time of my life in a one of the most beautiful spots in BC i had ever seen.

We caught a couple fish each and had a great time. I think my next time up there will be much more successful as i met a few otherfishermen on my travels down the river who were kind enough to offer up some senior advice to a rookie.

Bugs were not bad on the river but the walk out was a buffet for them....Bring your deet for the walk out.

We fished the lower skagit. I will definately be returning several times.

Thanks