Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Striking Out on the Skykomish Friday dawned crisp and clear in Seattle, and I could not resist another shot at steelhead. Jon had to go back to work, so I made a few calls and talked to Jed Jackson, of the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, who told me my best shot at catching a steelhead was in one of several streams on the Olympic Peninsula, all of which are at least three hours from Seattle. My best chances within an hour or so of Seattle would be on the Skykomish, he said. In ten minutes, I was off to Monroe to use the last half of my second two-day license. Stopping at the Sky Valley Traders on Highway 2 (the same Highway 2, by the way, that runs by Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin), I asked manager Trish Kronbeck where I ought to fish the Sky. She had me talk to Ray Lampers, a live-bait dealer who just happened to be in the shop. Ray showed me some photos of several 20-pounders his son Ryan caught on the Sky last year and told me he had caught a couple nice fish earlier in the week. "There are fish in every hole," he said. I've heard that before, but my hopes were high as I headed upriver, through Sultan, Gold Bar and Startup and on to Index. Who named thewse towns, I wondered? No doubt, some gold miners of more than a century ago. If I had more time, I'd do a little research... Stopping at the first spot on the North Fork Ray mentioned, I figured I'd walk in for a look at the river before booting up. Halfway in, I ran into a young angler on his way out who had caught nothing in two hours. He offered to show me some spots farther upstream, saying he was reluctant to fish them alone because he had seen lots of cougar tracks there. "What makes you think we're safer together?" I asked. "I figure whoever is with me would do whatever it took to get a cat off me, and I'd do the same," he replied. Fishing partners, even those of only a few minutes, will help each other out of a jam. At any rate, Paul showed me two gems of holes that were devoid of fish. He had seen steelhead in one of them after the rain on Monday, he insisted. I told him Ray had caught some earlier in the week. The river had cleared completely since then and was dropping fast. The fish had either gone up or down, but were not there now. We retreated to the bridge hole near Highway 2, where we fished another hour with no luck. I shot a couple photos of Paul with snow-capped peaks in the distance. Would have made great shots with a fish in hand! Paul called it a day, but I lingered to talk steelies with another angler, then tried one more hole for another hour before quitting at 5:00. That's when I ran into Pete Gott, a driftboat guide who goes by the name of Index Hooker, and Michael Butler, a videographer with Sound Legal Video in Woodlinville. Butler was taping the shadows falling across the mountains to use as video interludes and transitions. Gott and I talked fishing. He plans to spend the next couple months in Oregon, fishing the Klamath. His buddy had taken some fish on the Sky the day before, he said. He also said I should come back for the summer run, something Paul had also suggested. Maybe I wil... Jon and I headed back up to Monroe Saturday morning. "I don't want to go if there are no fish," he told me. "I want to show you some good spots for later," I promised. So it was back to Sky Valley Traders for another two-day license and some bait (We were determined to catch one, and everyone else I ran into was slinging shrimp and expressing surprise I was sticking to flies.). We stopped in Sultan at the public landing and city park, where at least a dozen cars and rigs were parked. Rod Fredrickson, of Fishin' Rod's Guide Service (baitfisher@yahoo.com) and a client were just quitting. They had caught one spawner, they said, and suggested we head upriver. There were cars parked at nearly every pull-off except where we stopped, and it was soon evident why. The path led to the outside of a huge bend that could only be fished from the other side. Bummed, we opted to regroup over lunch at Bubba's Roadhouse, then head upriver for one last shot. We ended up fishing two holes I had fished the day before with Paul. The water level had dropped even more and the river was clearer than crystal. We saw nothing and caught nothing, but vowed to return another time. I had been switching between a St. Croix Legend Ultra and a Cabela's FT rod, both 8-weights. The Cabela's rod is stiffer, even though it is a five-piece, and I had no trouble punching out long casts with its fast-action tip and stiff butt section. The four-piece Ultra, however, is six inches longer and a little more forgiving, something a sloppy caster like me really needs. I could mend drifts over fast water better with the Ultra, too. Jon tried both the Cabela's FT and a Cabela's Stowaway and preferred the Stowaway hands down. The tip section of the FT had come loose a couple times, so I retightened it each time and resumed fishing. Then the unthinkable happened just before we quit. The FTR broke at the last ferrule when my backcast snagged on an unyielding thorn bush. Did I weaken it by casting with a loose tip section? Most likely, I just got too sharp an angle on my forward cast after snagging that bush. Fortunately, the rod has a 25-year replacement guarantee, but I don't like to break fly rods! Helluva way to end a trip! Later... 10:06:35 PM    comment []

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