Return To The River: Skagit Chinook ’09 (Part One) 5

At high noon on July 9th 2009 and for the first time in 16 years the Skagit river chinook return to their position of prominence in the regional salmon fishing scene. Having virtually grown up on this fishery, it feels like the return of a long, lost friend!

Here's a shot of my father, Dr H.L.Nelson on the left and myself on the right with a July 1970 boat limit of jumbo kings!

  Anglers are now faced with the unique problem of getting up to speed on what is sure to be a challenging trophy chinook season! With that in mind, I have written a PowerPoint presentation geared to shortening the learning curve for this new/old season!
 
First, we need a look at the open section of river. Chinook are legal from the mouth of  both forks of the Skagit to Gilligan Creek above Sedro Wooley. For clarity and detail I have broken this stretch into four sections:
MOUTH TO MOUNT VERNON: The most tidally influenced section of the river, keep the flatfish handy when reduced current denies the use of spinners.

MOUNT VERNON TO BURLINGTON: Definite current slowdown at high tide but overall: Fairly steady flow. Jet sleds only above Burlington! 
 

BURLINGTON TO ‘WOOLEY: Steadier flows, higher current velocities. more structure! Backtrolling comes into play in this section of river. 
 

‘WOOLEY TO GILLIGAN: Upper limit of this fishery and the first glimpse of rock. Riffle, pool  tailout? More like log jam, sand flat and gravel bar! 

With the playing field identified, here’s what water I’m targeting:  

Now that we’ve got a clue about general areas, How do we position our boats for the anchor fishery? It’s time to review our “anchoring academics:  

We’ve selected our spot and safely anchored, so now let’s look some rigging suggestions:
For Flatfish, I like to let a bit more line out, allowing the plugs a bit more room to roam behind the boat.  

Spinners are less maintenance, better behaved and fish just fine a few bounces behind the transom. Here’s what my spinner rig look like:  

These kings are the “real deal” we’re talking tackle-busters here so arm yourself with “Bust-resistant” gear”  

 Here’s one last slide with some final thoughts about the basics of anchor fishing:  

That’s the end of part one. After fishing the opener, I’ll focus on the fine points with gear photography, spinner and plug tuning tips and hopefully some SKAGIT KING PICTURES!!! GOOD LUCK!!!