Skykomish “Summer” Opener! 3

Getting up early on June first is something of a Northwesterners rite of passage and if you're going to launch your boat or get a good spot on the banks of the Sky…. the earlier the better!

With a forecast of 15,500 chinook heading for the Snohomish system and the Skykomish's usual complement of summer steelhead, anglers were chompin' at the bit to get on this water for the first time since the February Emergency Closure.

Big Ray Gombisky has his sled launched and ready when I showed up at 0431hrs!

We ran up above the Wallace River in the semi-darkness and Ray placed the sled just right… On my second cast of the season…FISH ON!!!

It was a dandy wild Steelie and after a nice line-peeling fight, he posed for a quick pic and back to the river he went!

As the light came up, the anglers came out and this shot of the Cracker Bar shows a busy river, but not the extreme traffic I've seen in the past.

It was Ray's turn next with a chinook which looked like a hatchery fish to us but the adipose fin said differently and it was also quickly released.

After boating a steelie, Bonner Daniels makes another run with his Evinrude powered Wooldridge.

Ray and I both had work commitments and could only fish until 7:30. The parking lot at Sultan was full, but not as nuts as I have seen it in past years!

With this crazy "summer" weather playing havoc with the river levels the opener just gave us an indication of what's in store for the Skykomish faithful this summer. Visibility was not a major issue on this day but a bit more clarity wouldn't have hurt either! Unfortunately, we have a major rain event heading our way which could knock us off the river for a few days. Check out University Of Washington Meterologist Cliff Mass Weather Blog for more info and tune in this Saturday for Cliff's first appearance on The Outdoor Line!