Holiday Sports Skagit Area Report

[House]

EVENTS

John Thomas of Rotten Chum Guide Service (www.rottenchumguideservice.com) will be here this Saturday May 5th at 10:00AM to discuss kokanee tactics. He has 20+ years of experience, especially in the Snohomish Basin fishing rivers and lakes. He specializes in Lake Stevens kokanee. John is a Dick Nite and St Croix pro staffer. This is a free seminar but seating is limited so call ahead if you want to make sure to reserve a seat here at Holiday Sports (360-588-4672). If you are fishing the Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby, this would be a great one to attend!


FRESHWATER

Lake Samish has really turned on for kokanee over the past couple of weeks. One customer noted that he has already landed two in the 20 inch range. Most fishermen have noted that the fish are way bigger than normal with lots of them measuring in the 14-15" range. Most of the fish are being caught in the 15-25 foot deep range so downriggers are not 100% required. Some people are flatlining while others are downrigging.

The general lowland lake opener seemed to have less traffic than normal. Most of the lakes were putting out good numbers of fish. One customer noted that he fished Cain Lake and did very well trolling spinner flies. Another person said that he did really well on the triploids that were planted in Clear Lake. Lake Shannon was pretty good for kokanee as well.

SALTWATER

Kevin and I decided to hit the San Juans for the last day of blackmouth season. We headed out to the banks despite the smallcraft advisory because the weather forecasters have been wrong on our last two trips out. We were right, it was like a lake out there! Kevin was trolling a herring strip with a plastic cap and really started nailing the fish so I switched over right away. We ended up going 7 for 8 and keeping four nice hatchery fish in the 7-9 pound range by 9:45AM. Go figure, the last day of the season and we get them dialed in.

Time to pull the salmon gear off the boat and switch out to bottomfish and shrimp gear. We pulled the downriggers off and put the salmon rods away. Lingcod is now open as of May 1. Yesterday's opener sounded like it was a little windy so there weren't too many people going out. I talked to a couple of people that made it and they did well. Look for this weekend to have alot of participation since halibut, shrimp and lingcod will all be targeted. I am going out for a while for halibut in the morning for the opener so we'll see if we can get them located. Based on how many were caught and released by salmon fishermen, the fishing should be on fire on all of the banks!


GENERAL INFO

Special hunt applications are now available for purchase. Special hunt apps are due on May 18th. We now have both Fishing & Hunting regs in stock!

Anthon Steen
Holiday Sports Center
(360) 757-4361

[djackson]

I missed this event, but it looks like a free seminar that I would definitely be interested in going to, especially if there are any more at The Michelangelo Hotel NYC. Is there somewhere I can look for more free seminars and events that are similar to this so I do not miss the next one? Any information would be great. Thanks a lot.