Holiday Sports Report

[Salmonhawk]

FRESHWATER

The Skagit has been providing pretty good number of fish for fishermen in the upper river. Quite a few anglers have noted that they have run into good numbers of wild steelhead while fishing the mid and upper stretches (wild steelhead must be released). One boat on June 1 fishing the Little Eddy said that they managed to hook 13 springers. That is definitely not the norm but hopefully there are more fish to come

The Baker River Hatchery Manager noted that they have gotten their first sockeye of the year and he is swimming in Baker Lake now. They are pretty sure we should get a season as good as last year's.

Lake Samish has still been productive for kokanee. A few of the tackleshop employees have been hitting it on a regular basis and limits have been the norm. Early mornings have been the best. They have been noting that after the warm weekend, the fish have been starting to go deeper so downriggers are becoming a necessity to target kokanee. There were reports that some of them have started to move to the deeper northern portion of the lake.

SALTWATER

Local waters are now closed for halibut. A few fishermen have noted that they will run across into Canadian waters for a chance at a halibut (open 7 days per week).

Looking ahead, July 1 marks the opener for salmon in the San Juans. The chinook fishing is usually very good in the beginning of July. When I was out lingcod fishing a couple of days ago there appeared to be lots of bait in most areas and the seals were really working so it appeared that there should be some fish around.