Skagit Area Report

[House]

FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTS
Skagit River- The lower Skagit River from the mouth to the Memorial Hwy Bridge in Mount Vernon remains open for trout under selective gear rules and a ½” maximum hook size restriction. Over the past week the river has cleaned up quite a bit and while still being a bit high it’s really in pretty good shape. The south fork sounds like a good bet, below Conway being the hotspot. Size 5 Rapalas and small dark colored spinners have been very productive.
Lake Samish- Fishing was a bit slow over this past weekend but with such a big front moving through it’s not a surprise. Surface temperatures continue to rise and the fish are becoming more active each day, look for things to really go crazy in the next ten days or so. The go to setup is still the traditional double hook wedding ring in pink, chartreuse or red about 16” behind an ultraviolet 4/0 dodger. Troll slow, .7-1.2mph is best, and run your gear about 100 feet back. Baits should we in contrasting colors like pink and white or yellow and red, Pautzke’s FireCorn and Gulp waxies are my favorites.
Lake Stevens- Starting to pick up a bit lately, the Kokanee seem to have wintered well and are pretty chunky. Again here it’s the flat-line show until temperatures push the fish down. Ultraviolet dodgers and red or pink wedding rings have been among the top producers when tipped with plain shoepeg corn and doused in carp spit or DNA scents.
Lake Cavanaugh- Here’s a year-round lake that tends to fly under the radar for most of the year but this time of year is typically a very good bet. One customer in particular has been fishing the evenings over the past couple of weekends with great success. Most fish aren’t huge but a limit or two of 14”-15” Kokanee is a real treat. Up here worms are the bait of choice compared to the usual maggots and corn but the rigging is the same. I recommend green and orange wedding rings with a small piece of crawler fished behind a chrome or 50/50 dodger. Because the lake is so much cooler than other lakes in the area the fish tend to be right on top through much of the season making gangtrolls a very good idea.
Pass Lake- More of the same story again this week, fishing continues to improve for pretty decent fish with the best bite coming to those running chironomids in the traditional sno-cone patterns. Nothing to speak of for a dry fly bite yet but the mini-leeches and dark colored woolley buggers are a good choice to troll or slow strip.

SALTWATER FISHING REPORTS
San Juan’s- Again this weeks’ weather has been a bit of a pain and the fish seem to be a bit finicky to boot. The past couple of mornings Thatcher Pass has held a pretty fair amount of bait and a few fish while The Flats have held a few fish on the ebb. The buoys north of Sinclair Island have been a quiet producer on these soft morning tides with more fish hanging around #2 and #16 than over at #4. Mostly a bait show up that way, either cut bait on the carpet or a small herring or anchovy in a helmet behind a flasher should get the job done.
Area 8-1, 8-2 & 9- Marine Area 9 closed down on Monday, don’t go there. It’s probably a better bet to concentrate on 8-1 and 8-2 at this point, both of which are open for two clipped fish through the month of April. Sounds like a few fish have come from the south side of Hat Island and west side of Camano Head including a solid mid-teener from the latter. Big Tom Nelson from The Outdoor Line reminded me of some pretty interesting information too, 10,000 fish are expected to return to the Tulalip Bay/Bubble area this year and the tribe thinks they will see a fishable number by early May. May is two weeks away and those fish are going to be coming through 8-1 and 8-2 first. The biggest thing to keep in mind here is that while it is blackmouth season, these guys aren’t blackmouth. Mature fish tend to not follow bottom structure and in most cases actually will be suspended in the water column so you can approach them much like you would in a summer fishery. Gear suspended at 70 feet or even 20 feet off bottom isn’t wrong, it’s effective. Sounds like the normal CohoKillers and hootchies have been getting a few fish but the hot ticket has been bigger baits of late. Either a whole or cut-plug red or green label herring without a flasher has been

Tight Lines,
Kevin John
Holiday Sports Center
Burlington, Washington
360-757-4361