Wynoochee Drift

[Brat Bonker]

hey nate you want to try something risky, drift the Skagit from the highest boat ramp there is (goodell ck I think) to marblemount, that looks sketchy from the road could only imagine what it looks like behind the oars.

[Bodofish]

Can't be too bad, I know a couple guys that run their sleds up to the dam...... Big rocks though.

[Brat Bonker]

there are like impossible cascades/falls that only rafters/kayakers can make it through, maybe they can get through I don't know but yeah there are some huge rocks in there, why would someone want to go up the dam anyways in a sled that's what I want to know haha.

[fish vacuum]

Can't be too bad, I know a couple guys that run their sleds up to the dam...... Big rocks though.

False. At best, your geography is off.

[natetreat]

I'll stick to the drifts that have fish in them. I'm really excited to drift the Queets for fall kings this year, I'll be guiding in the park this year. The Queets is a lot of fun to row, nice riffles and boulder gardens. As for more exciting whitewater, it's got to be bigger. My boat has 10'6" ours and is 61" wide at the floor, so it need some space between boulders. I'm going to get a kayak soon, to do the exciting whitewater, which will be super fun!

[Brat Bonker]

you want big fish that Skagit drift would be for you, I always see huge 4+' long kings spawning up by the dam not too mention the native steelhead that run in those little tribs up there

[jumpinjim]

I like the white water. The highest I've taken my boat down is class III so far. But I'm not sure that there is water big enough around here to go down anything more than that. My boat is too big to fit through the nooch canyon, and I'm not going to pull it over it.

But you're dead on the money about fishing and rowing, and rowing being two seperate things. I'd rather fish with my rod in a hold or between my knees while rowing than have some of my buddies on the sticks. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine, I have to try to hold back the bossy. I'm sure you've had the same experience.

What class III did you drift? Just curious. What boat did you have before the one you have now, that is not much bigger, I mean a few inches in the waist and a foot on the stern, shoot a little butter and skill should have that thing going through the Tanzilla Slot. F'n Huge Fish on the river too, all chrome, but that is above my pay grade in a drift boat.

I have found that some of the best fishing takes place where there is the least pressure, obviously waterfalls, and damns are going to change somethings since fish only go down, but steelhead and salmon have no problem bouncing up class V rapids. And no I have not had the same experience, almost all of my friends are either expert boatmen and fishermen or don't fish and are just real expert boatmen.

The Skagit from Goodell down has no waterfalls or epic rapids, I have drifted this section, skills are required but not "Expert" skills.

[natetreat]

I like the white water. The highest I've taken my boat down is class III so far. But I'm not sure that there is water big enough around here to go down anything more than that. My boat is too big to fit through the nooch canyon, and I'm not going to pull it over it.

But you're dead on the money about fishing and rowing, and rowing being two seperate things. I'd rather fish with my rod in a hold or between my knees while rowing than have some of my buddies on the sticks. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine, I have to try to hold back the bossy. I'm sure you've had the same experience.

What class III did you drift? Just curious. What boat did you have before the one you have now, that is not much bigger, I mean a few inches in the waist and a foot on the stern, shoot a little butter and skill should have that thing going through the Tanzilla Slot. F'n Huge Fish on the river too, all chrome, but that is above my pay grade in a drift boat.

I have found that some of the best fishing takes place where there is the least pressure, obviously waterfalls, and damns are going to change somethings since fish only go down, but steelhead and salmon have no problem bouncing up class V rapids. And no I have not had the same experience, almost all of my friends are either expert boatmen and fishermen or don't fish and are just real expert boatmen.

The Skagit from Goodell down has no waterfalls or epic rapids, I have drifted this section, skills are required but not "Expert" skills.

I've run it down the cispus several times into the lake so far. It's a great drift. I just figured you knew what I meant because you brought it up. There are not many white water areas that actually have fish in them, so I'll need to find one that does.

[jumpinjim]

Nice, I love the lower Cispus, that is a classic class II run, at the top there are a few class II+ wave trains but it is a fun one for sure. That's one like the Cedar, not really a whitewater run, has a rating with some people but is on the fringe. I would list all the rivers in King County alone that have great whitewater, not like the lower cispus, stuff that is above class II and has a ton of good fishing but that would be foolish since I don't want to attract everyone to the quality drifts, that and since they are more class II-III and a few in the class III zone I would not want anyone getting hurt. I mean imagine if some guy had just bought a drift boat and been rowing for around a year and figured he could jump on one of these runs and ended up dieing or loosing all his gear, or worse killing another person... Bad juju, I don't want that!!!

[natetreat]

Nice, I love the lower Cispus, that is a classic class II run, at the top there are a few class II+ wave trains but it is a fun one for sure. That's one like the Cedar, not really a whitewater run, has a rating with some people but is on the fringe. I would list all the rivers in King County alone that have great whitewater, not like the lower cispus, stuff that is above class II and has a ton of good fishing but that would be foolish since I don't want to attract everyone to the quality drifts, that and since they are more class II-III and a few in the class III zone I would not want anyone getting hurt. I mean imagine if some guy had just bought a drift boat and been rowing for around a year and figured he could jump on one of these runs and ended up dieing or loosing all his gear, or worse killing another person... Bad juju, I don't want that!!!

I know right? There have been lots of folks that try to "tube" the upper green from the dam and end badly. I keep hearing stories of folks on the Sultan getting caught in that one stretch, with inflatables deflated in the sticks. Most of the "whitewater" fishing doesn't have hatcheries on them, and natives are a little lacking these days, not to mention the best times for fishing are closed.

One of these days when I have time I'm going to make a pilgrimage to Oregon and fish the fun stretches of the Umpqua and Rogue. They have so much more interesting water than the westside rivers in Washington. It's funny, a lot of drift boaters in Washington would be terrified to go down some of the stretches that drifters do on a regular basis in Oregon. We all fear the Sol Duc up here, but if you'd ever dropped in on some of the more fun stretches of the Rogue, you'd look at the Duc and say, piece of cake.

I wish that some of our more interesting drifts were fishier. More hatchery programs like we used to have. We used to have fish in the Snoqualmie, Raging, Tolt, Pilchuck, Sultan North and South forks of the Sky, all in just the Snohomish system. Now we're all crowded into two rivers.

[Brat Bonker]

did the wynoochee today and there are some spots you have to get out and walk the boat around. we did the white bridge to crossover drift.

[natetreat]

But did you catch fish?

[Brat Bonker]

no, no one did. but if you want to catch a bunch of smolts and whitefish/suckers this is the place for you haha oh and the hatchery does a really bad job of clipping thier fish, some smolts I got were obvisiously hatchery but had their adiposes still intact but their dorsal fins were kinda cut.

[natetreat]

Hahaha! Well the nooch should get some fish eventually, I've always done well for them in the summer. It's really fun when it gets hot and skinny. Misclips drive me nuts, expecially when it's pretty evident that it's hatchery, but the fin is half way there. Not going to risk the ticket if they decide to be in a bad mood, so I set them free.

[Brat Bonker]

Yeah still early and the nets probably aren't helping but I heard some guides are getting some but pretty tough for other guys. Once fish counts get better on the cowlitz I will be down there but until there am stuck with the closer OP fishing.

[natetreat]

Yeah still early and the nets probably aren't helping but I heard some guides are getting some but pretty tough for other guys. Once fish counts get better on the cowlitz I will be down there but until there am stuck with the closer OP fishing.

Hahahaha! Stuck with OP fishing! What a shame. I only wish that it was convenient enough for me to get out there more. The Nooch is just a compromise of distance and scenery for me up in Seattle. Don't get me wrong, I love that river, but I'd rather be chasing summer run natives on the upper Queets on the fly rods then chasing hatchery brats on the nooch. I grew up out there when gas was cheap, it's the Mecca of steelhead.

[Brat Bonker]

Well all these OP summer fisheries are new to me, only rivers I really know for summer steelhead are cowlitz brats and cascade nates.

[jumpinjim]

Most of the "whitewater" fishing doesn't have hatcheries on them

Well that's not really true, in fact the top 5 hatchery rivers in this state indeed have whitewater on them some have whitewater below the hatcheries and some have whitewater above, depending on the hatchery many fish pass the hatchery and mill around before turning back, the Sky is a good example of that, don't think you will ever find a hatch past Reiter? What about the Skagit or Green...

But I get what you are putting down, there are plenty of easier stretches where everyone goes that hold fish, which is why not many drifters are forced to increase skill in the pursuit of Gill! I like being alone in un-pressured water, while part of the thrill is navigating and making an adventure, quality fishing is always good which does make it a balancing act...

I did not realize you were raised on the OP, too cool! I wish I had that fishing heritage in my veins. Where did you grow up out there? How long have you been rowing and what different boats have you had? Why did you move to the big city?

[kbf1961]

7400 to White Bridge. I did it 7-6. Piece of cake. There was fish too My partner caught a nice 10lb hatchery buck probably about 2 miles below the 7400. Had to walk the boat a lot, water was real low. I didnt catch anything I was to busy rowing I wasnt sure how long it was going to take us so I pushed the whole way. We did stop a couple of times, i just couldnt hook up All in all it was a great time went from greenhorn to novice LOL. 10.5 hr drift . Whew! About 4hrs to long I figure.
Thanks all for the advice, Kevin

[Brat Bonker]

Geez 10.5 hours that include getting out and fishing. What did your buddy hit the fish on?