OK, where do I turn in my fishing license and Fisherman in Good Standings card? Friend Zack and I fished the lower Skagit yesterday. We launched at Mount Vernon, ran down to the mouth of the North Fork and then fished various spots from the mouth all the way back to Mount Vernon. With the exception of a quick bump and run I had on a plug first thing we did not get a single fish, no take downs or even nibbles. I have fairly good electronics on my boat and in 10 hours we did not see a single salmon on the fish finder. I am not sure what’s going on the entire river should be choked with fish. The only bright spot was that we did see 1 fish make its way into a net, but that was 1 fish for probably 40 plus boats.

We did talk to a number of people that said that the run between Birdsview and Lyman was on fire but I cant help but wonder whether or not the fisherman up there were saying that they heard that the lower river was hot.

Armed with 8 rods we hit the lower river with all the standard, time proven Skagit gear and did some experimenting looking for a new way to get these coho to come out and play. We trolled and anchor fished small hotshots plugs and fished various colors of Dick Night and FST spoons. I also tried to employ some “Buoy 10” or other estuary techniques, down sized to account for the well known fact that the Skagit fish like smaller offerings. This gear was followed by sand shrimp or firecracker herring that had been brined and dyed. Nothing worked but I felt very good about what we were doing. That said, I am starting to loose confidence in my ability to pull a rabbitfish out of my hat and catch fish when fishing is tough.

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