Haven't posted in a while since I've spent the majority of my time fishing the more productive rivers, but since this one is the closest to home figured I'd give it a shot. I drifted from High Bridge to Sultan...water was pretty low and very clear. The drift is still very possible in a drift boat, I only had to walk through two sections. The most difficult part is right after the put in pushing through the boulders on the right side after the pool below Big Eddy. I stay river right and there is enough water to squeeze through there, maybe not a great idea if it's your first time on the sticks but not too bad....caught three nice cuttys in the hole below Big Eddy, one of them was 18+ in. C/R all of them. I watched one of them chase my spoon down from about 15 yards across the tailout before he slammed it. very aggressive behavior as he attacked it twice before he finally inhaled it. Fished bobber and jig, bobber and eggs, and sandshrimp through the next few sections. Picked up a few more trout with little size on the eggs and sandshrimp. Didn't see any steelhead in there. Finally got to the next hole with 10
+ feet of water in it. Lots of trout in there very willing to take spinners, but couldn't pull any steelhead out. After fishing it i drifted over and saw one lone steelhead sitting on the bottom, he was very skiddish and took off as soon as he saw the shadow of the boat. Fairly unproductive for the next mile or so. Finally got to a stretch of water where there was about 100 yards of walking speed river flow and 5+ feet of water. This was the best stretch of the day. Missed on steelhead side drifting eggs, then missed another on a spoon. The fish that took the spoon was easily 10+lbs. as he busted my swivel on the second jump out of the water. How depressing...the most solid hook up of the day and an easy fish to put in the boat, i'd just checked my leader, knot, and swivel before casting as i know this spot has produced in the past and just dumb luck that he got the right angle to bust the swivel... Drifted about another mile without any luck, water was pretty low and this is where i had to walk the boat over two shallow sections. Finally got to a two really long stretches at turns in the river with at least 15-20 feet of water underneath hard clay cliffs. saw 4-5 steelhead sitting in between the clay cliffs and had one follow a spoon out from one of them but couldnt get any to take it. Visibility was about 10-12 feet so you really have to leave yourself some space and make a long swing so they don't see you. Put my eggs in front of one of them i could see about 15 feet behind the boat, he wanted nothign to do with them and turned and headed downriver immediately...so much for an egg bite. that's about it...would be nice to get another rain but i'm not sure how many more fish will push into the river... tight lines.

Goldrigger1

8/10/2014 8:12:00 AM

Good writing and good report. I felt I was there in the boat. I've sure seen that clear water and skittish fish. Tough conditions. The Sky is so clear and clean that the trout must be tuned into smolts rather than insects.
Well... fall will be here soon. I've heard a lot of silvers coming this way. I hope for a big season on Snohomish and Sky.

hromine

8/10/2014 9:24:00 AM

true....can't wait until the fall... I killed it with the coho last year and i prefer that weather much better anyway. If the run matches last year i'll be happy

Gdstravis

8/14/2014 10:12:00 AM

Great post. And appreciate you tossing some info to your fellow drift boat captains. Quick question, as the thread has turned its attention toward the fall... where is a foot take out for a drift boat on the Snohomish River. I've heard there is a private one not too far past the 522, but don't know exactly where it is. Help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Stagmaster2014

8/14/2014 1:42:00 PM

When do the coho start flooding the rivers? Im gonna be primarily in the snohomish.

hromine

8/14/2014 4:53:00 PM

The coho really start flooding the rivers the first to second week of October, but you can certainly catch them before that...around the middle of September. The best take out for the drift boat is Cady Park if you don't want to pay the fee for the private take out. It really helps to have a trolling motor for the stretch between Cady and the private launch because it is pretty froggy water.

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