[pcknshvl]

Water low and clear! Flows below 3500cfs and no warmer than 40deg.

Had some good tugging from a dolly, but that was it. (I was using a white dolly fly, and the tugs felt like a wet sock).

I've had better luck with flows a little higher and some color in the water.

River seemed busier than usual--like me, I bet people are getting on the river before the February closure.

Enjoy it while you can!

Tom

 

[NomDeTrout]

Tom, I was out there yesterday as well. After taking a big spill off a rock and having to fish with a wet ass...I ended up with a skunk. Not a dollie, nothin...
Did i talk to you by chance? I met a guy out there but didn't get his name.

 

[robbbos]

"-auk river" ... I love it. If only everyone were so secretive with his fishing reports.

No luck for me today on the "-noqualmie" either. It seemed pretty crowded too, and I didn't see or hear of any fish caught. Beautiful sunrise though, and a couple eagles pretty close by.

Rob

 

[pcknshvl]

Tom, I was out there yesterday as well. After taking a big spill off a rock and having to fish with a wet ass...I ended up with a skunk. Not a dollie, nothin...
Did i talk to you by chance? I met a guy out there but didn't get his name.

If you were the cigar smoker above me (smoke didn't bother me), watching me flail away with my full sink head, then fix a rat's nest and change heads, that was me. I didn't see you fall if you did.... BTW, you can shoot some nice tight loops (whoever you are)!

Tom

 

[Joe Smolt]

I was on the *auk yesterday too. Glad to see how clear the water was vs a few years ago. I caught 3 dollies and LDR'd 4 others. Two gear guys floating the river claimed to have caught a 10 lb dollie. Wonder if there is a little exageration there. I also saw some large hoof tracks. I've never seen elk on the river, but they were darn big tracks.

Joe

 

[doublecluck]

Drove past the Sauk today. Damn, there were a lot of people fishing for a Monday!

 

[Smalma]

Joe -
Have seen elk along the Sauk a half dozen times. For years there have been a group of elk that traveled along the Sauk - part of the middle Skaigti group? In recent years the tribe has attempted to introduce elk in the area and they seem to be taking. See "elk sign" a between Darrington and the "Government bridge regulatrly.

The Sauk has produced some pretty nice bulls over the years.

Tight lines
Curt

 

[Joe Smolt]

Curt:

Glad to hear there are elk. I am going to drive along that river a lot different now. Each time I've been on the Queets, I've seen elk and find it a great part of the "being out on the river" experience. Big dollies yes, but as snaky as bulls are, I can't imagine what a 10 lb would look like. I'd throw out a wild guess that it would have to be longer than 40" to reach that weight.

Joe

 

[Smalma]

Joe -
The big bulls are not always "skinny". Just for a look at some potential weights.

The world record bull out Pen Oreile in Idaho weighted 32 pounds and was 40.5 inches long

The Washington state resident (lake) bull was a 22# fish that was 35 inches long

The Washington state anadromous fish was 10# 15 oz and was 30.5 inches long

In my limited experience with North Sound bulls the well conditioned big boys are often heavier for their length than steelhead. In the past even the spawned out kelts have the potential to get to be "fatties" when giving access to super abundance of spawning salmon. In couple of years when that happened I have seen sub 30 inch fish that would exceed 10#. On the Skagit the high pink escapement in 1995 produced such fish, the combination of good chum numbers and low flows produced such fish in 2001 and I would not be surprised that there would such a fish this year on the Skagit again this year given the more than 1,000,000 pinks that spawned there this year; however to be fair given poor numbers of pinks and chums using the Sauk this past fall with a couple of exceptions most of the bulls I have seen there would not qualify as "fatties".

Tight lines
Curt

 

[Gone’r]

ive seen/heard of unusually massive bulls this year from all the S systems and know a guy who had the pleasure of shakin hands with a fish pushin that 10lb mark onthe skagit. and it was faaaar from snakey. with that many pinks its not hard to see why.

 

[longstick]

Got to love pink years. We got one coming up this year in AK... its my favorite time and year to fish.

 

[937]

My friend caught a 30" dolly a couple years back on one of the local rivers. It was no snake either, an absolute pig! It had been eating well for quite a while.

 

[Runejl]

Here is a Bull/Dolly/Whatever that was just shy of the 30 inch mark. The fisherman in me will call it 30, ha ha. I dont know how much it weighed but it was a fun fish.

What would you guys say a fish like that would weigh in at?

 

[937]

It's a solid 5.5 lb fish:thumb:

 

[longstick]

30" mark for a dolly or bull in a river system is something. I hear about them all day long in AK and there are only a few places up there you will land them and they are sea run char. I have yet to hook a fish over 29 inches. Lots of bows over 30 but dollies is hard for me to see.

 

[Han Double]

gawd i wish everyone would blur the background of their hero shots! nice dolly/bull/char/hog!

 

[Nathan M Daines]

Nice Bull Josh, here's my personal best.

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/char/p17072-sauk-bulls.html

 

[Big valley]

Nathan re post I want to see that pic!! Dave

Josh I'm pretty sure I know where that is, but isn't the blur from dropping your camera in the river?? man I hate when you guys do that.

 

[Nathan M Daines]

Sorry Dave fixed it!

 

[Broderick Smith]

If were talking bulls, here is a hog I landed in WA this fall:

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/member-galleries/p39372-bull-trout.html