[hedburner]

Fished the Sauk yesterday on a nice classic bar inbetween the Suiattle and the government bridge. One nice fish hooked and lost after a short tussle, and another nicer fish brought to hand and released gently. Only fished the one run, I got too cold to fish at my other runs. Nice day, but cold. Strange didn't see any left over spawned chums or any redd evidence. The one day I got upriver in November I only saw three chums. Another bad run for those guys again. Too friggin cold to go today. I'll wait for warmer weather maybe by the weekend.

 

[Plecoptera]

I've also noticed very few Chums in this system the past couple years. Despite this there are still numerous healthy looking bulls/dollies hanging around, however the methods used to catch them this time of year is lot different. Dead drifting eggs & flesh flies around spawning areas is no longer as effective, mainly because there are no spawning areas to fish around.

I'm a little concerned about the condition of the local chum runs. They are steadily disappearing and nobody really seems to care.

 

[steve s]

I was on the Sauk yesterday and saw quite a few old chum north of the bridge. I also landed a couple of dollies. Fished another run a few miles downstream but saw no chum and didn't have any takes.

 

[HauntedByWaters]

Nevermind.

Hedburner, if you want to see some cool dollie pics, PM me.

 

[floatinghat]

HBW,

Nice Dolly hell I would play with her!

 

[Guest]

Nice fish! Say what are those clips on that nice Meiser?

 

[JayB]

Ran the Sauk from the confluence of the Whitechuck to within about a mile of Darrington in my kayak yesterday and saw no fish of any kind in low, clear conditions.

Not sure what to expect in terms of fish, but it's beautiful habitat and I was surprised to see zero fish there this time of year.

 

[NomDeTrout]

A friend of mine fished a bit down from the confluence area yesterday morning and brought 2 dollies to shore and several hookups. said they weren't too big, around 16-20". I've heard slow stripping streamers in slow pools works great around this time.

I have yet to head out there this season as I've been focused on chasing SRC's around but i'm dieing to head out there one of these weekends.

 

[NomDeTrout]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but perhaps someone can give me some insight on this:
I've read that the Wallace has a population of dollies - anyone have much luck out there on Wallace? Don't have much time this next month to drive up to Sauk so wondering if I can get by with sticking a bit closer...

 

[Runejl]

What was the matter with the pics of the dolly? That was an awesome fish. Sweet to get to see what might be lurking under the surface of the waters we fish.

 

[spanishfly]

Thanks for the report hedburner. Can't believe it's already that time of year... Can't wait to chase some bulls!

 

[Norme]

the nooksack is full of them

 

[Leopardbow]

the nooksack is full of them

I think "full" might be a stretch and the only part of the river open is the mainstem.

 

[Ryan Bailey]

The Wallace System has dollies. Saw a photo taken of about a 8 pounder taken outta here last week by one of the guys here at the shop...

 

[Smalma]

The bull trout found in the Wallace are just another example of the complex behavior that is interested critters exhibit.

The Wallace does not support a spawning population of bull trout. The bull trout found there typically spawn in the North Fork of the Skykomish (and a couple tribs) or potentially the South Fork basin above Sunset Falls. Post spawn the kelts drop downstream seeking out feeding areas. In that search some of the Skykomish fish are attracted to the Wallace as a potential foraging area due to abundant spawning salmon and latter the salmon fry (both natural and hatchery).

While there never seems to be large numbers of bulls in the Wallace it is common to see some adult size fish post-spawn (November) through early summer. There can be some juvenile and sub-adult size fish there year-round though once reaching sexual mature they typically migrate to the Skykomish headwater spawning areas.

BTW -
The Sauk chums like most of the salmonids in the systems seem to have been hit very hard by the 2003 flood and the resulting habitat changes. Hopefully as the system settles down we will see numbers rebound.

Tight lines
Curt

 

[Leopardbow]

I think you would be surprised at the Chum and Pink harvest that has occured. Slowly, because of dwindling Chinook and Coho opportunities, Chum are the new gold. Where will river nutrience then come from?