[sroffe]

I had a job in Mt Vernon today that didn't pan out. So I took a drive up the Skagit then the Sauk. I'm not familiar with these watersheds, so....:

I noticed that is was pretty silty but, looked like it cleared up above the Suiattle river, although I didn't take a close look. I wonder is the Suiattle puking out a lot of silt? Or is all that silt from the Sauk? If it's from the Sauk, at what point does it clear up?

Wishing I had the bug rod with me when I came down the Stilly. bawling:

 

[Salmo_g]

Glacial silt in the Sauk can come from the Suiattle, the Whitechuck, and sometimes the South Fork of the Sauk. I'm not positive, but I don't think the North Fork Sauk puts out much glacial silt, at least compared to the others listed.

Sg

 

[KerryS]

I remember when I first moved to the Skagit Valley a few months back. Grab a map and found the Suiattle on it and figured what a great looking river, on the map that is. Drove all the way up to almost the end of the forest service road to fish it. Dirty milk. Never did that again.

 

[Clarki]

I was up on the Sauk this past weekend. The river was crystal clear at the confluence of N. and S. forks.

 

[sroffe]

Clarki: You're report got me wondering. It was maybe 6" no more than 12" visibility for sure below the Suiattle today. Only when I got a above the Suiattle it look less milky, but, I didn't get out and check.

 

[SAVE STILLY NATES]

The whitechuck puts out a lot of silty water into the sauk. I was up there a few weeks ago and it was the same say and it was coming from the whitechuck.

 

[Old Man]

Both the Suaittle and the Whitechuck are fed by Glaciers so they never clear except when they are closed. Although they are both open, they are not very fishable. To be able to fish the Suaittle,you have to hit it at the very first of the season before it turns to flowing mud.

 

[13223]

The Chocolate Glacier feeds the Suiattle. That name is pretty descriptive.

 

[Old Man]

I've seen the Suaittle when it looked like a river of mud coming down it. It was so thick nothing should be able to be alive in it. The time to fish it is at where any feeder stream flows into at. It is clear in a small space and that is where the fish lay at.

 

[Vicr]

We just had 2 days of rain so silt has crept into the Sauks drainage.

 

[Smalma]

OMJ -
It has long been a major surprise how many fish in general survive in that glacial water. Not only are there numbers of juvenile fish (Chinook, steelhead, etc) in streams like the Whitechuck and Suiattle they are in great condition. Similar in length and girth as those found in the clear waters. Not sure how they find food but it is clear that they do so; suspect that they can see in that turbidity better than we think.

Tight lines
Curt

 

[papafsh]

I can tell you that they have no trouble seeing big, black, articulated bunny leaches. Just work them within five feet of the bank and don't hunker-down in one spot too long, keep moving to find the players.

LB