[Woollyworm]

Anyone hooking up on this river? I was thinking of hitting it this coming weekend. Any suggestions of which areas to target would be most appreciated.

Tight lines,
ww

 

[o mykiss]

It would be difficult to hookup with anything on the Sky or any other local river given the shape they're in now. Most of them were at flood stage yesterday and today. Think it's supposed to clear up some over the next couple of days but there's got to be a fair amount of snow melt in addition to rain feeding the rivers because it's been so warm up in the mountains lately. Rivers may not be back in shape by the weekend even if we get some decent weather over the next couple of days.

 

[wish4fish]

Weekend fishing on the Sky is a zoo.

 

[Woollyworm]

Is it possible to escape the hordes of weekend warriors with a little bit of bushwhacking? Or is it pretty much shoulder to shoulder no matter where you go?

Thanks.

 

[wish4fish]

No. Others do the same and boats are everywhere. Sorry, but it's the truth.

 

[Guest]

I hate to agree with you,but that is the truth. I guess being that close to Seattle is why it seem to get crowded on weekends. But when the fish are in they all gang up here. It's hard to bushwack the Sky because of all the private property. Heck it's even crowded on the Snoqualmie. I guess there is always the Skagit. Jim S. UNNO

 

[o mykiss]

I have not been out to the Sky yet for winter fishing this year, so take this with a major grain of salt. (I have tried fishing the Snoqualmie a couple of times recently and, to borrow Wish4fish's term, it was a "zoo" - composed almost exclusively of gear guys. In fact, it was so crowded that I tried fishing the Tolt, which isn't great fishing but in my experience usually is pretty devoid of anglers, but it was swarming with gear guys too. Whatever you do, stay away from Tokul Creek -- shees, what a sordid scene.) Anyway, regarding the Sky, sometimes you get lucky and Buck Island on the back side of Monroe is not crowded. I have been there a number of times by myself or with maybe one or two other anglers. The park you park at to get there is often swarming with gear guys, but you have to wade to get to Buck Island (unless you bushwack in from the opposite end by droping down from Highway 2) and lots of gear guys aren't equipped for wading. Also, if the river is low enough, there is a lot of available water at the 2-Bit hole (you get there by driving down the driveway of a farm right on Ben Howard Road - think that's the road it's on - and through a gate between a couple of sheds; 8 bits to get in now, but still a great deal). There's usually plenty of anglers there but again, my experience is that if you walk up river you often can find some elbow room. Wish4fish is right though about boats. Be prepared for wakes from jet sleds, etc. It isn't exactly peaceful. The public fishing spot on the other side of the bridge just outside Goldbar is usually swarming, but on occasion I've gotten lucky by walking upstream from the bridge and found some solitude.

 

[Woollyworm]

Ok, thanks for the warnings about the Sky's maddening crowds. This discussion managed to finally jump-start my mental fish finder, which has been shutdown since early December.

If the main branch of the sky is a zoo, could the intrepid angler perhaps find some solitude and big, bright metalheads in the Sky's tributaries?

Any advice on which ones and where to go would be awesome.

wiggly rods,

ww

 

[Rob Blomquist]

I was out last Sunday as the storm front came out, and I found the fishing totally delightful. I hiked downstream of the crowds to find absolute solitude and a delightful run to fish. No boats passed, no others intruded on my fishing during my 3 hours on the river.

I will be back for more this weekend, but no way am I going tell you guys exactly where. Oh, and it won't be the same place, but I expect similar conditions, as I have fished that reach before and was alone there, too.

Rob :THUMBSUP

 

[circlespey]

Saturday and Sunday are definitely zooish on the Sky. This time of year the gear crowd is really out, especially from the Sultan river mouth boat launch to Monroe and down, since that's the best plug/bait water. Above Sultan you have a chance. I fished near the mouth of the Wallace on Saturday in solitude for a few hours, and then I went to Twobit and Buck Island and could hardly find any water to fish. I had to wait for holes even in the back channels.

It usually tapers down a bit by February since the hatchery run is pretty much over then.

As for the forks, you can definitely find solitude but fish are hard to come by up there right now. Hatchery fish don't run past Reiter Ponds, and there are few wild fish in the river before February and March.

 

[Guest]

The S/fork is open as far as Sunset Falls. And the N/fork as far as Bear Creek Falls. I usually fish the N/fork where ever I can get access to the river. I've caught fish up there. If you don't know the area, Bear Creek falls is about a mile above Troublesome Creek. You can't miss the place because it's the first camp ground on the river. Jim S. :THUMBSUP