I floated the sky with HBP today with no success. We didn't even get a hit, talked to a few other guy's at the ben howard take-out with the same results. The question is are any of you guy's doing any good on the sky in the last week. We saw two fish caught back to back off the bar when we were putting in at sulton, so I think the bankie's outfished the floater's all in all it was a really slow day.

I have 21hours of boat fishing on the Sky sense 6/1, 1 summer ,1 king ,1 lost fish,This time last year I had 7 fish I don,t think there here yet.If there going to show it will be soon.

3 days, 5 hours, three lost fish from the drift boat.

I have fished four days this last week with four to the bank and one other lost.all were chrome bright and full of fight,two where caught just before dark and the other were caught at day break 4:15 am to 5am I think it has to do with the sunny days that we are having.these fish were caught from the bank and all at the same location.Just be consistent and patient dont give up on good looking water they are definetly there.

I got a late start this morning, hitting the river at about 6:00 am. I tried a couple different places today, up by Gold Bar and at Cracker Bar. I fished until 1:00 pm, and I didn't get so much as a bite.

Whatever is out there, it sure isn't biting on Sunday mornings.

I'm switching to evening fishing for the time being.

i have approx. 80 hrs in since opener and still haven't touched a fish other than smolts,this really sucks but it is still early

just wondering if any one caught a hen since opener with no eggs. i caught about a 12lbs hen open opener with no eggs and it was a farely chrome brite fish............the fish had some sort of skeins starting to develope.

This early in the Summer those hens haven't started producing very many eggs yet. In another month or two you will see more eggs in the hens. We fished all day on the opener and lost 2 fish, Thursday we fish 4 hrs with no bites, Saturday we landed a 4lb hatchery buck and a 8lb native buck. We did all of our fishing from a drift boat. The fish checker at the Sultan launch at noon Saturday said he only checked one other fish that day.(We were lucky)

It looks like the summer fishing is taking is taking off where the winter fishing left off. God I hope this just isn't another poor run and just late fish. Or is the state game dept. saying their planting fish and their not. Just a thought.

i lost a big one after a bit of a fight at 9am sunday then lost a small hen at about 8pm after i got it almost to shore.
the fish are here just gotta go find them.

hay mudsling i got both those fish from the bank in the secret hole i pm you last week.
there in there prity thick.

I have 4-5 days in so far on the Sky. Lost a big chrome summer on the opener. Landed two skanky downstream winters... Definetly nothing in big numbers yet. I wont start worrying til the 4th of July. I know a few very good fisherman that have yet to have a hookup yet, so its really not a matter of it being too sunny, too hot, too high, too cold, too crowded.... stanky bait, crooked spoons...etc

Atleast it feels like summer now

Kudakid,

That 12 pound hen you caught with no eggs, but with very small developing skeins, was likely a spawned out winter run. The hens, particularly, re-chrome as they head downstream. They also have the beginnings of the egg skeins that would mature the following year. If that was a winter run fish, it seems like it was a late winter run fish, which are usually wild steelhead. Was this fish fin-clipped? You indicate that it had no eggs, which suggests you kept and cleaned it, and I thought all wild steelhead are to be released. I ask because I don't want to incorrectly infer that you retained a fish that isn't allowed in the regs.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

salmo g why couldnt it be a hatchery fish that spawned and on its way back down river? there was a late run of hatchery fish last winter not all hatchery fish get bonked? i still think some hatchey fish spawn in the rivers and not the hatchery?

You have to assume that it was a hatchery fish. The skeins "just starting to develop" part gave away the fact that it was a summer run. Spawned out winter runs may have eggs left in them but they are usually loose and fully developed. Sounds like a beautiful summer fish to me.......

FCTS---- I would never presume to know more about steelhead than SalmoG

Jerry-
And I would also not assume that everything Salmo says is right either.........he's not god.

take a scale sample and send it to wdfw. they should be able to tell you who is right or wrong on salmo post.

Some additional information -
Even before a female steelhead spawns next year's eggs are developing. If you look closely at a skein of eggs you'll see the small dots that will develop into next season's eggs (you'll see them in steelhead but not salmon). Within a week or so of spawning the female's ovaries will shrink and form small skeins (about the size of your little finger) with eggs about the size of a pin head.

On the Snohomish the winter hatchery fish spawn from December through February. The hatchery summers spawn from January to early March. Unlikely that a spawned out hatchery hen would still be in the river in June.

These early summer steelhead are entering the rivers 9 or more months prior to spawning. As a result they are sexually immature. At times there is little sexual dimorphism (differences between the sexes). On some of these early fish determining the sex of a fish can be very difficult (both sexes are chrome bright with bullet heads). At times the only sure way is look inside - if it has eggs it is a female if not a male. this is especially true for the spring and early June fish.

Tight lines
Smalma

Of the 15 summer fish I landed last year on the Cowlitz, my log has 8 of them as hens. NONE OF THESE FISH HAD FULLY DEVELOPED EGGS!!!!!! they have many months before they spawn. PULL your head out SG!!

don't most of the hatcheries "KILL SPAWN" the hens anyways? the reason being so they can get better eggs.