Hey, Ive gotten a little disenchanted with not catching fish over the last three months, Being that I cant seem to poke a Steelhead. I was wondering if anyone knew if this time of year was any good for Sea-Runs in Estuarys and in the salt(on the fly). Im mostly clueless on the good times and places to catch them in the salt so any sugjestions would be appreciated. If now is a good time I wil be exploring the Whatcom County Area to give it a shot. Also any Sugjested patterns? Thanks for any and all help.

Fun Fishin- Josh

I would be interested in learning of some spots for those guys too...

Someone recommended tossing shrimp patterns at Lincoln Park here in Seattle; I tried it a bit but not much action.

JF

I grew up fishing searuns on the north end of Whidbey Island and we started seeing the fish in good numbers on the eastside beaches starting in May and continuing through to the fall. Any baitfish pattern worked well off structure and rip lines. At times they'd hit a fly on the strip other times during a pause. We'd usually concentrate on a high slack tide period in the evenings. Also, check out the area you will fish at low tide and pay attention to the bottom terrain. Any dip, deviation or depression of the beach can be a good place to find cutts when the water advances again. I'm sure the mouth of the Nooksack or any of the protected beaches in your area would be similar.
I live on the SW WA coast now and encounter cutts in good numbers in the streams when swinging flys for steelhead in the spring. In the fall they are still in the rivers (can't remember if they migrate in to spawn in spring or fall). Grey Hackle Yellows, Borden Specials, Spruce Flys, and a host of other attractor patterns fished subsurface will work. Concentate on "frog water". They love to hang in slow water (stuff that most normal trout fisherman would pass up as dead water). Look for downed trees, stumps, old car bodies, Anything that offers cover and creates a slack water spot. Lots of time your fly will get hammered as soon as it hits. If not I usually make 6-8 inch steady strips to entice action. Yellow seems to be a key color when they're in the streams (have great luck with yellow wooley bugger palmered with grizzly hackle). Check out Steve Probasco's Northwest Fly Patterns book for about a dozen good recipies.
Hope I haven't rambled on too much about stuff you probablly allready know about. I love fishing for these critters. However they've become very scarce in the past few years due to ????. Take care with every one to ensure their survival. Good Luck.
Oh yeah, check with the fly shop at the east end of the Riverside bridge in Mt. Vernon. I'm sure he's dialed into the Skagit/Whatcom cutt scene.

Hey Josh-
Hang in there w/ the steelhead for a little while longer. The rivers are just now starting to get a fair number of natives. Don't feel bad as I am only doing slightly better (1 hook-up). With time your fish will come!!! Rip lips.

Tim

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"Walk softly, but carry a big steelhead"

Flyguy,
Sea-run cutthroat should be back in the salt in pretty good numbers and pretty well-mended by now. Even though they are late-winter/early-spring spawners, they continue to eat while in fresh water so their physical condition doesn't deteriorate like a steelhead's and they seem to recover very quickly once they're back out of the river (not to say I haven't caught some pretty snaky cutts in the salt in March). Lincoln Park has not been a particularly good cutt fishery in the spring for years, though I think the catch-and-release regs for all marine areas is starting to make a difference there and elsewhere. Golden Gardens was pretty good through this winter and I've picked up a few nice ones at Carkeek Park (they spawn in Venema Creek, the major tributary of Piper's Creek) and points north. I usually fish a 5wt with an intermediate line (the Cortland camo works pretty well, go heavier if the wind blows). Cutts aren't too finicky about flies, small baitfish patterns (candlefish should be hatching out soon), amphipod and euphausid shrimp patterns, and even attractors like the reversed spider work very well. When fishing from a boat, the old saying was "if you can't see the bottom you're too far out". I cast right into the surf line if I'm boat-fishing, so when I'm on the shore I usually fish out at an angle along the beach. There's still a lot of unknowns about sea-run cutthroat and their migration patterns. I've caught fresh, bright fish in the Stillaguamish as late as February and in the Bogachiel as early as June; go figure. Hope this helps, send me an e-mail if you need more info.