This is no way a "dis" against Beezer or the group sponsoring the chum derby on the Sky this weekend. I know this organization, as well as the proceeds from the derby, are definately for fish enhancement. This is not a blood-thirsty club of "sportsmen".

Although most guys have no or little respect for the chummers, I love them because they show up in good numbers and actually bite, a rarity for Snohomish system salmon. I have probably kept 2 in the past 8 years. Them and the pinks are my favorite by far, I could give a crap about bringing a river salmon home.

I'm wondering if it may have been better to wait a little later in the season for such a derby, so as to ascertain the size of the run. The amount of fish the river right now is pretty scary compared to most years.

I have bad feelings about this years run. The majority of the fish in the river right now came up two weeks ago in the high water. We should be catching double digit numbers of bright fish daily by now - not the case this year. We did good two weeks ago, but it has slowed way down....couple of dark fish per day at best. Some small groups of fish travelling through periodically, but way slower than normal year. Yes, they may be coming in huge numbers because it is still early.

Unlike the silvers though, these guys are not bashful about coming up in the 5 foot water level. They do not stack up below 522 bridge and wait for a rain. Their clock is ticking, they move upriver and get the job done fast.

Remember the three 100 year floods the Sky experienced between 1990-1996? What fish (spawning beds)takes the brunt of these floods that invariably happen the last week in November? What happens three years later (I think they are 3 year fish) when their meager run of offspring come back and everybody (commercial, tribal, sport)harvests them just like they do in normal runs? What happens three years later when the adults return from that year?

Although the brilliant and talented Dept. of F&W shuts down Sky coho and odd-year humpies in a heartbeat due to their "estimated" run size, they wouldn't shut down Sky chums if only 1,000 made it back. Please keep this in mind when you bank/boat that 15 pound hen.

I know, I'm a worrywart.

TK

TK,

If they had a crystal ball, they wouldn't have picked this weekend to have the derby. However, these things need to be planned so there really isn't any choice. People have to plan ahead so you can't change dates and expect people to adjust. Usually the salmon shootout is done earlier and is for hatchery coho, but when the planning was being done, it didn't look like there was going to be a coho opening this year.

The guys in Sky Valley T.U. are all VERY good about preserving resources and there won't be fish bonked unless they are potential derby winners. Not only that, we're talking about a derby that maybe has 20 people in it...not exactly a huge impact. Besides, I'd be willing to bet that once we get our first rain, there will be more chum in the Snohomish system than you know what to do with. I hear that WDFW has done some sampling on chums in the salt water and are expecting a huge run - and I believe that Curt Kramer WOULD shut it down in the numbers were extremely low.

It's OK to worry, but I don't think this derby even registers on the worry scale.

Thanks,

Kevin

I have to agree with the tv hosts. Notice how many Chumkins came up in the last high water. Quite a few condisidering that it was a couple weeks ago. We had one litte rain squall since the rivers dropped and that got the fish to move a little but we can't base a run size on present numbers of fish this early in the season especially when the water is at near summer level. The last rain only brought the Sky up half a foot or less. That is not enough water to draw the big schools in from the salt at least not out of tidewater. Later in the season, sure, but not yet. Chums don't waste any time moving upstream as they usually spawn within about two weeks after entering fresh water. They'll have their tennis shoes on once it rains again.

As far as derby timing, I think that the earlier in the season the better. They could have it during the second week of November but then they would have to set it up as a "whose fish is darkest" derby instead of a biggest fish derby. There are bright Chums to be had later on but I seem to get the brightest Chums in the Snohomish system just about this time of year.

I am looking forward to this derby as I will get to meet new people from the board and from the Sky Valley TU. Good luck to the entrants as you'll need it with some of the heavy hitters who will be on the river.

Justin
CEO, Sauk River Steelhead Ranch

TK, I appreciate your concern. Club functions like this, even though low key, are planned a year in advance. Normally we would do a coho derby however we didn’t know if there would be an opener for coho. So we did chum and wanted it fairly early so not a whole bunch of dark fish would be taken then discarded. This is a fun thing for members who spend a lot of time doing tedious chores like habitat restoration, hatchery work, fin-clipping etc. This early November’s low flow is uncommon in my opinion. Bad luck but that’s fishin’. The reason I am so late responding is because I fished Possession Bar this morning for Blackmouth. I have never so many big fish markings between 30 and 70 feet on the bar; know what it think they were? Chum; even saw a few jumping on the surface. So keep up the good work thinking about the fish we all love. I have fished the Sky twice the past few days and there are chums already spawned and dead on the banks so the early ones are in, lets hope when we get some rain the rest will be here. Good Luck!

Beezer