Not what it should have been, but 12 days more than you've had in several years. This is a rare win for sport fishers, and as such, we should celebrate it.

The old adage, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind....

Hope it all doesn't turn the river into a complete circus. Handling a sled with a pair of oars is not a simple task, especially when someone's hooked-up with a toad of a steelhead.

If it's a circus, it will be our circus. I may drive my boat around all day tomorrow looking for a rock to stand on and make a cast if some of the predictions about crowding come true. But I'd rather do that than stay home.

Personally, it is the same number I've had the last several years. With the short notice and my schedule I won't be fishing it.
Still, I know that the occupy Skagit folks have nearly performed a miracle getting it to this point.

I can't miss this party

Sauk.....I'm sure it blew out yesterday. Anybody try it anyway?

Salmo and I did some "ceremonial" fishing at the mouth on Saturday. She was pretty dirty.

Sauk was not fishable, upper Skagit was, and was also kind enough to lend us several steelhead for a short time before sending them back to do their thing.

Fish on...

Todd

I didn't catch any steelhead this weekend, but I have never felt so good to fish the Skagit. Mother Nature severely limited the overall opportunity by punching the Sauk River, making the entire Sauk and the Skagit reach from the Sauk downstream to Concrete pretty much unfishable. This created the opportunity for everyone who showed up to prove just how sociable we are by cramming ourselves into the 10-mile stretch from Marblemount to Rockport. A good time was had, until that Saturday afternoon squall hit. Rain never hurt so much as driving my boat through that.

It was all bull trout for me, but my fishing partner captured a nice chrome bright hen on Sunday morning.

I'll be back later this week, but first I need to get new boat trailer lights. I accidentally backed my trailer into a ditch Saturday and smashed the right side taillight. I might as well replace them both and buy a set of LED trailer lights.

SalmoG- We tried to find you at rockport in the afternoon but just missed ya. Sorry you got stuck in that squall. I was driving back down to the take out when in hit and thought to myself, Im' glad Im not still on the water!

Nick, Todd, and I went 4-4 Saturday. All Dime bright really healthy Skagit Wild Steelhead. Nick caught his best ever Steelhead after it kicked his ass all over the river...around a 14 lb hen...Todd caught one on his first or second cast, above the cascade and below the put in, that went 11-12 lbs..beautiful buck.... & I didnt catch a fish, but it didnt matter...it was so nice just to be back fishing on the river again.

Sky Guy,

I saw Luis at Rockport after I took out. He had already pulled his boat out, and he said you and Todd were around somewhere. I heard of a fair number of fish caught Saturday and not so many on Sunday, but I didn't see or talk with many fishermen on Sunday. It will be nice when all the open area is fishable, but all in all, not a bad opener after eight years with no March or April fishing.

Sg

Nice to hear it fished and kicked out some fish. Cool.

Team Bed Shitters here did good hooking them but not so much landing them. We got spooled by a nice fish on a plug rod missing half its line and I heard from across the river “You fawkin bed shitters!” and Im still chuckling about that.

That IS funny. Sounds like everyone's genuinely glad just to be back out there. Pretty cool.

Are you going to tell the 2nd half of that story.......

Lol, I figured people would just think I was telling an Evo type story and that I was full of [Bleeeeep!].

AMEN..........And if we are going to dream, let's dream big. Love to be able to fish the Puyallup and Carbon through the month of March once again! So much lost opportunity.

I heard about a fish being hooked on a plug on the upper river. Never heard about a "the rest of the story."

Occupy Green?

"The rest of the story"...

we were below them side drifting and saw the commotion. I yelled my opinion of their actions after I saw and heard a loud pop. Then a couple minutes later, we saw a nice steelhead jump next to us with something pink in its mouth.

We continue side drifting down and this crazed steelhead continues following us down the river cartwheeling.

We get about a mile, maybe more, down stream and BigO snags something. Starts reeling in and when his okie lifts out of the air 5', we realize the braid he hooked has a very tired steelhead on the end of it.

I grab the braid and proceed to hand line in 100 yards of braid. Not without a couple good runs by the fish. Dicey situation with braid in your hands. We get the 12ish lb buck next to the boat and pop the hook.

Later we returned the braid and plug to it's rightful owner.