John’s Guide Service Fishing & Hunting Blog

Been pretty busy around here so I haven’t had much time to update the Blog till now… so here’s the skinny. (Sorry no pics… digi camera batteries were dead)

Think we’ve reached the very tail end of our hatchery steelhead run here on the Skagit… looking forward to seeing some more nates now!

Friday, January 20th, 2006 :
Fished Rob Scott and Gang here on the Skagit. Was a very tough day of fishing on Friday, but certainly not for lack of effort… only hooked into one Steelhead for the day. Still recovering from lost leaders hehehe. Had a great time with you guys Rob… and thanks again for the Pacific Mobile coffee mug and hat!! Look forward to next time!

Saturday, January 21st, 2006:
Mark and Ray, back again on Saturday for another season of steelheading on the Skagit. Fishing was a bit better on Saturday for us than Friday, but still a bit slower than it has been. Went 2 for 4 on Steelhead and landed a few real nice sized dollies as well. Great time as usual guys!!.. Thanks again!

Sunday, January 22nd, 2006:
Fished Donovan, Ben and Wayne on Sunday. Great day to be on the water for sure!!! (everyone seemed to be at home gearing up for the Seahawks game.) Beat the snot outta the river… and finally got to really pound the water below the Mixer as well. (Except for the Cedars… seems there must have been a pretty good mud slide up Loretta Creek, pure mud coming out of it.) Landed one Steelhead yesterday and a few really nice sized Dollies as well. Had a few other opportunites that we missed out on as well. (Wayne ) Had a Blast with you guys and can’t wait to do it again next month!

Monday, January 23rd, 2006
Fished Mark (G.I.T.) again today and his friend Ken. Still pretty slow today for Steelies. Ken landed his first ever Hatchery Steelhead today, lost a few others today as well. Also landed a few really nice sized Dollies. Great time as always Mark!!! See you in a few weeks!

Bill with his take-home limit of Hatchery Steelhead

Was a very nice day to be on the water!! No rain, partly to mostly cloudy skies and lots of sunshine!! Temps were great too… mid to upper 40’s all day! :-)

While the Skagit is still a bit higher than we normally like to fish it… it is definately fishable and there are fish to be caught.

Bill, back up from CA for business, joined us today for some winter fishing action. Went 2 for 4 on Steelhead and also landed 4 nice Silvers as well. (Not all that uncommon for the Skagit this time of year for the Silvers… except that 3 of the 4 were chrome bright) While Salmon retention here on the Skagit ended on Dec 31st it was still pretty nice to see and fight some chrome Silvers.

Thanks again for another great time, Bill. Look forward to seeing ya again next time yer up this way!… Bring a Lamiglas hat with ya next time though

Our Log Cabin under construction surrounded by standing water.

Fill Wanted!! After these record rain-falls and no place for any more water to go our back yard is now filling with water. At least I know I got the vents up high enough and where I need some fill to go around the yard. There’s places around the yard with 3 -4 feet deep spots. Got any fill dirt ya need to get rid of… give me a call!!

Our Lab Pup Boone is absolutely loving it though!! Knows now he can swim and is taking flying dock dog leaps into the back yard and living it up. Glad someone is loving all this standing water.

Lots of standing water all over the place up here along with many hill-sides giving way to slides… hopefully we get a break soon!!

On a brighter note the upper Skagit, while still much higher than we normally like to fish it, is very fishable right now with good vis. Cascade is very fishable right now too.

… Make For Some GREAT Duck Hunting Weather!!

Jesse Messerschmidt with 2 triple curl Drake Mallards, 1 Golden Eye and a BuffleHead.

Started out the morning with every intention to do a Cast-N-Blast today with good friend and Alaska comrade Jesse Messerschmidt, who stopped on by on his way back to Gonzaga from his home in Forks for a visit and a little fun on the river.

Rained over an inch here in Rockport over night but the river, while on the rise, was still in pretty good shape. Launched the boat and baited up for some fishing with ducks flying all over the place today. Made one drift, missed a fish and then Duck Fever got the better of us… pretty much spent the rest of the day chasing around ducks in the old flood channels and many pond areas where the rivers used to flow.

Wes Haight with a 20 plus pound Steelhead caught in 1967

Warnie Johnson, Brian Hyde and Lawrence Haight together holding Wes’s old rod.

Wes Haight was a great friend and one of the Old Time Skagit River guides featured on our “Tribute” page of the site. (NOW UPDATED) Wes passed away on August 11th, 2001 and is always thought of and will be greatly missed!

Wes’s family was kind enough to give me one of his old fishing rods and reels which I promised to take fishing with me at least once a season as a tribute to Wes.

Today we took Wes out fishing again! Joined by Wes’s Brother, Lawrence Haight, long time friend of Wes and Lawrence’s, Brian Hyde and another life long area resident and friend of Wes and Lawrence, Warnie Johnson. Talk about some wet weather!! The rain never let up on us today at all and it was the first day this season we did not bring a Steelhead to the boat. Still had a lot of fun and I think Wes woulda been happy just to be out on the river today.

Gary and Mike with a couple of today’s Hathcery Steelhead.

Off to another great start of the a new year with some more great fishing, great times and great company!!! Third day in a row now too that we’ve hooked and landed one of the day’s Steelhead on the very first drift of the morning. You guys rock!!

What’s with all this rain though?!?!? Got home today and wife said, “Welcome home Aqua-Man…how was your day?” Think I am starting to grow gills along with webbed hands and feet. Really wanting to fish some of the really fishable water below the Sauk as well…. just needing it to clear up a bit more though. They can swim, but they can’t hide forever! Come on someone… do an Anti-Rain Dance already!!

Diane with a nice chrome bright hatchery steelhead from Saturday… caught on the first cast of the morning… hooked in less than a minute of that cast and landed five minutes later.

Jo. with her first Steelhead ever. A Dandy Wild Steelhead also caught and landed on the first drift of the morning… this one gets better though. First drift of the morning we hook Jo. into a nice hatchery steelhead that just goes balisitic and breaks off under the boat…. drift down a 100 yards and BAM, Jo’s into the Steelhead in the Pic above.

The Ladies always outfish the guys!!…. Need we say more?