January 2007
Monthly Archive
Wed 24 Jan 2007
… Still catching quite a few chrome bright Hatchery Steelhead!! 
January 23rd, 2007:
Had a few days off to heal after sticking myself good with the fillet knife last week… and it sure was nice gettin’ back out on the water!!
Fished today with local and great friend Warnie Johnson for a “guide’s day off” fun day. We both limited out on hatchery steelhead today!
Warnie with his limit of Skagit River Hatchery Steelhead.:-)
January 24th, 2007:
Today we were joined by regulars Gary and Lorna for another day of Skagit River Steelhead fishing… Had a great time as always with Gary and Lorna hooking into some more chrome bright Hatchery Steelhead and a dandy Wild Hen as well. Great job today guys… See Ya soon!
Lorna with her limit of Hatchery Steelhead and Gary with a chrome bright 3 salt hatchery hen.
Gary’s picture taking expertise just doesn’t do Lorna’s Wild Hen Steelhead justice… but here ya go Lorna. 
Wed 17 Jan 2007
Today we were joined by Charlie and his wife Wendy for a day of Skagit River Steelheading and Dollie Varden fishing.
Started off the morning targeting Steelhead with the gear rods… and what is it I always tell the guys bringing their significant others along for a day of fishing…. Yeah, the women always out-fish the guys!! Wendy put on a clinic for Charlie and I this morning with Steelhead! Way to go Wendy!!! :-)We quickly got our limit of Hatchery Steelhead and headed on for some Dollie Varden fly fishing.
Now Charlie is a master with the fly rod, especially on Dollie Varden, and the tables quickly turned as he put on a show for us. Dunno’ how many Dollies Charlie boated in a very short amount of time but all were very healthy looking fish ranging from the 12 to mid 20 inch mark. Way to go Charlie!!
Look forward to seeing the two of you again sometime soon! Dont be such a stranger anymore Charlie… been too long!! Always a blast fishing with you! To much work is never a good thing!
P.S. Hand swelled up like a baloon right now, but bleeding stopped finally. Thanks for the help there! (Kinda stuck myself good with the fillet knife today)
Charlie and Wendy with their limit of Skagit River Hatchery Steelhead.
Mon 15 Jan 2007
WOW was it cold out this weekend!!
Top 10 countdown for; You Know Its a Cold Day Of Fishing When:
10. Before leaving the house one’s boat heater has to be used just to thaw the motor.
9. Your boat is frozen to your trailer when you back in to launch and your trailer begins to float while stuck to the boat.
8. Bait that you just cut up that morning is froze solid when you start your first drift.
7. You left your ears back at the launch when running up river.
6. “What snot running down my face?… What face?”
5. Water is warmer than the air, at 37 degrees, and you have to dip your rod into it between every drift just to keep the ice out of the guides.
4. Bait that has just left the water and comes in contact with the boat, becomes part of the boat. Similar to that X-Mas movie where the kid sticks his tongue to the flag-pole.
3. Number 4 also holds true for any fish entering the boat… talk about flash frozen.
2. Hot Coffee becomes a Slushee in a matter of minutes and the water bottle you left in the boat the day before literally explodes.
1. You know its a cold day of fishing when, your landing net is froze solid and brings back memories of H.S. Lacrosse practice. “O.K. it’s a brat! … cradle, cradle, in the boat for the goal!”
… And as cold as it was all weekend, the fish really didn’t seem to mind. Had another great weekend steelheading the Skagit.
Saturday, January 13th, 2007:
Took out Chris and his son Andrew out for another great day of Skagit River Steelheading. Started out the morning hooking into a what appeared to be a nice wild buck in our very first pass. (Pretty colored up though for this early in the season and could just be a miss-clipped 3 salt hatchery fish.) He stayed in the water anyways and went about his way after a quick photo-op. Had a great time as usual and limited out the boat before 10:00AM including another dandy 3 salt hatchery buck that Andrew fought like a true champion. Great time guys!! Thanks, and hope to see ya again soon!!
Andrew with his “wild” steelhead caught and released the first pass of the morning.
Andrew and Chris with a dandy limit of Skagit River Hatchery Steelhead, including another dandy 3 salt buck for the season.
Sunday, January 14th, 2007:
She loves to fish,… rain, snow, cold or hot… and she’s good at it too!! Love of my life Corrina joined me again on the river today along with her sister Tricia and brother-in-law Justin for another brutally cold, but great day of Winter Steelhead fishing on the Skagit. (She’s a keeper!! ;-)) Corrina showed us all up today by hooking into the first two steelhead before any of the rest of us even got a bite and even if we didn’t quite get our boat limit today, and froze our arses off, it was still an absolute blast fishing with her, Tricia and Justin. Look forward to doing it again soon guys!! :-)
Corrina, Tricia and Justin with a few nice Skagit River Steelhead!
(Anyone else got any Top 10, Ya Know Its a Cold Day of Fishing, when? Let us know here by leaving a comment.)
Thu 11 Jan 2007
… More Winter Steel.
Just flat arse bitter cold up here on the Skagit today, especially with the strong NE wind blowing down the valley here… too cold to fish! We got hit with another good wind storm Tuesday night when this cold front moved on in putting our power out here once again. You could actually see this front coming up-river and it hit us pretty good. Rain and wind Tuesday night gave way to cooler temps and snow after midnight. Woke to a couple of inches on the ground and on and off snow showers most of the day yesterday.
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007:
Got a full day of Steelhead fishing in with Paula and Darril before the weather turned on us. In fact it wasn’t until we reached the ramp at the end of the day when the wind and rain started. Still a great day on the water! Had a great time guys, hope to do it again sometime soon!
Paula and Darril with a few nice Skagit Steelhead.
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 :
Up most of the night Tuesday with a pretty good fever, I was so looking foward to Wednesdays trip with Chuck and Tod “Uncle Buck” that I couldn’t pass it up… Besides Winter Steelheading in the snow can be pretty fun and with these two its always a hoot. Chuck was the man today with multiple hook-ups all day long, even if he was a little hard on the leader supply. Went 2 for 5 on Steelhead today. Chuck lost one dandy Wild Steelhead that just went ballistic when hooked and Tod lost a dandy 3 salt Hatchery Steelhead that fought just about as well. All in all another great day to be out on the water!! Had a great time as always guys, even if I was still feeling a bit under the weather… can’t wait to do it again!! Thanks!
Chuck with a couple nice Hatchery Steelhead.
Mon 8 Jan 2007
Well our New Years Day storm put the Skagit out for a couple of days and when we were able to get back out on the water on Friday the 5th we were hit by a morning snow storm which changed over to rain by Noon. Ugghhhhh! 
Friday, January 5th, 2007:
Friday we were joined by friends Mitch and Rob who brought along Jeff for a day of Skagit River Steelheading. Other than the snow and hardly being able to see our lines in the water or where we were casting the fishing was pretty good! (Helped having some skilled rods in the boat too ) Had a great time guys!… Thanks!
Mitch, Jeff and Rob with some nice Skagit River Steelhead to start off their 2007 season.
Saturday, January 6th, 2007:
A break in the weather! Saturday was a nice day to be out on the water, period. Weather was great and water level and visibility were suprisingly good considering the weather we were in on Friday. Was hired out on Saturday to take a family out on the river to spread their parents ashes. (Didn’t charge them for the day, even when they booked it… it was my honor to do this for them) Their parents loved the Skagit and loved the Eagles that Winter here every year. What better time and place to have your ashes spread than on a river you love… Especially with the hundreds of Eagles out this year.
Me, I would like my ashes spread up on top of Sauk Mountain so that I can look down over the valley and rivers I love so much.
Sunday, January 7th, 2007:
Sunday the rain was back on us once again! We were joined by Dave, his son Chris, Dick and Steve for a another great day of Steelheading on the Skagit. Although soaked to the core I still had a great time!! Thanks again guys… look forward to seeing you all again soon!
Dick, Chris, Dave and Steve with some nice Skagit River Hatchery Steelhead.
*Still have a few more openings the remainder of January here as well as February… give us a ring or drop us an e-mail to check availability and to book any of these spots!
Mon 1 Jan 2007
Starting the New Year off big again!! Happy 2007 !!
Jo and Kevin joined us again this New Years Day to kick off our 2007 !! Was a pretty wet day for sure but the fish certainly didn’t seem to mind… especially with a little Jo magic to brighten up the day.
New Years Day 2006: Jo started the year off for us with this dandy wild Steelhead:
New Years Day 2007: Jo starts off yet another year for us with our largest hatchery Steelhead of the season so far:
To start off 2007 with even a bigger bang than last year, Jo and Kevin both caught their limits today:
Congrats to you both!! Look forward to starting off every New Year with the two of you! Can’t wait to see what Jo starts off our 2008 season with?!?! See ya soon guys! Had a great time as always!