Great report. Thanks for the info Tom. I think a "Bullie" is a perfectly fine name for the "not-a-trout, char, bull-trout, Dollie Varden, Merry Fishmas, Kwanza, Non-Ramidan whatever the hell you want to call it", fish that are so much fun to catch. Besides, after being a fat kid in junior high school, I belive it's finally my turn to bust the lips of some "bullies". Jeff ----- Original Message ----- From: "T. Lang" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 10:23 AM Subject: Skagit Drainage It is (or was)
> Prefering to avoid a windy beach, I headed north. > > Stopped off at C-Post road to look at the stilly--about 12" vis, kind of > swollen, but not flooded. > > Drove past the gray Sauk and up to the Cascade. Knowing I couldn't fish > below the bridge, I headed up the river road. I've never been there--very > pretty. I made notes for summer hiking and camping trips. > > Found a side road that crossed the river and parked there. Very clear > water. 10 or so eagles. A few salmon carcasses in the shallows near a > bridge pylon, but I didn't see any live ones (salmon or otherwise) in the > pool beneath the bridge. Leaving my shivering damp dog in the truck, I > ventured downsteam, 5-wt. in hand. > > Found a nice pool, cast across and down, on the swing. I was using a type > VI tip, with a white bunny DD Copcar knock-off. I could see my fly. I > could see a moving shadow on the sand at the bottom of the pool. The best I > could manage was to cast up-stream, mend, mend, and strip across the fish's > view. I saw it move once in response to my fly. I'm guessing it was a nice > Bullie (Leland--how's that for a compromise between the nicer sounding > "dolly" and the correct "bull"?), since I could see what I thought were > white edges to its fins. Or maybe it was just a sucker. Or maybe I was the > sucker. At any rate, I couldn't budge it, and I couldn't get my fly deep > enough. Tried another pool then headed back. Discovered a leak in my > waders just above my right knee. > > Drove past the Skagit--it's pretty big water. Wading would be a challenge, > and I'd definitely seek a low-flow day, during the week. Lots of boats on > the water. > > That's it. My first trip of the year, though mostly an exploration-type > trip, resulted in no fish. > > I'm guessing that the Cascade, especially 5 - 6 miles from the mouth where I > was, would be more productive for Bullies when there's active anadromous > species in the river, laying eggs, scaring sculpins, and rotting away. > > I'll be back. > > Tom > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get a FREE online virus check for your PC here, from McAfee. > http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 > >
