Skook Lately?

[Brat Bonker]

where on the skook is the water that clear? dang when I was there it was mud with like 1-1.5ft of viz

[Weekend-warrior17]

Ok shoulda clarified lol. Saw 2 caught up by deadline on bobber and eggs. Heard of one more caught down by the hatchery. Fish were rolling in the corner hole, and fish were moving in the pockets just down from the tailout. brat bonkers got a nice chromer today.

Since I am still quite new to this river, could you describe where the corner hole is? Google Maps type of view, not river level view.

AJ , the hole is up in the hatchery area. Large deep pool in the far corner upstream from gate and downstream from the deadline area. Its nice water but gets interesting with people at the tail out . . Float a jig

[Weekend-warrior17]

where on the skook is the water that clear? dang when I was there it was mud with like 1-1.5ft of viz

That water isn't the main river Brat.

[primetime]

Got me one and my buddy and my dad each got 1 but other than that only saw 3 others caught, lots of people in the morning but they started to leave in the afternoon, saw nate treat there showing off his tank of a drift boat haha. fishing should continue to get better, when we left it started to raining really bad in yelm, might be a good sign.

How'd he do??

[Brat Bonker]

where on the skook is the water that clear? dang when I was there it was mud with like 1-1.5ft of viz

That water isn't the river Brat.

oh I was gonna say haha, never have I seen the skook that clear haha, nice size fish, talked to the hatchery worker and said he had numerous 20lbers in the trap but they were dark. and primetime idk, I talked to one of his buddys or client and he said nothing

[primetime]

Nothing wrong with a colored up 20 lb fish!!

[Brat Bonker]

Dang where is all the skook reports, me and my dad did alright but other than us not much being caught. We each got our limit late Saturday then I was only able to scratch 2 out on sunday but lost 4. finally found the place they were stacked and after that boom, boom FISH ON! then it would die then I would hook up with a couple then die off again. lots of pressure but worth it if you like boots and crowds. the 3 on the left are all over 15 with one being a 17lber non punched buck that actually had decent light pink meat, pretty surprised.

[HoytDaddy_6]

Nice fish! Nice to see some fish! Wish I would stumble upon that spot. I've probably gone dang near 20 times and have nothing to show for

[Brat Bonker]

Nice fish! Nice to see some fish! Wish I would stumble upon that spot. I've probably gone dang near 20 times and have nothing to show for

you will hit some sooner or later, I helped a guy get his first steelhead ever in 10 years of trying on sunday so you will get some. plus I have been fishing river for 5 years now so I know a lot of the better spots and holes and how to fish

[mizm05]

me and a buddy stopped by the deadline area first thing yesterday morning on our way out to westport. Water was high, fast and colored. We drifted and floated for a couple hours trying the inside and outside seams...nothing. Then this guy comes with a bobber and jig and drops it right at his feet in this little pool of swirling water right by the bank and within 15 minutes, WHAM! He pulls a fish out right at his feet....talk about frustrating.

Overall, 99% of the fish I see being pulled right now are recycled boots. I'm switching over to Springer mode.

[primetime]

me and a buddy stopped by the deadline area first thing yesterday morning on our way out to westport. Water was high, fast and colored. We drifted and floated for a couple hours trying the inside and outside seams...nothing. Then this guy comes with a bobber and jig and drops it right at his feet in this little pool of swirling water right by the bank and within 15 minutes, WHAM! He pulls a fish out right at his feet....talk about frustrating.

Overall, 99% of the fish I see being pulled right now are recycled boots. I'm switching over to Springer mode.

Haha I think you said you were switching to springers a month ago. You seem to keep steelhead fishing though haha

[mizm05]

me and a buddy stopped by the deadline area first thing yesterday morning on our way out to westport. Water was high, fast and colored. We drifted and floated for a couple hours trying the inside and outside seams...nothing. Then this guy comes with a bobber and jig and drops it right at his feet in this little pool of swirling water right by the bank and within 15 minutes, WHAM! He pulls a fish out right at his feet....talk about frustrating.

Overall, 99% of the fish I see being pulled right now are recycled boots. I'm switching over to Springer mode.

Haha I think you said you were switching to springers a month ago. You seem to keep steelhead fishing though haha

Ahhhhhh! Stop reminding me! LOL...it's a sickness.

[Brat Bonker]

boots are smokers, something about skook fish are good for smoking. plus I hate springer fishing, too hard lol, just more "boots" for me for another month

[natetreat]

Plenty of fish in the skook today. Stopped by for an hour or so. Quite a few were hooked, I played with two. I'd say about 75% of them were inedible. Or "smokers" as Brat calls them. Some were very shiny.

[Brat Bonker]

Plenty of fish in the skook today. Stopped by for an hour or so. Quite a few were hooked, I played with two. I'd say about 75% of them were inedible. Or "smokers" as Brat calls them. Some were very shiny.

all of the fish we got their meat was still firm, most were white but till firm but we didn't keep any moldy ones though, I never keep moldy ones, that's just gross.

[Brat Bonker]

went to the skookumchuck today and boy was it slow only saw 6 hooked and 2 were mine that I lost, glad I did because they were super moldy. water is super low also doesn't help.

[stretch]

Fished the Skook for the first time yesterday. Beautiful area, kinda littered in spots. Took a bag of trash out.

First impression: This river looks awesome! Water was pretty low, but aesthetically perfect. Large holes for floating or gear slinging. Quicker water for some good drifts. Seams with fish running up them.

Started at the red gate and fished right before it for a bit before moving towards the boulder hole. Threw corky and yarn with shrimp oil but produced nothing. This went on for rest of the upper river. This trip felt more of a recon than anything.

Decided to move down to the field parking lot and hike in. Kept with the corky set up for the next couple of turns of the river. Lost my setup in to the trees and switched up to a chrome Little Cleo. Proved to be a winning combo with a 22" hatchery buck.

Moved back up to the red gate and threw hardware, but came up blank.

Looking forward to heading back again!

[AJFishdude]

Hey stretch, I'm pretty new to the Skook myself, but I'm curious about the spoon that ended up working for you. I really haven't tried fishing for Steelhead with spoons at all but would consider adding them to my arsenal. Would you mind divulging a bit of your gear and technique that landed you your fish on the Skook? Also, what type of water do you normally look for when using spoons?

[stretch]

Hey AJ -

The last few times I've used spoons, I went with a chrome 1/3 oz. Little Cleo with a #2 Matzuo black chrome siwash sickle open eye. You'll need split ring pliers to remove the treble that comes with the spoon. I tied it to my main line, but a short leader would also work.

The water wasn't too fast, just enough for the spoon to wiggle on its own without reeling. I basically just went with a slow reel with the occasional twitch or pause, never reeling too fast. You could speed it up after a twitch then let it pause, all within a couple reel strokes. Reminds me of fishing bass with jigs and the like.

Spoons can be used in a variety of water, though. I've seen guys in faster water killing it.

You can experiment with the different colors too. Chrome for sunny, or brighter days. Chrome/ polished brass, or just polished brass for cloudy days. There are so many different options and colors. Find what works for you and catch some fish!

One observation that kept me with the spoon were the smaller fish following and eventually taking it before I locked into the larger one. When the smaller fish are attentive to your presentation, you can bet the larger fish are interested too. That goes for any combination of gear.

[schu7498]

Nice! Love those little cleos! Towards the end of the skookumchuck season those steelhead really take a liking to spoons. They are probably feeling pretty ornery by this point, and there tends to be a big influx of sea runs that come in and harass the steelhead.