Skydriftin-

There are several factors in the different returns between the Skagit.

Salmo was correct in that when the Tulalips fished heavy in the marine waters their catch included some Skagit fish. At the time of the catch composition study in early 1980s the Tulalips typically had 40 to 60 active steelhead fishers with many fish from drift nets throughout 8-2. Today there are only a couple of fishermen each week and they general fish from set nets near the mouth of the river. As you can see their recent catches have fallen considerably from 40% of the run they caught in the 1980s. As a result it is likely only a few Skagit fish are being caught by the Tulalip fishermen.

Cupo is correct in that there is less fishing on the Skagit than the Snohomish. When both systems were closely monitored with creel surveys it was estimated the total exploitation rate on hatchery fish was typically 70% on the Skagit and approaching 90% on the Snohomish system. Likely this difference in catch rates is due in part to the differences in the fisheries. The Snohomish is much closer to many fishermen. Plunkers are a much higher portion of the Skagit fishermen (on even given day about 60% of the Skagit anglers were plunkers). For some reason the hatchery fish are not caught very well by the plunkers - they do quite well on the wild. There is less bank access for the non-boating shore angler on the Skagit. Finally on the Skagit the flows often are higher than normal and fluctuate daily due to operation of the power dams.

However the most important difference is due to the fact that for some reason the Snohomish just has better smolt to adult survival than other rivers in Puget Sound. The further to the north or south one moves from the Snohomish the poor the return rates. The Skagit's rate may be only 2/3 of that of the Snohomish. This same pattern is seen with coho salmon. While it would be nice if things like survival rates would be constant over time and wide geographic areas it is clear that Mother Nature does not operate that way.

Tight lines
Smalma