Likely what you saw were even year humpies. That area from swift Creek down to theold rip-rap in the river is one of the areas where those fish are commonly seen - there were several hundred in that area in 2002 and would not be surprised to see several thousand there this year.

In regarding the coho - most folks don't realize the diversity that we have in our North Sound coho. Several of the upper Skagit tribs have coho spawning in them well into March and occassional early April. I have personally caught adult coho in North Sound Rivers every month of the year except April and May (from late June to the end of March). Those early fish tend to smallish and spawn in the higher elevation tribs though their spawning timing is much the same as the majority of the coho - that is late October/early November into January.

Tight lines
S malma