I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on the Sauk River. I was driving on Highway 530 on my way to Rockport when the tree line opened up on my right hand side, thus revealing the run below the mouth of the Suiattle. To say the least, that glowing, glacial blue water cast a spell on me. And the first Sauk winter-run I hooked; wow! This happened at the end of a trip in the middle of March. It was getting close to dark, and as my friend I drove to our last fishing spot for the day, we got into a depressing conversation about how the north sound rivers seemed to be dying. As we made our way to the spot something seemed to have changed. Maybe it was the fact that the temperature was dropping and it had started to snow. Regardless, something was different and all of my senses were on the alert. A short time later, I hooked my first Sauk winter run. In a way, it was as if the river had come alive to contradict my claims during the conversation with my friend. Anyhow, that fish ended up cleaning my clock. However, I will never forget how I felt standing on the river bank trembling with excitement. Although I don’t have anywhere near the number of years on this river as many of you (only a few years before the C&R season ended), I am still hopeful that one of these days, I will be able to fish it again in February, March and April.