I am a first year sled owner (16ft Wooldridge)and am learning the ropes on the Sky. Up to now running the river has been pretty easy, but now that the river is beginning to drop I'd appreciate some advice on how low is too low? From my driftboat days I remember that it gets pretty rocky in the upper river at about 4.5-5 ft on the Goldbar gauge. When approaching a shallow riffle how do you know when it's too low to go? If you do try a riffle that's too shallow what happens? No big deal in a drift boat, you may bang a few rocks but at worst have to get out and drag the boat a few feet to get over the shallow spot. Going 25mph in a sled I don't think its that simple. Any tips would be appreciated.

mean a$$ river for eating parts, carry a spare shoe for sure! and plan on dragging the boat off a bar at least once while learning your way around, tough to read it at times and as much as you have to cross from one side to the other you better have a good memory when you come back down, especially above Sultan.

Good luck, Bud.

Its gettin there... today I had a customer rip his prop and kicker off his kicker...

Well... I've run my jet boat on the shallows between Sultan and the Wallace. It's not fun to go from 25mph to a dead stop. Left some nice dents in my hull. I have a Klamath which is a thin hulled boat, not in the same class as a Woolridge. The only advantage for me is I can manhandle it off the gravel. You'll have a harder time with your boat. Best advice, scout it out before you run through. After my grounding my heart is always in my throat. Makes it less fun for sure.

Let's say the slot is 12 ft wide and you are on plane. From the other direction, there is another boat going for the same 12 ft. What are you going to do?

So, in other words, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Once there is only one slot, your choices are pretty limited. Even coming off plane could mean you hang up. I think much below 2000cfs you get to the one line issue and in some parts of the river you get there before 2000cfs.

Similar issues occur just to be able to safely pass another boat.

Other than that, there are some good tips on these two links.
What Happens When You Hit?
\'What Happens When you Hit" part 2

I think its too low right now. You Jet guys should stop fishing and give the lowly Drift Boaters a chance.(only joking)


Lavro for Life

Here's an idea, go down river below monroe where you should be anyway, you won't have many problems in the sno. Leave the upper river for the drift boats and cats.

sleds should not be on the Sky at all at any flow

Thanks for your opinion Bill, but I think I'll keep fishing the Sky from my sled anyhow. Lots of room to share the river with all users. Sleds, DB's and bankies can all get along. Respect is the key here!

What specifically are you complaining about anyhow?

SA

Same goes for the Nooch...stay in lower river or stay home! You guys are wrecking the experience on these prestine rivers.

DOGOFF!

Boy the Driftboaters are sure showing there colors here. If you do not like the sleds on the river then I guess you can stay home and play with your toy's like the rest of the babies. Last time I checked, the river was open for everyone including sleds. Get over it! And you wonder why you guy's don't get the respect you deserve. P.S I have always given you guy's your room and respect but after reading this crap I am loosing it fast. Finally for this subject that has been beaten time and time again, take it up with the "State" Not the Jet boat Owner's!

Gee maybe we should just ban Allumiweld's from the river . Would that make you happy?

As a bank angler, my main concerns are the noise and the wake. It's a little like snowmobiles in Yellowstone. For those who ride them, they can't understand what all the negativity is about and will defend their right to use them. I would also defend your right to use your sleds wherever you want. However, part of the experience of being in the upper reaches of a river is a sense of peace and solitude. A driftboater that bogarts into a hole when a bankie is there actually is worse to me than a sledder. I also recognize both are a fact of life and are here to stay. As a third generation Wash-a-tonian, it just seems there are not all that many places left close-in where one can find a place to fish where there aren't a ton of bankies, sledders or DBers.

Break out that Microwave popcorn Mike.

I have done fishing in a drift boat and a sled. Every time I have gone out I see that they show respect for others.
I personally am a bankie I love bank fishing. There are some ignorant people on the river. I was drift fishing a hole on the sky ( banking ) there were boats screaming up and down the river everytime a boat came screaming by I would get my bait hung up because of the wake. Also later on at the same hole some people in a jet sled pulled up twenty feet rom the bank from where I was at and dropped kwikfish. I asked them if they could do that somewhere else since they are in a boat and could hit the whole river but they flipped me off and continued to fish there needless to say they where getting highly upset that I was throwing my line over there boat. They cut my line a couple times also.

Just a couple weeks ago we were fishing the sky in a drift boat and we were fourty feet from the bank in deep water and a jet sled went screaming between us and the bank there was plenty of space and depth between us and the other bank for him to go by. Jetsledders just stop being so ignorant and give every person on the river respect we are all out there to do one thing and that is catch fish.

Also jetsledders you see people wading in the river dont go screaming by it causes a nice wake and someone could lose there footing and slip and get seriously hurt or possibly die. Just take into consideration your actions.

About got the first kettle done now..always did enjoy a good

Maybe venting the anger is a good thing? I do know that 99.999% of the folks here on PP would act with class on the river, so odds are that the anger (from all sides) is a waste of bandwidth as the perpetrators will never see it (assuming they can read).


Mike

I'm fine with having driftboat only rivers if we can have jetboat only rivers. However, I don't think that is going to happen any time soon.

As I said in my other post, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Personally, I avoid the busy sections of the river, and fish like the majority. If that's a sled, its a sled. If that's a driftboat/pontoon, that's ok too.

A few more fish isn't worth the hassle for me!

Man, I hope I didn't start this.

Man, I hope I didn't start this.

Craig O.....That's what I was thinking too!

Budnate, JimH and Mike C thanks for your helpful posts before the debate began.

I also have a drift boat and pontoon and enjoy fishing rivers that are too small or rocky for sleds. That's not the Sky (below Sultan anyway). Remember many times bucking an upriver wind in the driftboat on the slow water stretches through here, which you can just cruise by in a sled. I'd echo JimH's thoughts on this.

Soon mother nature will end this debate as it will be too low for a sled.