Man, I miss fishing the Sauk. I did it regularly for thirty plus years with the Slide Hole being my favorite walk in spot and the two pools below it.

I use to have an 8 to 10 fish day with a mixed catch of Dollies (Bull Trout),C&R Silvers, Sea Run Cutts, and the occasional Steelhead.

The cost of gas for my Tahoe was the time I gave up my drives to fish the Sauk and Skagit.

The river has changed course where I used to walk in and I'm afraid to hike in by myself on the Slide Hole side an old guy not as physically strong as I once was.

I'll always have fond memories of the Sauk and Skagit and the wonderful hours I spent there.

I remember that log in your photo Riley! What year was that?

First Sauk River steelhead I caught was in 1972, Slide Hole. Used to wade across a beaver pond to hike in there.

Sg

Some dandies in those pics. I really like the pronounced spotting on that one hen (3rd pic from the end).

All those Throwback Thursday Pics are from 2009

Old school Sauk...well, old school waders, at least



There's that dang mountain.



There it is again...I've always loved this pic, even if it has a flyfisherman in it, and even if that flyfisherman is KK



For those of you who never made it up there...this is the top of the infamous "Slide Hole" you are hearing about...a short float to get there, but a long and crappy walk if you ain't got no boat



There's even a rumor going around that KK managed to catch a fish or three up there...and it's true, only he had to use spoons to do it



BroodBuster getting in on the action.



Yes, there are some big ones up there. Photo credit to AP to the KD's girlfriend (wife now) who thought it was really funny that two grown men got so excited over a fish. Still not sure if she understands



And my buddy Ike with that pesky mountain in the back again.



I could post pics from up there like this all day...but I'm getting a little too sad just putting up the ones I did.

Fish on...

Todd

I went up there very recently. It had been a few years and the river has changed a lot. You don't realize those are some of the best days of your life until they have passed.

More throwback:

That's pretty funny...since "360" didn't even exist until many, many years after I started fishing up there...not to mention "253", or "425".

Fish on...

Todd

The early years of the Sauk catch and release seasons (early 1980s) can only be described as simply amazing. May have been as good as any steelhead fishing in the world; certainly none were more accessible.

Sauk remains my favorite river though I have to admit I now mostly target bull trout instead of its wonderful steelhead.

Curt

All I have caught from there is Bulls. Sure an amazing area. Makes me sad I missed it.

While I got to sample the Sauk in the late 80s as a young pup growing up in the area, the stories of the guys fishing it much earlier will forever ring in my ears. To find that water emerald green during March and April...makes my mouth water thinking about it.

Great pics guys!

Spring fishing on the Sauk happens every year. I don't participate but you just have to go up there in March and April to see it. Are you paying attention WDFW?

Yeah.

I bet you do.

Awesome, but extremely depressing at the same time.

Throw back is right, even the kaiser dog makes an appearance!

Thanks for the shot of me and the misses Ry. Brought a smile to our faces. I'll take a high res version via email if your up for it. Would make a nice addition to the scrapbook.

Yeah Coley. This thread is conflicting. Totally amazing and a super bummer at the same time.

Only had the chance to fish the Sauk 3 times. However, all 3 trips I caught fish including a beautiful 23 pound buck. What a badass river with some truly amazing fish!
It's sad to see what that river has become...
A great river lost once again to mismanagement/overfishing. Whitehorse Mt is one of the coolest backdrops in the PNW.

I only ever got one real chance to float the Sauk and we bagged it halfway there due to terrible road conditions. After reading through this thread, I feel like I missed a huge opportunity in my steelheading career...

I'm glad to see the post of the Slide Hole photo. I use to walk in to the other shoreline when there was an old road that ran about 1/4 of a mile from the highway.

It was bermed and you had to park by the highway several years ago. The last time I tried to walk in that side, the trail was overgrown and I turned around since I couldn't find a way through the bush and being a guy with some heart problems didn't want to go in there alone.

Now the slough we used to wade across is part of the river.

I use to fish the Slide side by parking by the power lines and going down the ravine at the head of the hole then wading out at the tailout and hiking back up the power line road.

Mostly I fished spoons for Dollies (Bull Trout) and it was really good up until Dec. 15th . I was collecting scale samples for a UW fisheries professor for a few years which gave me and my buddy an excuse to go every Sunday in the Fall.

I would imagine that access on the Slide side would be possible going down the ravine now days. When I fished it years ago one had to dodge a few rocks that came off the cliff now and then.

I sure miss that place.

Rossiman -
You said

"A great river lost once again to mismanagement/overfishing."

Wonder on what you base that statement? From what little I know about wild steelhead and the Skagit/Sauk I don't think the data supports that position; what am I missing?

For more than a decade the estimate of annual wild steelhead fishing impacts (netting, hooking mortality, etc.) for the Skagit has been less than 4%. While the numbers of fish returning to the Skagit/Sauk (as well as the rest of the Salish sea populations) have gone up and down over the decades it appears marine survival is by far the largest driver in those population swings.

Since the mid-1990s the Skagit wild winter steelhead have been one of the most conservatively managed in the state. The escapement goal for that population is 150% of the best estimate of MSY levels with an additional hard cap on total exploitation for runs that might be well above escapement needs.

For me the single best spring season on the Sauk was in 1983. Not only was the fishing outstanding the numbers of exceptional sized fish had to have been experienced to be believed. The basin escapement that spring was almost exactly what was seen in 2013 (30 years later). BTW those escapements were near the best estimate of the average wild steelhead carry capacity for the basin.

The returns in 1983 and 2013 were rebounding from low levels the previous generation. The post 1983 runs continued to improve for most of a decade; have fingers crossed that we will see a similar trend post 2013.

Curt

Thanks for bring that up Curt.

OK all you Sauk River lovers, attend OCCUPY SKAGIT, March 29, 2014 at Steelhead Park in Rockport. 9 or 10 AM.

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.