Skagit River sockeye weekend opener was a dud

The Skagit River sockeye opener this past weekend was lackluster at best.

“It was slow with anglers scoring a whole bunch of zeros,” said Brett Barkdull, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. “The water conditions look way better than it did two years ago (when the forecast was similar to this summer), and water flows are half of what it was at this same date.”

A state Fish and Wildlife check from Saturday and Sunday showed 361 anglers with seven sockeye.

“That is not very good, and it has to get better,” Barkdull said. “It is still too early to say which way this run will end up going.”

The peak time and/or mid-point of the sockeye run is usually around July 17.

The sockeye fishery in the Skagit River from Highway 536 at Mount Vernon to the mouth of Gilligan Creek is open through June 29 with a two sockeye daily limit (a 12 inch minimum size limit) and a night closure.

The Skagit system sockeye forecast this summer is .... http://blogs.seattletimes.com/reeltimeno...ener-was-a-dud/

It's still early for Baker sockeye. Then again, the run has enjoyed above average marine survival the last few years. At some point there have to be some below average survival rate seasons. I was just hoping this isn't going to be one of them.

And that was the opener that they absolutely expected, set a date early enough that people will catch the fever and drop a ton of money into the economy buying bait, lisc, weights, ect. ect. ect. all the while knowing that no fish (or very few) will be caught thusly not affecting the hatchery/up river fish, then on top of it we can get a Baker Lake fisherly, thusly injecting a BUNCH more money into the economy. This way everyone can say that they gave an equal opportunity to everyone in this fishery. HMMMMMM Makes since to me..........Not. Should have pushed the fishery back a week and allowed fishing over 4th of July and they would have had the same, if not more money injected into the local economy and people could have "possibly" caught a few more fish.