Does anyone want to share information about the Nooksack?I see it has a hatchery .What type of fishery do they produce?Is there a Summer Steelie run?I have spent a couple of days scouting the river from Deming down to Lynden and there are some nice bars .I just don't know what runs it has.I am just learning how to drift and float for Steelhead.I thought this would be a relaxing hobby while recovering from a heart attack.WRONG!I still enjoy fishing for them, though.Catching one would probably be fun too!Thanks in advance


[This message has been edited by Bigdog2250 (edited 07-03-2000).]

I lived in Bellingham for a year and messed around alot on the Nooksack. It seems to be a tough river to fish. I was there in the winter and early summer when the water was high.
I would assume staying near the hatchery would be a good bet.
One area I visited alot was the area where the middle fork branches off. Turn off of Mt Baker highway onto Mosquito Lake road. Park at the bridge and walk down river. There are a couple deep spots there at the bridge. You can also continue downriver on the Middle fork. I walked it many times. I never caught a steelie in there. I was just a beginner trying to figure things out.
There is also a road 1st left after the bridge ( cant remember name ) you can follow that road along the river. I bet there are some good spots there.
Also the hatchery itself has a trail that goes behind the holding tanks. It leads to the little creek that the hatchery fish come up. You can cast from where the creek runs innto the main stem.
Don't get frustrated. Talk to people, and ask questions. Timing also helps. After a good rain, when the river starts to clear is a great time.
I am unsure of there summer return, but I know from experience their winter steelhead run is't anything to write home about. ( I volunteered at the hatchery for a couple weeks). Salmon returns seem to be good. (Sept And oct)
I never realized how close another great river is. The Vedder. I never fished it but I have heard its a good one. probably 1.5+ hours from Bellingham.( in canada )
Also the cascade river that branches off the skagit is a good one! 1hr or so away
Beginning is very frustrating but when you finally do get a steelie on the hook it will make up for all those zero trips!!!
Good luck! and relax ( take care of that heart!)
Bill Herzog's drift fishing for steelhead is a great beginning book
Remember you want to feel that tap tap tap on the bottom while your drifting!

You might be chasing up the wrong pole looking for summer runs, but there are a few other runs that are worthwhile in the Nooksack nonetheless. I've spent a few years chasing them, as I lived in Bellingham 14 years.

The Mosquito Lake Road bridge the gentleman above mentioned is a good spot--both for silvers and chum. Fish the little upstream side channels, too--often fish will hold en masse in deeper little riffles. Kings spawn in those channels when the water's low--avoid disturbing them. Hit silvers there with spoons and Blue Fox spinners--or around some of the log jams above and below the Hwy. 9 bridge (a little downriver). There's a nice parking area there, and plenty of bank access, and look for chums galore dying along there in December. Steelies have been planted in the Middle Fork, although access and run timing are things I'm completely oblivious to (as evidenced by several unfruitful forays there). Try the area below the Middle Fork bridge; Trout Unlimited (I think) has a little hatchery operation in there somewhere. Again, beware fish spawning in side channels--dark ugly silvers may be here and there. The Kendall Creek hatchery has never been attractive to me--but the mouth of every little side stream below has been...

Look up the North Fork road if the water's still high--often smaller holes in that gravelly section will hold fish--ie, the mouth of Racehorse Creek.

I spent a lot of time plunking the lower river, too--mostly on River Road, which is off the Guide Meridian near the bridge. There's a few nice gravel bars along there, and silvers all over on the bite if the water's right. Siltation from logging and effluent from manure ponds will be your biggest enemy downriver. Even during dirty water, though, when the silvers are in, every single one of them will poke its nose in water from the mouth of Fishtrap Creek...

Above all, don't get discouraged. The Nooksack can be a beautiful place to fish, even if the catching remains generally lousy. When you do catch a fish, keep fishing the rest of the day and the next and the next. One season I filled up two and half punchcards of silvers sitting on the same rock. (Wouldn't you know, the following season I never touched a fish there...)

Tight lines!

I completely forgot about the lower river!!!!
Try hovander homestead park. If the water is low thats a nice little drift

fishkisser, its me the guy who lives near the EFork Lewis! Bellingham is a great little town isnt it! My wife went to Western there

Thanks fellas,That will keep me busy for a while!Went out on the Sky on Sun. for some casting practice.If you're gonna practice,you might a well be near the fish.Saw some fish get caught.Learned that keeping everything small is the key for Summer.Thanks again.Bigdog