The Sky is my "home" river. I am not much for organized political power trips. I am into helping the Sky fishery "be the best it can be". As you can probably tell from my chosen name on this board, I am a Cracker, that is, one who has'nt been fishing long, and usually loses more fish than my "experienced" friends hook. I very rarely keep fish (cause I can't get um to the boat!!!). I am seeking advice on some type of work in my spare time that could further the fishery on the Sky. I am really inclined more towards helping Native runs, even if they can't be kept in the future. I think this is where our future is. Even if I can't fish for them, just drifting and watching fish in the rivers is enough for me. Anyone share my values, or belong to an organization that is not about power and more about making the Sky what it once was???

A note to salmo g. ---- Do you have history on the Sky you could share, such as the wonderful write up you did on the Lk Wa Sockeye?

Cracker,

The Sky is also my "home river." With as much pressure it see's it is not the fish producer it probably once was. Very few fish are seen caught unless you are at reiter or just plain get lucky. The early summer run season on the lower SKy was pretty good, it was good to see 5-10 fish come out on a given day. I think the main goal on the Sky for fish enhancement is to figure out what direction the hatchery is going in and save what habitat is left. Reiter definetely has to come up with a way to get fish back on a more consistent basis. If the hatchery thing wont work out then make it CNR for the whole year, and ban motorized boats and you will see huge returns 5-10 yrs later of native steelies.

tight lines.....

The Skys been my home for most of the 90's. Keep watching the board, particularly during late winter; there is usually a call for volunteers to help clip fins on smolts. Gary Bee (Beezer) also heads the Sky Valley Chapter of TU which is very active in maintaining Sky runs. Maybe he'll respond to your post.

I have to disagree with bank walker regarding the Reiter hatchery. This hatchery produces summer runs only and during the 90's, I can recall only two seasons where the summer runs were down. Last year was down and again I think in 95. 96, 97, and 98 were flat out fantastic. The early 90s were pretty good as well, and this season is shaping up to be pretty good. A good record considering how other streams have done.

The winter-run, which are Tokul Creek fish is another story. I think the latter half of the 90s were all down, and not up to "the old stories" of how crazy Reiter can be during the winter.

If perceptions are that fishing is not what it used to be, particularly during the winter, I think it is because 1) winter-run size is down, and 2) I think the fish are unintentionally selected for fast migration. Winter fish seem to go from the mouth of the sky to Reiter in 2 days. Kinda hard to catch them anywhere inbetween. They also use to plant fish at Woods Creek (Monroe) and at the Cracker Bar (Sultan), to slow the fish down; there not doing this any more.

All-in-all, I too think its imperative that the Reiter Hatchery maintain its funding because it produces a great summer-run fish, in good consistent numbers, fairly close in to the major population areas. I know the latter means more traffic, but steelhead are the most expensive salmonid to raise, so they have to be fished to pay for themselves.

As far as nates go, I don't know how one can get involved. The run on the sky is pretty healthy, but suffers from the C&K early fishery. There have been pushes here and there to get the whole river C&R year-round for nates.

Lastly, don't overlook the Wallace Hatchery
King program. These hatchery kings have never been fished to my knowledge, so seem like a waste of resources. There have been pushes to get all of these fish fin-clipped and allow a sport fishery for them. WDFW has promised that this is the goal, but so far, nada.

Good fishing, and stay involved!

[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 07-11-2000).]

[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 07-11-2000).]

Cracker, the Sky is also my "home" river. I like it so much I moved from the Shoreline area to Monroe. As far as getting past the cracker stage I'm sure your doing one of the best things and that is practice, practice, practice etc. One thing I suggest is maybe spend a little money and go with a guide for one trip. I highly recommend Rod Bush or Sam Ingram both who know the Sky like the back of their hands. There are many other qualified guides for the Sky also. Tell the guide what areas you need work on and they'll be glad to teach you better technique.
If you want to get even more involved, join a club. Our Chapter (Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited) has many fishers who specialize on the Sky and once you get to know them, they'll take you for a drift for free and let you pick their brains (what's left of them anyway.)
Our Chapter was also a major factor in helping with the Reiter budget problems this last time around and we also co-op a small coho hatchery with the Seattle Poggie Club that puts out about 50,000 FIN-CLIPPED coho a year. We can get you involved in other habitat restoration projects like Haskell Slough which opened up 3 miles of off-channel rearing habitat for coho, steelhead and summer chinook.
We meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM in Monroe. If you want more info or Rod or Sam's phone #s, e-mail me at gbeezer@aol.com.

Gary Bee
President of the Sky Valley Chapter

Try the Stilly, Snohomish task force. Look in the Herald or even the phone book. They do alot of good work.

Obsessed,
I agree that it is imperative that we keep reiter going. What if they opened reiter to a "tag only" area, where people can purchase a tag for x amount of dollars and fish reiter for a set period of time with less people. Seems like if they did something like that alot of people would be pissed but it would be the best thing for keeping money flowing for reiter to keep full production. If there's a ton of fish during the peak of the run people would pay hundrends for a day to hook lots of fish with a limited amount of people. (just an idea)

anyways, the hatchery summer runs provide great sport and tend to stay in the river longer than going straight to the ponds. What stock are these fish? They are also way more consistent than winter brats.
- Even though 99' was kind of a bust, 98' was awsome, and this run looks to be pretty good. Good shot of fish came up mid june, now things have kinda fizzled out, hope we get another good shot of fish soon.

bank walker

I've been fishing the Sky for 30 years. The summer run fishery has been outstanding for a long time now. You used to rarely see anybody out fishing for them. The main problem I believe in the Sky is the fact that the entire lower end of the river is now a big channel. There are no log jams or anything to hold fish up anymore. Winter run shoot straight to the hatchery whereas summer run are not in a spawning mood just yet and are a much more aggressive fish anyways.
As for selling tags at Reiter I don't agree. I prefer not to have that mentality on the rest of the river and that's what will happen when all those novices choose to not pay.

I got my first Steelhead on a fly on the Sky. It was during the low water years, in the late 70's. They used to use Skamania stock fish in the Sky, dont know what stock they are using now. Those fish were crazy, jump and run all over, and boy did they bite. Great fly rod fish. Anyway the money needs to come from the Legislature to keep Reiter open. Yes the river has changed, all the Big Floods have changed the river a lot. Compared to the Stilly though the Sky is pretty good. If you want to look at a devasted river, the Stilly tops them all. The amount of soil washed down Deer Creek is estimated at more than the Mt. Saint Helens disater.

Bankwalker, your idea is one of many versions of 'privatizing' recreational fisheries. They do this alot for Atlantic salmon and sea-run browns in Europe and it seems to work. I would prefer some type of purchased tag for the entire river rather than just for Reiter for the reasons that Stlhead pointed out. Making one stretch proprietary and exclusive could make for some bad attitudes. It would also be important to spellout how the money would be used, and that it would be used only for enhancement on the sky, so that people paying extra would feel they're getting dollar value.

Alas, though, privatizing fisheries have not gone over big in the U.S., despite the success in other countries. Another alternative would be to privatize the hatchery. The commercials often form coops to manage their own hatcheries. I've heard of this in Alaska and Oregon.

I've often thought it possible to form a fishing club with the dues provided directly to the hatchery. A small amount could also be used to produce a monthly news letter providing hatchery progress reports of number of fish in the traps, etc. But since there would be no exclusivity (anybody can fish), the incentive to keep up dues would only be the dedication of the anglers, which could really drop off during a poor survival year.

I guess we just have to keep emailing the right folks to get permanent funding for Reiter. I'm sure we'll have to start doing this again in the winter, since current funding is through 2001 only.

Let's just ask someone like Paul Alan or Bill Gates for some pocket change every year!! It will be really good promotion for them anyway, not that they need any.

Why don't they sell a yearly pass for $25? That would be a great way to help out the ponds.

Howdy Cracker,
With an attitude like yours I like you already. The thrill of the chase is the only aspect our current existence can't furnish more effectively.
My advice to people getting started Steelheading is to pull out of snags with their hands instead of the rod(except when using kevlar braids, which will slice flesh)in order to avoid the loud report which your moniker refers to.
A super cool Summer Steelhead plan I have for Reiter is open Aug1-Sept1 C&R only at the hatchery stretch. Many novice and luckless anglers would be recruited as motivated proponents of this most excellent summer pastime. The table quality of the fish shouldn't suffer much during the extra month. And the opener will still be fun to watch Sept.1. RUN!!!!!!!!!
Let me know if you need a couple tips where to try until Aug.1

hey humpy, i was jus wondering if i could have directions to the sky, is that the river out by darrington? and where is this hatchery stretch road/ street name? im comin from south i-5 (tacoma area) any info would be helpful, thanks man..and is the river cloudy or clear this time of year? well thanks for everything......***jerry***

Take I-5 north to Lakecity way. follow Lakecity way all the way through bothell and get on hyw 522 east. Follow 522 east to Monroe, go left at end of 522 at stoplight and follow east on hyw 2. The Sky is on your right all the way to Goldbar. That will get you started. Reiter Ponds is just past goldbar. Remember Reiter isn't open till August 1st 8:01 a.m. and they watch it. Hope this helps have a fun fishing trip.