SLOW day on the Skookumchuck. Son and I hit the water near first light and got drove off by some plunkers who thought the need to reset their 5lb weights every 5 minutes. I don't plunk much myself and usually don't mind those that do, except we were on the river first, floating jigs, and they come along and scare away any possibility of fish for a mile up and down river. This scene still has me puzzled. Did someone trick them when they were young and tell them all that noise brings them in?

We headed upriver a couple miles below the hatchery and fished the stretch from there up to the hatchery all morning and early afternoon (you know, I am still not sure where the deadline is, is the sign missing?). Not one bite and no one else had any either. We mostly floated jigs (nightmare and various pink colors) and ez eggs, threw a couple spoons to keep it interesting. I can't remember the last time I fished a river where I didn't at least hear of someone catching something - we sure caught it on a bad day.

Good things taken from the day: We spent the time to stop at every place we thought yielded access to the river and made notes accordingly. This should be helpful for future visits. We also saw a single bald eagle perched on a snag in the middle of the river about six or seven miles down from the hatchery. We sat and watched as it monitored the river. It was a blast seeing it so close, studying the river. Though, even this eagle didn't find any fish.

We thought about swinging by the Cowlitz and seeing if we couldn't keep ourselves out of skunkville. We decided against it and headed home after a final stop at the park near the mouth in Centralia, just to make sure we covered the whole river .

Don't always need a fish to have a great day on the water...thanks for posting a report man...every time I drive by that little ditch I always want to fish it...looks fun.

the spot where the plunkers congregate used to be productive to drift fish from the other side of the river. that was 5 or 6 years ago before the crowding really started getting out of control. surprised that you beat them down there though, they've usually got their fire made and gear in the water well before first light.

the unfortunate thing about that river is that for some reason, the fish don't hold worth a damn. they shoot right on up to the hatchery. doesn't mean that you can't catch them downriver, but it's hit or miss(mostly miss).

The plunkers that interrupted us this morning wasn't at the usual plunker spot. I was surprised to see anyone at the spot I ran into them this morning, said it was their "usual hole". I thought to myself, I suppose if sandy bottom frog water works for ya, great, I'll take the other stuff.

The nightcrawler plunking set-ups in no visibility water down there always had me scratching my head a bit. It must work sometimes?

To many areas of western Washington have "this is MY SPOT", sorry you'll just have to move, type of attitudes.......doesn't matter what river.......it's everywhere!!!!!!!!