Skykomish Opening for Kings

[oneshot]

oh man, this could be fun..
any boat goers out there know how much of the river can be navigated with a small boat and prop.. no jet.. launching down Ben Howard? I imagine the river flows are pretty high still so i would think i could cover all the way to the Sultan river confluence.. I just haven't covered that stretch before in a boat..

[fear_no_fish]

small boat and prop? i know people will launch props at sultan and run up to the flats, you cant run below very far.
But ben howard i dont think youll make a bunch of river running from there
for king gear, i prefer my noodle rod with 8lb main and leader, its a lot of fun!

[oneshot]

good tip.. thought about that too.. looks like i could run up from Sultan at least to where it splits.. which looks like one full "S" worth of river..

[Bodofish]

You should be fine on a short run up to the mouth. Be very careful, it gets real shallow over twards the mouth. You could get out and pull it over if you have waders. It's an easier run than walking to the mouth from 2.

Think hard about getting a Mac's River runner guard for your OB if you want to run through some of the spots. Take a hard look at Bing maps of the area in the birds eye view. The pic from the Sat. is at rather low water so you should be able to see all the real shallow spots. Check out real close to the north bank and you can probably squeak through with minimal pulling. The shallow spots on the map are only going to be 4" to 8" deep so a jet is really desired but if you 're careful.....

[oneshot]

Think hard about getting a Mac's River runner guard for your OB if you want to run through some of the spots.

no thinking! its a for sure on that.. thanks for pointing out the name, i forgot what my friend had called it.. i don't mind pushing in some areas with my waders on.. or shorts!.. i'll be on the jet pump and a bit bigger boat/sled for the next boat in a few yrs.. i needed to start small and cheap so i could learn..

[luisdabeast206]

Good job on the boat oneshot, maybe you will take it to green lake (jk) . Good luck out there bro. The river is dropping right now if I am not mistaken.

[zefsidefishing]

anyone have a boat, that would let me and my friend on? we could both pay for some gas, lol im pumped for kings.

[woody_george]

Thanks for the tips guys. We will see come Sat - maybe see you at the mouth of the Wallace.

[bbordeau]

I am by no means an expert on the river. The reality is, prop or not, you should use extreme caution because of both thin areas and submerged hazards - take someone with you that knows the river or go with a guide first. Either way, always wear a life jacket.

I've been from the confluence all the way up past the hatchery in separate jet boat trips - I grounded out once on a missed turn in the confluence because of low light, it was not fun.

The video here shows a run from the High Bridge ramp on the Snoqualmie up through the confluence and up the Skykomish. If the date of the shooting is correct (9-5-2010) then the flow was 2000 CFS. That would be on the low side for any boat in terms of flow.

http://youtu.be/nqalHZxUKtg

In this video, there was one area (probably avoidable by taking a channel to the right) that was thin between Ben Howard and Sultan but you can see that its likely possible to put in at Sultan and have a great day on the stretch below and above. It was shot at 7000 CFS in late June so keep a close eye on the water levels. This area works well because its near the hatchery.

http://youtu.be/6nmxxhvzNHI

When I look at the flows on the river, I look at the flow from the Gold Bar Station for consistency sake (no tide influence). I think with a prop, you want to run in the 6-8K CFS range to be safe while still having good mobility to fish a variety of holes. As the season progresses, it will move you lower in the system because when it runs at 2k in August/September, you are better off in waders!

I hope this helps and have fun!

Brian

[oneshot]

That does help.. thanks.. I will most likely be out on buddies jet boat before I take mine down this stretch.. I gotta outfit my boat with the river runner too.. I'm not new to running skinny water. Just new to my own boat running it and being the navigator . I need to get on the river and note the flow levels and what it looks like at certain levels.. one thing I know.. these rivers r not to be taken lightly.. so I will be taking the safe desicions over any others.. and yep. Sometimes when the river gets real low, wading ain't so bad either.. beats rattling nerves to get places.