Skagit River Coho with Ryan Bennett

I'd heard a lot about Ryan and some good words coming from fellow guides indicating he was an up and comer. So when Ryan invited me to fish coho with him on the Skagit I was pumped. He had been hammering the coho around Rockport so the plan was to get up there at daylight.

We started off with some bad news, those with the power to lower the water decided to not just lower it, but drop the bottom out of it over night. With the flow dropping from 7800cfm to 3600cfm in a matter of hours, there were plenty of disappointed fisherman that we saw heading the wrong direction in the morning.

As you can see by the chart to the right, the water plummetted overnight. Prior to the drop the water level was maintaining above 7000cfm and the fish were plentiful throughout the system.

But, as with all good guides, Ryan had a backup plan... we'll just hit it low and hit the wood. We launched near Sedro Wooly and Ryan's boat was ready to go. The boat was fully stocked and organized with only high quality rods, reels and gear. Ordella rods, Quantum reels and at least four setups for each type of fishing we'd be trying during the day, throwing spinners, twitchin jigs, and pulling Kwikfish.

Our first stop was a nice woody area that had some bankies fishing above us. Ryan settled in making sure not to get too close and disturb those already set up from the bank. After a few cast's from a spinner we both saw a pig of a coho come leaping out of the water and on a mission. The mission was to get free from the bankie that had him hooked. It was apparent from the get go that this angler was in trouble. Ryan said "hold on, let's help him get that fish". Ryan beached the boat next to the angler and he was frantic with the fear that he would break the fish off or get spooled.

"Hop in and we'll get that fish for you". As the gentleman came aboard I helped stable him while Ryan kept his rod up. In the boat and almost spooled, we started tracking down the fish. After getting to the fish and a brief fight, Ryan slipped the net under the fish and brought him in. What a site! The gentlemen was shaking like a little kid. Talking about karma... I was extremely impressed by the way Ryan was so willing to help someone not in his boat. Man I was just glad to be apart of it.

So now back to our fishing. You could see in the pic above all the wood debris on the bank, well that was our target. Throwing Vibrax spinners right at the logs we were rewarded with some nice coho.

Ryan decided to change things up a little and we pulled Kwikfish along a few slots with some success as well. I never used to be very enthusiastic about pulling plugs, but when you're catching fish it's great to see that rod doubled over when they slam the lure.

We ended up with some nice fish and a great day on the river. Ryan was very professional and we got along great. Oh, and don't forget the karma!

Contact Info:

Web: www.reeldealguideservice.com

Email: ryan@reeldealguideservice.com

Phone: (360) 840-1155

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