So we floated down the Skagit on Saturday (July 5th), putting in at Vantage Point (some call it Lookout) and taking out at the Chittenden Bridge. The water was comparable in height and colour to normal years at this time (excluding the last 2 high and dirty years). Visibility peaked at about 3 feet in the late stages of the morning. Near the end of the day, it had been reduced to less than 2 feet (lag time for snow melt to influence the water colour).
No bulls could be enticed to play but a few 12-16" rainbows kept the day interesting.
To anyone planning on floating, there has been a bunch of new trees recruited to the log jam site that is about 3 km upstream of the Chittenden Bridge. We had to portage for about 350m before re-launching. It is un-passable and the majority of the water is no longer present in the lower half of the log jam. Eventually flow to this river will be cut off but for now it is really dangerous. There is virtually no prior notice to even the most attentive paddlers because it is situated around a sharp bend in the river and I do not recommend floating this stretch unless you are intimately familiar with it.
There is still a bit of snow on the peaks of a few mountains but i would expect that even with the current hot weather, we are past the freshet and each day it will drop and clear up some. In about 2 weeks it should be fishing really well.
Good luck out there...
Author
Topic: Skagit River water levels (updated July 5th) (Read 2055 times)