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[bobby b]

Fished the Skagit on Thurs. Saw nobody on the river the whole day....... But I did see a Black bear!!

I was kinda in the zone at a run. Had already caught 2 nice sized rainbows in this run. Water was so clear that I could see them rising up from the bottom of the deep pocket for my dry fly.
 
I had cast out upstream and was watching my fly drift downstream when I heard something weird, sounded like breathing....more like a 'gruff huff' type of breath.
Almost as soon as it hit me what that sound may be, I looked up, and directly across the river from me stood one helluva big bear looking right back at me!! It stamped the ground with its front feet and gave another big huff as if to say 'get outta here'
Freaked me out, right then I was hoping that I would not get a fish on!
I reeled in as I backed away, gathering my things I quickly left the spot, all the while keeping an eye on the bear. The water was super low so it would have had no prob at all coming across. 
Now what was really freaky was the fact I had to wade across to that side further down stream to get out the way I had come in. Sure got the heart racing.

All in all the day was good for fish, 4 bulls, 3 smaller to med sized and one huge one that bent my 5wt right down to the cork! Also 5 rainbows landed and lost prob 5-6 others.

I started the day really early and was nymphing but had zero bites. Then saw a fish rise and switched to an emerger, first cast 'wham' got the first rainbow of the day, an 17 incher !!

Fished dries the rest of the day as hatches were seemingly coming off non stop. Caught every single rainbow and bull on dries. Had planned on fishing streamers for bulls but never did.

Got a few short clips of some of 'em here.... https://youtu.be/1sTHHe3FmVw

[Dave]

This reminds me of an encounter I had with a brown black bear on the Horsefly River, maybe 15 years ago.  Same aggressive behavior, ie. huffing and stamping the front feet, all the while watching me.  In situations like that you tend to forget about the fishing, even though at the time it was freakin' awesome, and figure maybe it's time to get off the river and leave it to the bears.  I did.

Funny, on the Horsefly, although grizzlies are common, I was more afraid of this particular black bear than any of the grizzlies I saw during my many trips there.

[jackie]

Bulls on a emerger?

[bobby b]

Emerger for the first 2 rainbows. #18 (tiny)  caddis emerger.

Bulls were all caught on olive/brown elk hair caddis and green drakes.

[jackie]

Wow that's sweet, never heard of that before.

[bobby b]

Yeah, I was targeting rainbows with the dries.
I was planning on swinging some streamers for bulls but.. as luck would have it .....

In the video, right near the end, you can see the caddis hanging out of  the side of mouth of the small bull

[RalphH]

Suggest you 'talk' to the bear in such a situation. Say in a calm but audible voice "Hey Bear" and move your arms up above your head and back at a regular speed. Often the bear is just trying to identify what you are. The bear needs to know you are a person and not another bear.  The 'huff' and the paw stamp is definitely a challenge to you. That you hadn't noticed the bear until it was that close is indicative you have to remain more aware what's going on around you and not so focused on fishing - difficult I know.

BTW were you carrying bear spray?

[bobby b]

I have bear spray....but wasn't carrying it.. Doh!

As I walked backwards away I actually did give a few "Hey buddy" ..."ok ok" ..... "Easy now.easy" ...etc.

Yeah, I do try to be aware of what's around me, but being close to noise of the water prob masked the sound of him coming...that and just being focused on fishing ...in the zone😎....or ... zoned out is more like it...lol  But man o man ... That first breath I heard sounded like it was right next to me !

[Novabonker]

Have you been able to remove the fecal matter from your waders yet?