Skykomish River, Washington

Monroe to Sultan, the lower river

The Sky joins the Snoqualmie at Monroe to form the Snohomish, and from Monroe up through Sultan it runs wide and slow through farmland with long, shallow riffles that swing well at higher water. The boat ramp below the Lewis Street bridge in Monroe is the main lower-river launch, and the short reach just below that ramp is closed to fishing from any floating device in winter, so check the pamphlet map before you drift.

Gold Bar and Reiter Ponds

Above Sultan the valley closes in and the river gets faster, deeper and rockier. US-2 follows it to Gold Bar, where the USGS gauge sits, and on to the Big Eddy access at the Highway 2 bridge and Reiter Ponds, the WDFW rearing ponds where the hatchery steelhead were acclimated and where they stack up on their return. Reiter is the most crowded water on the river in December and January.

Index and the forks

The North and South Forks meet at Index to form the main river. The forks are steep, boulder-filled trout water with resident rainbows and cutthroat; the North Fork above Bear Creek Falls to Deer Falls and its tributaries are closed, and the South Fork is fished below the Sunset Falls fishway. Access around Index is on foot and rough.

Winter steelhead

Hatchery winter steelhead show up with the first November storms and peak in December and early January; wild winter fish build through January until the river closes. All wild steelhead must be released. Spey rods and Skagit heads with sink tips cover the broad runs between Gold Bar and Monroe; hatchery fish run straight to Reiter, wild fish hold anywhere along the river.

Summer steelhead, salmon, cutthroat and bull trout

The Sky has hatchery summer steelhead and, when WDFW opens it, a June fishery for them mixed with late wild winter fish. Pink salmon crowd the river in odd-numbered Septembers, coho follow in fall and chum peak around Thanksgiving. Sea-run coastal cutthroat move upriver in September and October and take small streamers and skated caddis; there are no westslope cutthroat in this drainage.

Bull trout and Dolly Varden are present in the mainstem and cold tributaries. Unlike most Washington rivers, the Skykomish has a retention season for them (minimum size 20 inches, counted in the trout limit, during the open winter season) under the current pamphlet, so they are not simply protected everywhere; check the rule for the reach you are on.

Season and regulations

The Gold Bar gauge averages roughly 4,700 to 5,000 cfs in December and January per USGS, drops below 1,000 cfs in late summer and rises fast with every winter storm. Winter fish are caught as the river drops and clears after a freshet, and this page uses 2,500 to 6,000 cfs as the winter fishing range.

Under the current WDFW pamphlet the mainstem from the mouth to the Wallace River and up to the Big Eddy railroad bridge is open November 1 through January 31, and from Big Eddy to the forks through February 15, with selective gear rules and a single barbless hook in the lower reaches, a salmon season in November, and wild steelhead release. The river is closed from February (or mid February above Big Eddy) through the spring to protect wild winter steelhead, and the summer and early fall openings have been cut or closed by emergency rule in recent years for wild Chinook, including a June-July 2026 closure. Check the WDFW rules and emergency rules before every trip.