Sunday morning I fished down in the tide water on the South Fork of the Skagit River for Dolly Varden. With the selective gear rules in place since March 1st, bait or scents were not an option. On advice from a local tackle shop I opted for a small stick bait in the brown trout pattern (an absolute killer on Big Bear Lake in Southern California). I trolled along all the hard edges that I could find even backing the bait into structure pockets with no success. I did have a good bite while trolling back towards the boat ramp. Not really fishing with a plan at that point, just working my way home. I never saw the fish but I assume that it was the right kind. It was a chilly but great day out there. I saw three bald eagle pairs, a great horned owl in her(?) nest and some otter looking thing.

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