Question about drifting the Skykomish

[MAddogdad]

I need some input on floating the Sky. I'm a fairly new drift boat owner and I would like some advise from folks with more experience than me so I don't get in trouble.

A little background: I used to have a one man pontoon boat and have floated from Big Eddy to Sultan and from Ben Howard to Lewis street several times. The toon was fairly easy to control and I never had any issues.

This year I upgraded from the toon to a used Wild Hair drift boat (aluminum). I got used to the boat on some small lakes before I took it to the river. Even then I took a guided trip with Nate Treat from Sultan to Lewis street to get a feel for that stretch of water before I took the boat out. When I went with Nate in June, the water level was 7000 CFS (in Gold bar). I drifted that section several times with a friend throughout the summer. The last time the water was at about 4000 CFS. Twice I made a bad choice and took the wrong channel and hit some skinny water. The worst was near the take out near Lewis Street and we ran a ground. We had to get out and push off the rocks. That was a bit nerve racking since I thought we were okay going into the channel but my friend and I are BIG guys so the boat sits fairly low.

Now the water is seriously lower than the last time I was out. I've been bank fishing at Tualco the last few weeks and there are some nice holes a little downstream that can only be reached by boat.

I have a few questions.
1) At what water level is it safe to float the Sky between Ben Howard and Lewis Street?
2) Has anyone put in at Tualco and pulled out at Tualco? I've never used a primative launch and wondered how tough it is to get out. I know I'll have to rope it off and drag it up the hill.
3) At Tualco, can you float down a bit and row up or do you just rope off and walk the boat back up? The water looks slow and it looks doable but I might be wrong.
4) I have a little 30# MInn Kota that I use on lakes. Is that big enough to push a 16 foot drift boat upstream at Tualco?

I'm just looking for some input. Thoughts? Be gentle......

Thx,
Maddog

[steel whisperer]

Ive done that float from sultan when its tjis low. Its doable, you may have to walk it in a few places. As far as luanching at tualco, piece of cake. When i had a drift boat i would get my trailer over the edge and winch it down, its not too far from the water from there. And getting back up i would back the trailer as far as i dared and tie a rope to my boat and drag it up. There are some good holes down there and you can fish them and row back up. It just takes a little muscle.

[MAddogdad]

Perfect. Thank you so much for the feedback steel whisperer! I suspected that was the case but having never done it, I was a little worried.

If you see a red Wild Hair drift boat on the water stop by and say hi. I'll buy ya drink.

Tight lines

[steel whisperer]

Mind you, pulling out at tualco in anything but low water can be quite an adventure. Im not sure anymore but if the sky is pushing more than 3000 on the gold bar gage it could get interesting trying to take out there.

[primetime]

I did the sultan to Lewis drift today. Only saw fish towards sultan and most those we're getting pretty dark! Went long stretches without seeing fish. The few coho I saw didn't want eggs (2 different cures) jigs or spinners. Rain this week could change everything though!