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Skykomish River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Puget Sound steelhead: the Skykomish runs winter and summer fish an hour from Seattle.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
409 cfs
Air / High
48 / 54 F
Wind
NW 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 12134500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Skykomish River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 409 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings cloud cover, wind NW around 4 mph, steady pressure near 1025 hPa and a high of 54. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 59 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Washington requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $39.95 for residents. What a Washington licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with WDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Washington, read off the agency, are on the Washington seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Skykomish River near Gold Bar.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 12134500.

5901,0151,441409 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 98 years of October 23

At 409 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 12134500 (Skykomish River near Gold Bar) is below the 5th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 98 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 2,065 cfs; the highest was 27,600 cfs and the lowest 317 cfs.

p10 638median 2,065p90 7,663

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 12134500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp48 F
High / Low54 / 43 F
WindNW 4-8 mph
Pressure1024.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain94% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset07:38 / 18:03
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)48 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Skykomish River this week

The best day on Skykomish River this week looks like Wednesday Oct 28, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Wednesday, Oct 28 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:45 AM-11:45 AM and 10:16 PM-12:16 AM
Minor period
4:11 AM-5:11 AM
Sun
07:38 to 18:03
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 8 mph
Rain chance
4%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Skykomish River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Skykomish River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Skykomish River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 62 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Washington requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Washington license plus catch record card. Steelhead and salmon seasons change frequently by emergency rule: check current WDFW regulations before every trip.

Access

Bank and boat access at Sultan, Gold Bar, Big Eddy and points between; commercial shuttles for floats.

About this water

A Cascade river joining the Snoqualmie to form the Snohomish, Snohomish County, Washington.

Fishing Skykomish River: the full guide

A river close to the city

The Skykomish River drains the Cascades east of Everett, joining the Snoqualmie to form the Snohomish. It is one of Puget Sound’s best-known steelhead rivers and among the closest quality water to Seattle: winter steelhead, summer-run fish, chinook and coho salmon in season, plus resident trout and whitefish in the upper reaches.

Steelhead seasons

Winter steelhead run from December into spring, with the river fishing best on the drop after rain: float-fished jigs and beads, drifted bait and swung flies all produce through the classic runs from Sultan to Gold Bar. Summer-run fish arrive in the warmer months and hold in the upper river, offering lighter-tackle fishing in low, clear water.

Salmon and the rules

Chinook and coho return in late summer and fall, though seasons are tightly regulated and change frequently in response to run forecasts. Washington’s emergency rule changes are a constant on Puget Sound rivers: check the WDFW rule page before every trip, because openings and closures can shift with days of notice.

Snohomish County logistics

Access at Sultan, Gold Bar, Big Eddy and numerous bar and bank spots serves waders and drift boats, with commercial shuttles available. Monroe and Sultan provide services. The river rises fast with rain and snowmelt: watch the gauge at Gold Bar and fish the falling water for the best conditions.

Common questions

When is the steelhead run?

Winter fish from December into spring, with summer-run steelhead in the warmer months in the upper river.

Why do the rules change so often?

Puget Sound seasons respond to run forecasts and in-season counts: emergency rules can open or close water with days of notice.

What flow is best?

Falling water after a rain rise, when the river drops and clears into fishable green.

Is fishing good at Skykomish River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Lake Sammamish26 miLake Washington31 miSkagit River50 miIcicle Creek50 miBaker Lake59 miLake Chelan70 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 12134500 — Skykomish River near Gold Bar
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 47.8500, -121.7000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.