CONCRETE, Wash. — Early and mid-February on the Skagit River was a slow, transitional period for this big, brawling steelhead river.

With hatchery fish mostly long gone, and its famous wild March monsters yet to show up in thoroughly good numbers, anglers were left with a fairly typical onesy-twosy experience on the river.

A typical example

"Early in February, the Skagit can have its moments, but it's not super dependable."

That one fish, however, was a 15-pound native, so that can certainly make up for an otherwise slow day.

Plus — and this is fairly typical too — Koenig reported some excellent incidental action on the Skagit's big resident Dollies that day.

The aggressive nature of these char and their propensity to hit steelhead gear can help keep even the slowest steelhead day interesting. "We landed and released two Dollies over 20 inches," Koenig reported back then. Anywhere else, these would be considered darn near trophy Dollies.

On the Skagit, they don't even raise an eyebrow.

This, too, shall pass

But the slow, transitional steelhead period on the Skagit is bound to come to an end.

And if this year is like most years, that passing will take place by the time we get to the end of the month, and into the first couple of weeks of March.

Then, the Skagit comes alive with some of the best wild steelheading in the universe.

You don't come here for anything in late February and early March except for the big hawgs

"These wild fish are really big. Twenty-pounders. Some of the biggest steelhead you'll catch and release in your life. We're hopeful the big natives will be in and showing good by the end of the month."

Net 'scape

If there's a bummer factor to the Skagit's wild run of big natives, and it's a helluva bummer at that, it's the tribal netting that goes on in the lower portions of the river.

Even though these are wild fish and anglers aren't allowed to keep even one a year, the tribal netting of course continues, and the carnage continues with it.

The tribal netting schedule from now until March 15 will run from Sundays to Tuesdays.

That means if you want a good weekday fishing trip, Thursdays and Fridays might be your best bets, allowing Wednesday for new fish to move into the system.

If you're looking for the best weekend day, Saturdays are typically what you want.

Best drifts

The entire Skagit River system can be good for wild fish at the end of February and early March.

But if you're a betting man and you want to play the percentages, then stick to fishing the high percentage areas.

The best drift, is going to be from Rockport on down,

"Depending on how much water you want to work if you're in a driftboat, for example, you can drift from Rockport down and take out at Concrete. That's about 8 miles of pretty darn good water."

"But it'll depend of course on the clarity of the Sauk. If the Sauk is dumping mud, then the better drift is from Marblemount on down to Rockport."

The wild fish coming into the Skagit are going to one of two places: they're either heading to the very upper reaches of the Skagit to spawn, or they're heading up to turn into the Sauk River to spawn.

For those fish heading to the upper Skagit, the drift from Bacon Creek down to Marblemount is the drift to take.

Bigger everything

The rule of thumb for changing tactics between hatchery fish and wild natives is one of size: gear up everything for the wilds.

"I always go with bigger gear for the natives," Koenig said. "Bigger plugs, bigger jigs, bigger, brighter stuff like Corkies and Cheaters."

Fish yarn flies and Glo Bugs too, with pencil lead weights and 24-inch leaders.

Time of day can be a factor with wild fish too

"When we have those cold, bright, sunshiny days in the winter, the best bite is almost always first thing in the morning, before the sun hits the water. Once the sun comes out, I think it puts them off a little."

On overcast and rainy days, time of day is much less important a factor.