It was a chilly and foggy first day of October and we were fishing the opener on the upper Snohomish River. These are my home waters, and it was nice to be back. I feel cheated, but at the same time lucky, to get this one month of salmon fishing. All our other opportunities on this system have been taken away other than a short window of catch and release winter steelhead, a fishery that has been decimated by the lawsuits against the hatcheries.
My guide for the day was Tyler Schaul and his clients were Laura Phillips from Burlington, NC, and Amy Phillips from Mill Creek, WA. These two ladies are avid outdoors people and sisters who spend time each year chasing different adventures. This day was one of string on their annual “adventurecation” together, and it was destined to become an incredible experience.
Tyler took us slowly down the Snoqualmie River from the High Bridge launch as the sun just began to faintly appear over the Cascades to the East. It was foggy, but nothing like it can be at this time of year. As we approached the confluence of the Snoqualmie and the Skykomish rivers, it got tricky. Tyler throttled up through the skinny exit of the Snoqualmie and broke left as two other boats were struggling with a new gravel bar that protruded from the mouth of the Skykomish River, making navigation super sketchy. Tyler threw on the brakes to slow us a bit as we made a sharp, 90 degree left turn, only to rapidly make a sharp, 90 degree right turn along the bank to enter the newly formed Snohomish River. Of all my trips down this stretch of water over the years, this was the scariest that I have ever seen the confluence and it will certainly eat some boats this year. In addition to the newly formed gravel bar, there was the usual bone yard of stumps and logs, littering the river, along with some new obstacles from the high-water events of the winter of 2024.
Once we got through the gauntlet of obstacles, we made our way down, below the 522 bridge to find some water of our own. Being that it was opening day, there were a lot of people on the water already, and many had set up in the prime spots. We found our own water and began cast-ing custom spinners that Tyler makes. We hooked up quickly and it was lights out for a while as the coho hit our presentations. Admittedly, we lost a ton of fish but had four in the box in the first few hours. We also caught cutthroat trout that were released without harm, leaving only the elusive summer steelhead which are virtually non-existent now in this system.
We fished for about six hours that morning and the bite really died off when the sun rose high in the sky. We hit a fish here and there, but they were not aggressive and were not sticking. Switching it up, we threw Wiggle Warts and Dick Nite spoons, but spinners were really the ticket on this day, especially in chartreuse and pink. Tyler gave me a funny look when I changed out a white hoochie on a chartreus spinner with a pink hoochie. The pressure was on to prove that I was not a total moron, and a few casts later, I hit and lost a fish.
A young client with a Snohomish River coho.
By the end of day, we were all sore, happy and very satisfied with our success. Tyler made it a great trip and worked his butt off for us. He never got excited and made sure to keep it light. For those of us losing fish, namely me, Tyler helped to tame the competitive nature and the frustration that comes with failure.
Time for a little bit more about Tyler so that you can book a trip with him. Tyler grew up in the Northwest part of Washington and spends his time primarily between Everett and Bellingham. He is a river guy, other than future bottom fishing trips in the Puget Sound. He knows the river as well as any guide I have fished with and is really catering to his clients and their experience. Tell him what you want and if it is possible, he will deliver it.
I was happy to see Tyler give a briefing before we pushed off from shore, which included a safety briefing, a description of how we would be fishing and an assessment of the experience level of each of us in the boat. He was laid back, easy going and enthusiastic, which is always nice to see in a guide. Let’s face it, when we are hitting the water for a day, we are amped up and it is nice when the guide jokes around and settles us down a bit.
Tyler started guiding almost three years ago, fishing Friday through Sunday. He has now transitioned away from a day job as an electrician and is guiding full time. His goal is to build a strong client base and work well, with and around the other guides in the area. We talked a lot about guide culture and the fact that it is best to be friendly and courteous with all the guides as it benefits everyone. He is also lucky to have a few very well-respected guides supporting him as his business gets going. In fact, Amy and Laura were referred to Tyler by another guide who I have fished with. Pretty cool and a good indication of Tyler’s character.
Amy with a chrome bright Snohomish River coho.
One of my highlights of the day was seeing Laura catch her first salmon in a river. Tyler joked about telling a past client’s son that you must eat the heart from the first salmon that you catch. Laura, to my surprise, jumped on this and said that she would be happy to do it. I have pictures to prove it, but I will spare you. I could not watch, but she chewed it up and swallowed it, not skipping a beat. What a trooper and so much fun to fish with.
If you visit Tyler’s website, you will see that he states, “maybe people who have fished with me before can attest to this better, but on my trips, I provide a hassle-free fishing experience and you just get to fish. I love to teach! I take pride in my no-pressure fishing style and take on more of a cheerleader coaching position with high stoke! Sometimes I think I might be having the most fun in the boat.” This is true. You can genuinely see that Tyler really cares about the experience that his clients have. He does not take it for granted that they chose to fish with him, and he works hard for that Google five-star review. Believe me, he earns it, so give him a strong review.
Above is livestream video of the Winchester Dam Fish Ladder on the North Umpqua River!
Tyler prefers hands-on fishing methods that involve a lot of casting. He feels that clients want to actively fish as opposed to sitting on anchor and pulling plugs or divers. Don’t get me wrong, he will do that if clients request it, but he wants his clients to learn new techniques and leave as better anglers than when they arrived.
Tyler runs a drift boat and a 21-foot jet boat. You will find him floating for winter steelhead and running his sled from the spring through the fall for salmon, primarily on the Skagit and when we get a season, the Snohomish system. As with most of us, Tyler enjoys steelhead fishing over all else. Now is the time to book with him for catch and release steelhead on the Skagit system for 2025. Get a slot now while he has availability.
As mentioned earlier, Tyler makes some of his own gear. We fished custom made 2/5- and 2/3-ounce spinners that Tyler makes himself. The Blue Fox spinners sat in a box next to the spinners that he made. I have always been a Blue Fox/Vibrax user, but I like Tyler’s spinners much better, and they worked flawlessly. Heck, I only lost two of them all day and we were fishing in and around a lot of wood. I lost so many coho on this day that Laura and Amy fabricated a phrase, “lose it like Brent” for hooking and losing a fish. There was also the “Laura cast” which was the act of casting with the bail closed on the reel. We had a lot of fun fishing together and have tons of pictures to prove it. A day like that is never forgotten and I look forward to my next trip with Tyler for winter steelhead.
Currently, Tyler fishes spring/summer Chinook in the North Puget Sound, fall salmon in the rivers of the North Puget Sound, the sockeye fisheries in both Baker Lake and Lake Wenatchee, and North Puget Sound winter steelhead. I am familiar with each of these fisheries, and they are all a ton of fun.
To book a day on the water with Tyler, you can call or text him at (425) 407-8187 or email him at tsguideservicepnw@gmail. com. He is also active on Facebook and you can visit his website.
To nominate your favorite guide or to request a day on the water and an interview, you can reach out to me at bknight@iss-safe.com.
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