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A 57-year-old Sultan man died early Saturday after his fishing boat was pinned against a rock by a forceful  current on the Skykomish River.

He was one of two fishermen who launched a drift boat just after 4 a.m. at the Big Eddy boat launch, east of Gold Bar, according to Lt. Rick Hawkins of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The boat drifted about a half-mile downstream before hitting the current. It flipped, sending both men into the water.

One man, in his 30s, managed to swim to shore and call for help. A Monroe Fire Department rescue boat picked him up and he was checked by aid officials on the scene. He did not require hospitalization, Hawkins said.

The other man was dead when officials, including those in a sheriff’s office helicopter and marine unit,  found him in the river.

“The deceased was experienced with the river” and was not wearing a life jacket, Hawkins said.

Rivers this time of year can be treacherous even for those with experience. They’re higher because of snow melt, cold (around 45 degrees Saturday) and swift, Hawkins said.

This is the fifth drowning this year in Snohomish County rivers, he said. Two few weeks ago, a man in his 30s jumped into the Skykomish near the Big Eddy public water access and ran into trouble as he drifted downstream. He died, as did a woman who fell into the water at Wallace Falls and a hiker who fell into a tributary near Sultan, according to Hawkins.

“It’s very important, especially this time of year, to wear a life jacket,” he said.

Officials were notifying the family of the man who died Saturday. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office will release his name after an investigation.