Bad Duck Year???

I've been duck hunting fairly seriously for 3-4 years now (it's my new winter-time religion). I really thought I was getting the hang of it last year, when limits were increasingly common and rarely did I go home without at least a couple ducks. I hunt almost exclusively in Skagit Valley on a mix of public and private land sometimes in a boat and sometimes on land. And, although a working stiff, I still get a weekday hunt in about every week or two. In fact, several days the past two weeks.

So, I gotta ask what folks' thoughts/theories are about this season. My bag-of-tricks, which produced ample number of ducks last year has come up far short this year. It seems that there are fewer birds around to start with and we haven't had the big snow dump like last year. But I'm really wondering if others are having similar results and what you believe the cause(s) might be.

Of course it's always good to get out with friends and be out on the bay as the world wakes up, but I'd like to be working the birds a lot more than I have this year.

Hope you're having a great season!!!

Chris