Took the day off of work to make a trip up to Baker Lake for some Sockeye. Arrived at the Swift Creek lunch at 4:30 am. Being it was our fist time fishing there, we pulled over at the pay station to read the launch fees and pay. That was a mistake, because about 4 other trucks passed right by us and lined up at the launch. After paying, which from what I understand is a $15 fee if your there before 8:00 am, we launched the boat and were fishing by 5:30. Tons of boats were trolling upper part of the lake. Everybody pretty much launched and blasted right to the same area. There must have been 50+ boats in the one area, and we only saw a hand full of nets out all morning. We finally hook into our first one around 8:30. Took a while to get the fish in the boat, as the fish are awesome fighters. It was a nice hen, so we bonked it, bled it and in the cooler it went. Around 10:00, 1 by 1 the main mob started to leave the lake. By 12:00 or so, there were only a hand full of boats out there. We ended up catching 2 more fish, one around 12:00 and another around 2:00 before we ran low on battery life, and gas. All our fish came on hand tied 20lb fluorocarbon leaders, two 1/0 hooks with beads and a smile blade. We also used sand shrimp and various scents. We were trolling with 8" chrome dodgers, one on the downrigger, and one with a 4oz sinker tied 24" above the dodger. The Downrigger caught no fish, the 4oz lead caught all the fish. We were fishing from around 20-40 pulls and same amount of feet on the downrigger. Next time, I will probably leave the downriggers at home. Fish are out there, but you have to really work for them, or atleast we had to. Also, the water did get pretty rough on us, with what seemed like 1 to 1 1/2 waves, so people with small boats (like me) be aware.

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