After seeing the reports of low fishing pressure, and decent numbers of fish transferred to the lake, I thought it would be a sure thing to put a few fish in the box today. Running on only 2 hours of sleep, my dad, daughter, and I head to Baker Lake for the first time this year. Launched out of Swift Creek campground around 5:30 am, and headed to the spot that produced fish for us last year, and I guess for the other 80-100 boats too.

We trolled a variety of sockeye gear on 3 rods. Rod #1 had a #0 plain Les Davis herring dodger, 10" of 20lb fluorocarbon leader to dual 2/0 red hooks with a red Macks smile blade above. Rod #2 had a #0 Prism Les Davis herring dodger, 10" of 20lb fluorocarbon leader to dual 2/0 red hooks with a Gold Star F15 2" pink squid and pink smile blade above. Rod #3 had a 8" Shasta Sling Blade dodger, 10" of 20lb fluorocarbon leader to single 2/0 red hook with a Gold Star OG1931.5" pink squid. Hooks were tipped with either fresh sand shrimp tails, or cured pink shrimp.

We trolled the Swift creek side back and forth many times then tried the Noisy Creek side a few times also. Trolling speeds were from .7 to 1.5 mph on the gps and depths varied from 15' to 50'. We were using 4oz banana weights as my new boat does not have downrigger mounts yet, but depth was accurate as our gear was clearly seen on the fish finder. We gave up after 8 hours trolling and no fish to show.

There was probably about a half dozen fish caught around us, so there is some fish to be caught, just wasn't our day I guess. I didn't count, but I would guess there was probably around 60+ boats trolling the Swift Creek side and the rest on the Noisy Creek side or middle of the lake. After we loaded the boat we checked out some of the campgrounds around the area and made plans to try to camp there some time. We both agreed that while the fishing was disappointing, the time on the water with family, and scenery made the trip worth it.

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