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JoAnn and I had the day off and my original idea was to run over to Lake Wenatchee to get in on the sockeye fishery, but Hwy 2 is still closed so Back to Baker We Go (it’s a nice back-up plan…)

We arrived Sunday evening and trolled for about an hour and a half but no success. I’ve caught a sockeye on Baker once in the late afternoon so now I just have to try every time. Anyway, we retired to our anchorage and enjoyed a good movie and then off to bed for O’Dark 4am.

Woke up to cloudy skies and motored to the NW shoreline. For some reason, it seemed like everyone was fishing the NE, Noisy Creek side. I have no problem with that I said to JoAnn and ran our standard sockeye gear down to various depths of 45, 35, 30, and 25. I noted with anticipation that there are a lot more marks on the fishfinder, which only makes sense – last week we were fishing over 386 fish in the lake, now it’s over 5,600, Happy Days indeed!

The first two hours were totally dead. No bites, and only saw one caught on this side. Lots of marks so I figured maybe the sockeye slept in. BTW, I ran into a couple WA’Lakers today. We always enjoy getting the Shout Out and saying “Hi”. Anyway, 7am our deep starboard rod goes off and I grab the rod. It’s a real pig of a fish and takes multiple jumps and runs. I play him out but unfortunately as he is getting close to the net he takes one more run and pulls out the hooks. Dang! He was a brute, definitely one of those 8-9 pound fish we are all looking for. Gear back in the water and a few minutes later the 30 foot rod goes off. JoAnn takes control of this fish and soon we have our first chrome in the boat. We get another bite but lost this fish as well.

Things quiet down at this point and I start heading out to my favorite and most productive location on the lake. At 9am begins the start of an Epic Bite which includes a couple doubles and a whole lot of fish.

All rods were firing off, all depths were hitting. From 25 ft down to 55 ft. But the best depth was the 35 ft range. We run a variety of dodgers/sling blades and different variations of pink-ish rigs, some with smile blades, some with wiggle fins, some with nothing but hooks, but all with a piece of shrimp. And a little “something extra” mixed in.

The Bite ended at 10am, but only because we hit our limits – actually our last fish was part of a double so JoAnn got to play a bonus fish. I made sure the fish was well-played so as to be able to bring him to the side of the boat and unhook him with using the net. The fish swam off to be hopefully caught by another lucky angler. FYI, the regs on Baker allow two rods to be deployed until the limit is caught, and the anglers may continue to fish until the boat limit is reached. (page 58)

For the day we went 6 (7) caught, and 3 lost. All beautiful chromers and ranging 4-7 pounds. Another great day on Baker Lake!

DjButler

7/21/2014 4:47:00 PM

Nice fish Mike! It was a great morning out there today. I love that lake mainly for the scenery!

skunked

7/21/2014 5:23:00 PM

Great report! How long does that fishery hold up?

Mike Carey

7/21/2014 6:42:00 PM

Should go good into early August.

Diamonddave

7/21/2014 7:02:00 PM

Good job! Holding out on the hotspots are ya?

Hepker

7/21/2014 8:59:00 PM

nice job fishin! so when people say shrimp up in a lake are they still talking a chunk of sand shrimp? will prawn work just the same?

Mike Carey

7/21/2014 10:40:00 PM

Diamonddave - yup. :-) Although it's not like I'm in Stealth mode, just look for an aging grey Seaswirl... let's just say, I don't fish I among the crowds. rseas said it well in his report from today. Find the water in that north end of the lake that has less boats and fish there. There's one particular area that just seems to produce very well every year. (except last year, ugh)
Hepker - what I use is actually store bought prawn, cut in pieces.

Jimbo

7/22/2014 7:08:00 AM

Great reports from you and DJ, I must give this a try.So were is a good launch for a sled ? I've been to the main launch I think at the camp ground, Thanks Jimbo.

DjButler

7/22/2014 8:14:00 AM

Hey Jimbo, be careful that you don't launch at Shannon WITH a trailer. It's non trailer only. It had a big sign there when I launched my pontoon. Tight lines!

Jimbo

7/22/2014 8:40:00 AM

OK I've looked at the map, seems the fishing is best up at the top end of the lake. Haven't been there in years,

Toni

7/22/2014 9:22:00 AM

Nice fish and report.

Jimbo

7/22/2014 12:53:00 PM

Thanks for the heads up, I guess I'll dump in lower and run up. How does one find out how many fish are trucked up and when ?

Wind In His Hair

7/22/2014 2:40:00 PM

Jimbo - http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/salmon/sockeye/baker_river.html
they update MWF

Mike Carey

7/22/2014 3:54:00 PM

Panorama Point is paved leading to rough gravel launch. Kinda flattens but shouldn't be an issue for a sled.

Jimbo

7/22/2014 7:56:00 PM

Thanks Guys for the info, looks like the count had dropped BIG TIME in the last few days. Peek I bet, well I told the wife we going M or Tues, working the weekend. I'm stocked :-)

Thor

7/23/2014 5:01:00 PM

Mike, it was fun seeing you and your wife on the lake. Also to watch you finish out your limit. It's now clear why she took so long with the last (extra) fish. I'm not filing a report because this trip was to show my wife Baker Lake. I've been going for a few years and she finally got to see the beauty I've tried to describe. Regarding launching out of Shannon: You must be camping there to use the launch and I've launched there for the past two years with no problems, but the launch area does change. If they've put up a sign that would probably be worth noting. Swift Creek has a great launch and launch at Panorama is decent (tho very gravelly where you put in and with limited parking unless you go out and park along the road).

DjButler

7/24/2014 4:59:00 PM

Mike, will you be out there this weekend?

Mike Carey

7/24/2014 9:51:00 PM

No, I'm out of town. When we come back on Sunday we were planning to hit Wenatchee if Hwy 2 is open.

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