Kokanee Katcher
7/20/2015 8:35:00 PMSee if you can locate a product called a "deptherm" made by Verilax. It measures the depth and temperature that your gear is lowered to. Reel it in, empty the tube and you're set to take another reading. I've seem them on ebay if you can't locate one in a retail store. They run about $11. Good luck on you next trip to Baker.
lazy C
7/21/2015 4:25:00 AMWhat speed were you trolling? 1 mph +/- and change it up while you're trolling. I use my hand held GPS to measure my speed. Other than that sounds like you got the rest. I haven't made it up there yet this year, hear the mosquitoes are really bad.
4n6fisher
7/21/2015 7:28:00 AMKokanee catcher- I will check for one of those, I think a line counter would have been good too to get a more accurate depth without a downrigger.
Lazy C-I was going about as slow as the other slow trollers out there so I should have been about the right speed. I did try speeding up a little from time to time to see if I could entice a bite. There are some mosquitoes, but they are not as bad as Lake Wenatchee, we camped at Shannon Creek so maybe they are not as bad up there as there is less swampy area.
Looks like downriggers and a fish finder might be in my future, then I would need a boat to put all the stuff in, because you can only fit so much on the pontoon.
Even with the no catching it is a beautiful place
Lazy C-I was going about as slow as the other slow trollers out there so I should have been about the right speed. I did try speeding up a little from time to time to see if I could entice a bite. There are some mosquitoes, but they are not as bad as Lake Wenatchee, we camped at Shannon Creek so maybe they are not as bad up there as there is less swampy area.
Looks like downriggers and a fish finder might be in my future, then I would need a boat to put all the stuff in, because you can only fit so much on the pontoon.
Even with the no catching it is a beautiful place
hookset'n
7/21/2015 9:01:00 AMAbove comments have you covered - my adds:
....the magic depth is 55 and it doesn't sound like you are getting there, you are probably above 40' with only 40 pulls out and accounting for line angle. I have not had even a sniff above 50' this year and that includes fishing at 4:00 - get down to 45-50 in the dark and as soon as you can see your rods, go ahead and drop to 50-65. You can make a cheap downrigger with a few pounds of weight on a 1/4" cord, tie knots every 5 feet. The other thing is make sure your leaders are 12" max in total length from swivel tip to back hook - measure them! Keep presentations small. There are charts online that show you how deep you are running using speed and weight as the variables. You are guessing now. You can mount a cannon or other small downrigger clamp-on to your motor mount and let the cable down behind you between the pontoons.
....the magic depth is 55 and it doesn't sound like you are getting there, you are probably above 40' with only 40 pulls out and accounting for line angle. I have not had even a sniff above 50' this year and that includes fishing at 4:00 - get down to 45-50 in the dark and as soon as you can see your rods, go ahead and drop to 50-65. You can make a cheap downrigger with a few pounds of weight on a 1/4" cord, tie knots every 5 feet. The other thing is make sure your leaders are 12" max in total length from swivel tip to back hook - measure them! Keep presentations small. There are charts online that show you how deep you are running using speed and weight as the variables. You are guessing now. You can mount a cannon or other small downrigger clamp-on to your motor mount and let the cable down behind you between the pontoons.
strider43
7/21/2015 10:23:00 AMI fished Baker 5 times in two years and have only one fish to the boat, just the way it is for most fisherman