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JoAnn and I missed fishing Baker Lake last year but this year we found an open window and were able to get in a day of fishing.

We arrived Friday evening at Panorama Point boat launch and put in the boat at the new (to us) ramp. All I can say is wow! A nice two lane ramp, no more watching people get stuck in the gravel. Only bad part is there is barely enough room to beach your boat. There is just one spot on either side during high water, which it is right now unfortunately. In any case we got the boat in and anchored up only to have to pull into shore around midnight for an urgent doggie do-do request from our puggle, Diesel. Once he did his thing we got a good night’s sleep and the 4am launch crowd awoke us for our day of fishing.

If you have never fished Baker, in the “old days” everyone fished the north end of the lake, Swift Creek, Shannon Creek, and Noisy Creek. The last few years more anglers have learned that the sockeye are actually spread out throughout the lake and not just at the north end. That said, we took the quick run over to the Noisy Creek side of the lake and by 5:20am had four rods running.

Those of you that read my reports on a regular basis know that I believe in sharing information – locations and techniques – to improve everyone’s success on the water. The more anglers we have actually catching and having success the more we ultimately can make our voices known to those in power. OK, personal perspective done, here’s how our morning went:

We ran two downriggers, each stacked for four total rods. All leader lengths were 12-16” in length. All rods had a chunk of bait (this is the one secret I’m going to keep!). Trolling speed was 1.2 mph using a bow mounted electric. Set back was 15 feet on the deep rods, and 20 feet on the stacker rods.

Port deep rod – this was the set up (pictured) that caught the most fish/bites. 3 caught, 2 lost/bites. Small pink hoochie, larger Macks silver smile blade, 50/50 1/0 dodger. Ran at 33 feet deep all morning.

Port stacked rod – Macks Double D dodger, chrome, two red hooks, accounted for one fish, ran at approximately 25-27 feet.

Starboard deep rod – chrome 0 dodger, red and pink hook, ran at 25 feet. 3 fish caught, 1 bite.

Starboard stacker rod – Macks Double D dodger with blue tape, 2 red hooks and a wedding ring insert. No bites. Ran at 20-23 feet deep.

OK, the action started ten minutes into our troll and the first half hour saw three fish caught and one lost so I was feeling pretty good we’d get our limits. I saw a few fish caught here and there so we weren’t the only anglers having success. After the first half hour things slowed down but by 8:58am we had fish number six in the boat and were putting away our gear. Here then is the action timeline:

5:20 – started fishing, all rods deployed
5:30 – caught at 33 feet
5:50 - caught at 25 feet
5:55 – lost at 33 feet
6:03 caught at 33 feet
7:10 caught at 25 feet
8:00 caught at 33 feet
8:30 lost at 25 feet
08:58 caught at 25 feet.

An excellent morning of fishing on Baker Lake! The fish are chrome bright and super feisty. Several of our fish put on acrobatic displays that I’m still wondering how we managed to catch them. The meat is a beautiful dark red and firm.

Random thoughts… we certainly did well and if I had to speculate as to why I would say it was a combination of the bait we were using and the stealth mode of the electric trolling motor, although I certainly have caught plenty of fish with a loud kicker so maybe I’ll give more weight to the bait. And maybe we were just plain lucky to run across plenty of aggressive fish. Crowds were very manageable and friendly today.

I hope this inspires you to give Baker Lake a try and good luck!

salmonbarry

7/14/2018 9:05:14 PM

Wow great report Mike thanks for all the info! We hit it this time last year with not the same success- so hopefully things will still be good in a few weeks when I can make it up~ I know the crowds will be heavier but unfortunately it's the only time I can make it up there! Love seeing the pictures of Diesel as he looks so much like our puggle Oliver who also likes sleeping with a pillow haha!

Mike Carey

7/14/2018 9:07:07 PM

I was all set to go back in two weeks and found out there is a derby that Saturday. Not really my thing but man it was so fast and easy today. BTW... the bait was prawn with some secret additives for those that actually read the report and comments!

SuperSport

7/14/2018 9:24:05 PM

Nice report Mike, I'm going to have to try Sockeye fishing one of these days.

salmonbarry

7/14/2018 10:56:49 PM

Thanks Mike, yea I watched an Angler west video from a few years ago and was going to try shrimp for bait- I'll be there Wed-Thurs-Friday the 1st to the 3rd but I think the derby is at Brewster that weekend but could be wrong. At least I will be outta there before the madness but sure it will still be busy! I have never fished it that late so will be interesting and think DJ will be joining me Thursday and Friday so watch for some reports soon after to be sure!

Cueballdg

7/14/2018 11:36:55 PM

Hey Barry
Brewster salmon derby has been cancelled because of Chinook retention CLOSED on upper Columbia.
Just an FYI

bob johansen

7/15/2018 7:57:48 AM

Excellent, detailed report Mike! I think you really have Baker Lake figured out. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to catch a lot of sockeye in years past but I never had the chance to fish Baker for sockeye. I did fish Baker Lake one time and camp over night there - but we did fish for not for sockeye.

MPM

7/15/2018 10:10:17 AM

Did you use the same bait for all the hookups?

Mike Carey

7/15/2018 2:26:58 PM

yes. So can't really say it was a scientific methodology.

SnoKing

7/15/2018 11:16:55 AM

Hey Mike... I always enjoy your reports, thanks!

Did you happen to notice if anything has changed with the facility down by the ramp? In other words, are there any RV sites or did the powers to be not get around to putting them back in place?

Mike Carey

7/15/2018 2:27:43 PM

did not see new camping/RV sites. Just the new ramp.

Chris B.

7/15/2018 2:39:26 PM

Great info and I have a question to ask.
I am disabled and may be making a solo trip very soon. Which launch would be the easiest on me and others who may have to wait a little bit for me to get around?

Mike Carey

7/15/2018 7:08:03 PM

Hmmm, Panorama Point like I noted is very limited space-wise. Horseshoe has more area to drag your boat up. Swift and Shannon I've never used. The launch on the south end, Kulshan has a dock so you can tie up.

kurtkettel

7/16/2018 6:58:50 PM

Kulshan is the easiest ramp....good access...two lane....lots of parking. Easy run up the lake from there.

Billm

7/17/2018 10:27:12 AM

Mike, thanks for the report. I may never get to Baker, but the information and tactics provided may help me when fishing other areas. Your details are appreciated.

Chris B.

7/21/2018 1:09:51 PM

Thanks fellas. Hope to post a beaming report soon.

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