First trip to Baker Lake

[PRM]

Hi everyone,

My cousin and I are heading up to Baker Lake this coming Sunday-Tuesday (August 14th-16th) and camping at Swift Creek. This will be our first time at the lake so I was hoping to get some advice from anyone who knows the lake well and/or who has fished it in the last couple of weeks.
I have done some homework on the fishery and most places agree that the fish normally school up in the old lake bed area. However I have also read that people are having a hard time finding the fish this year. I read one report from rseas that had a nav point just west of Maple Grove campground, which I will probably be checking out since that was the last decent report posted. Has anyone found any other locations where the fish might be holding? I would appreciate any nav points or even general area ideas.
Also, for tackle I am pretty much planning to use my Lake Stevens Kokanee gear with slightly larger hooks. Mini Hoochies and home-made wedding rings behind chrome/UV/Colored Dick Nite and Double D Dodgers. I have 2 down riggers on the boat, so we will be using those as well. I see a lot of sites recommending 2/0 hooks, but since the bite has been dead I was thinking of trying something a bit smaller. I have caught the bigger Lake Roosevelt kokanee on as small as size 8's but I also know that these are quite a bit larger fish. Are there any setups that have been working for anyone up there?

Anything that you guys can tell me to help me put some sockeye in the box is appreciated.

[PRM]

And by "decent report" I mean the last report with fish caught.

[Mike Carey]

this year WDFW has been releasing fish by the dam as well as lower so the fish are more spread out. That said, there's a lot of fish in the lake, even if not in the numbers we had thought would be there. You should find pods of fish all over, but I'd try that north end, especially as the pressure has decreased with Lake Wenatchee getting more attention.

As to gear, these can be big, strong 5-10 pound fish, much bigger than Wenatchee or Brewster fish and full of spunk. I had one fish last year jump at least 4-5 feet out of the water when hooked. It was pretty amazing to see how much air that fish got. So be ready for some hard fighting fish when you do hook up! I personally go heavier than my kokanee rods. I know guys that swear by the kok rods and do OK, but for me with the limited number of bites you get I want to be sure to catch the fish so I go a bit heavier on the gear using salmon downrigger rods. Still plenty of fun with much better control of the fish. With less crowds that may not be so critical though...

Anyway, good luck and have fun!

[Mike Carey]

oh, I'd stick with 1/0 or 2/0 hooks. red of course.

[PRM]

Thanks for the info. I hope we can find some fish with that kind of fight in them.

[scraig1962]

Since your staying at Swift Creek, I would try the area around Noisy Creek at first light, and venture off from there. This is the most popular spot by far, so you should see some boats there. We also had one of our best days a few years ago fishing the shallow area south west of the Shannon Creek launch where it transitions from deep water to shallow. I believe we were fishing 30' deep in 45-50 feet of water.

Fishing has been tough this year. One weekend its hot, the next its not. Our best luck this year has been just North of the Horseshoe Cove launch, West of Maple Grove that you mentioned. The water depth is all over the place here, but once you find a good track to follow it gets easier. Watch your fish finder like a hawk and be prepared to raise your downriggers when if the bottom sneaks up real fast. Best depth has been 50-60 ft, but after reading some of the Wenatchee reports, I wonder if those deeper marks at 75-90 are in fact sockeye.

I have been running #0 chrome herring dodgers, 40lb power pro main line, 30' clear mono topshot and 30lb fluorocarbon leaders with 1/0 red hooks and pink uv hoochies and firecure shrimp for bait. We had a fish break off with 20lb leader, so I would definitely bump up from kokanee gear. Once you get a fish on, loosen your drag because they will take off on you like a rocket and try to pull the hooks. I attached my waypoints from a couple weeks ago. Good luck.

Baker waypoints

[PRM]

Thanks for sharing the map. I will definitely check those areas out. It sounds like I will be going with heavier leaders and at least 1/0 hooks.

[Mike10gs]

Hey I want to ask has anyone fished baker lake recently? Do you still catch towards the end of the season?