Northwest Fishing Reports

With the number of fish put in and the number of boats fishing this past week( was there fri and sat) and how slow the fishin is the past few days you think its fish out. Over 200 boats sat alone....Crazy....What you all think???

Hey, I was up there Friday and Saturday too! Yeah, that was rough. I fished at the first sign of light to about 10:30 am both days. No action Friday; hooked one and lost it during a jump Saturday. I have to assume the huge volume of boats had an affect on the bite. If there are 200 boats, and each boat averages three rods (that's a total guess) that's 600 rigs being drug through a 10-foot patch of water column in two very compact areas.

My two cents is the over crowding has a negative impact; but moreso fish just don't want to bite some days. They probably just took the weekend off. The bite seemed to be recovering a bit Saturday; saw a lot more fish hooked (although still really dismal numbers). I'll be curious to read the Sunday reports!

The fish don't want the WDFW agents to give out any overfishing tickets.

bassplayer17 wrote:With the number of fish put in and the number of boats fishing this past week( was there fri and sat) and how slow the fishin is the past few days you think its fish out. Over 200 boats sat alone....Crazy....What you all think???

Check out the reports from last year, good fishing into August. More anglers, yes, but I think we'll have several more weeks of catching opportunities. Plus, more fish will get put in, maybe another 10K?

Mike Carey wrote:

bassplayer17 wrote:With the number of fish put in and the number of boats fishing this past week( was there fri and sat) and how slow the fishin is the past few days you think its fish out. Over 200 boats sat alone....Crazy....What you all think???

Check out the reports from last year, good fishing into August. More anglers, yes, but I think we'll have several more weeks of catching opportunities. Plus, more fish will get put in, maybe another 10K?

I agree Mike but last year we didnt start fishing till now and early august and there was half the pressure there is now... I just hope your right....

I talked to the guy trucking fish to the lake on saturday. He said the hatchery had most of what they needed so most would be coming to the lake. I took two on saturday but I agree, for the amount of boats the catch rate wasn't very high.

Been gone a week but during my absence I did hit the lake on Tues with dismal results. Had two to the boat but for some reason my long time fishing friend was just head shot and didn't net the fish. You guys know what happens when they see the boat..... Any ways talked to F&W at the ramp, they said a week a go Sunday they had started to truck fish to the lake after a break so he wasn't suprised by the numbers of fish not caught. He said after the fish are released it takes 4 to 5 days for the fish to aclimate and start to move to Noisy Creek. This past weekend should have been pretty good baring anything like big level changes in the lake....... which has been going on too.

I think Bodo's second point is a big part of the patterns we have been seeing in the fish activity. At the start of the season the lake was much higher than last season, and a bit off color. Now they are dropping the lake back into shape, and the flow of water through the dam is likely causing irregular fluctuations in the thermal layer in the lake as well as oxygen distribution. It seems to me that the fish are more spread out, almost in 1 big thin layer, all over the lake. Generally, when you hit them hard, you find the big schools that can be a 30 or 40 foot wall of fish. Once the surface temperature stabilizes (more sunny weather) and the dam is not flushing the lake, I expect we will see those early morning bites we are all used to.

there is plenty of fish in the lake. I marked countless fish Friday and Saturday. I fished the 27th,28 and 29th without a single bite

I will be out the 5th 6th and 7th of August. Give me a shout if you're on the water.

strider43 wrote:there is plenty of fish in the lake. I marked countless fish Friday and Saturday. I fished the 27th,28 and 29th without a single bite

The fish you're marking are not necessarily the Socks you're targeting. Baker has a resident population of BIIIIIIG Kokes. They're pretty darn close to salmon size. I was marking them all over. They don't seem to be big schoolers. From what I've been told they won't bite on regular Koke gear or what you're offering the Socks.

We did catch a couple koks on our recent trips, although nothing over 11" or so. They seem to be in the top 15 ft of water.

I posted my most recent reports. Not fished out, but definately not the slam dunk of last year, except for those few that have things really dialed in.

I marked tons of fish, in weird locations. We hooked 7 on Saturday, 3 sunday and 1 monday. We just couldn't find willing biters. Nearly all the fish we hooked came of the meter, which was neat. It just gets tough sometimes. That's why they call it fishing, not catching!

Well there still comming in.... I had a nice chat with my bud that works at the fish trap he told me there still traping 300 to 400 a day..The tribes are all done fishing and the hatchery has there 5000... The count so far is 36,000 total and he thinks it could go as high as 44,000 thats a new record run....The dam is still dumping water...Good luck you all....

I'll telll you what, the lake is high judging by the small amount of spit at the horseshoe boat launch. I was tempted to cast a few personal jet craft adrift when we came in. Practically the whole launch area was covered with the noise makers, and no one to be seen.

Hey, I have a question for those in the know. Do all these fish end up spawning in the tributaries of the lake? What happens to all the smolt, do they die going through the dam?

How would I tell the difference in the Kokes and the Socks on my fish finder?

The Socks are way bigger. At least on mine. When there is a sockeye under the boat, it is a big giant arch, not a baby one. When there are a bunch, it's like a giant cloud. Next time I'm out I'll take a photo of the screen.

Hey, I have a question for those in the know. Do all these fish end up spawning in the tributaries of the lake? What happens to all the smolt, do they die going through the dam?

The smolt after a year will try to reach the river. The hatchery folkd have a trap that simulates the noise of a creek. The fish swim into it and get a ride below the dams

The new smolt collector for Baker lake is almost solely responsible for the recent success of the Baker Sockeye. They are in the process of installing one at the lower baker dam too. So Shannon Lake should be producing Sockeye as well, nearly doubling the potential run again. Oh yeah, not fished out by any means , just a ridiculous amount of pressure.

Sixgill wrote:The new smolt collector for Baker lake is almost solely responsible for the recent success of the Baker Sockeye. They are in the process of installing one at the lower baker dam too. So Shannon Lake should be producing Sockeye as well, nearly doubling the potential run again. Oh yeah, not fished out by any means , just a ridiculous amount of pressure.

Very cool. It's nice to see when something works well. Let's hope for many years of good fishing to come. Now if they can replicate this on lake Washington and lake Wenatchee.