Non-Fly Dirtbag Baker lake sockeye 2024

Wanative

Wanative

Spawned out Chum
Forum Supporter
Baker lake did not disappoint us on the opener. I was a bit leary of how the bite would be as the last count report had about 2500 fish delivered to the lake.
My friend Teela and I left Bellingham at 0255 and pulled into the launch at 0425. We were fishing a little before 0500 amid the twinkling running lights of a couple hundred other boats loaded with hopeful anglers.1000004569.jpg
We didn't see much action early on.
About a half hour in Teela's dropper weight rod gets hammered hard and it was game on. It was a harbinger of what was to come later. Teela played the hard fighter like a pro and I scooped him up after a nice fight. BOOM!💥
Number one 2024 sockeye on the deck.😃
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Teela is an accomplished fisherman particularly kokanee. He's fished Baker a few times and caught a few but thought he could do better.
I'd fished kokanee at Lake Samish last week and invited him to accompany me on opening day.
It turned into a great day of fishing for both of us.
We hooked 10 sockeye and landed seven. 4 for Teela and 3 for me.
The fish we caught were holding 30 to 35 feet for the most part.
The downrigger bite and dropper 5 oz. weight bite were about equally divided. Sand shrimp and small hoochy's 8" behind a size '0' dodger did the damage.
We fished until 12:15 and called it a day as it was very hot out.
The bite was off and on all day. We caught 3 or 4 fish after 10:30 when most of the boats had gone in.
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Teela's limit. The fish are fat and fight like he'll!
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A snapshot of my Garmin shows a sockeye following our gear and some others within the periphery of the cone.
This is my favorite local fishery
by far.
 

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Well done, Fred (I mean well done on the fishing, not that you are well done but if you'd stayed in the sun much longer....). Nice fish!!
 
Buzzy said:
Well done, Fred (I mean well done on the fishing, not that you are well done but if you'd stayed in the sun much longer....). Nice fish!!
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Thanks Pat. It was very warm by westside standards. Baker lake is usually 5 to 10 degrees hotter than the lowlands.
I have a 12 volt fan I'm taking Thursday along with my umbrella for shade.
Not crazy about the early hours to get there and fishing but it's worth it for me.
 
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Wanative said:
Thanks Pat. It was very warm by westside standards. Baker lake I usually 5 to 10 degrees hotter than the lowlands.
I have a 12 volt fan I'm taking Thursday along with my umbrella for shade.
Not crazy about the early hours to get there and fishing but it's worth it for me.
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Good luck, Fred! (And I remember you kinda like to sleep in. If you left at 0255, man that means revile

() must be most folks bedtime).

That big Yamaha looks really nice on the back of your boat.
 
I made the tough call to run out to neah Bay instead of fishing Baker this week. About the same amount of drive but the chance of wrangling some rockfish and lingcod made the difference. That said, anybody's got some extra room on their boat. I'd drive up there in a heartbeat
 
Buzzy said:
Good luck, Fred! (And I remember you kinda like to sleep in. If you left at 0255, man that means revile () must be most folks bedtime). That big Yamaha looks really nice on the back of your boat.
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Thanks buddy.
 
Looking forward to your update after your trip today! Fingers crossed for more big sockeye into your net.
 
Are ya doing the red hook with a kernel of corn lure?
 
I the past when the bite got tough my lucked improved when I downsized my presentations and if possible, increased the drop behind the boat. I found getting at least 60 feet behind helped a lot and had the added benefit of allowing the chasing marked schools. With say a 60-foot drop back if you noted fish say 10 feet above your gear it is simple raise the downrigger 10 feet before the gear would get to the school. Not only does this approach allow presenting your gear to more fish that sudden change in depth (either up or down) often triggers a strike from following sockeye.

All standard approaches with kokanee. Chasing sockeye is just kokanee fishing on steroids!

Curt
 
Trusting my electronics has definitely put more fish in the boat for me this year.
When I mark a school or cluster of fish on my Garmin I immediately pause the screen and place a way point on the marked fish. I can then turn the boat around and go back through the school increasing my opportunity to present to fish.
It works, Trust me.
 
Took the new boat up to Baker yesterday with @_WW_ and @Bhudda and his 2 boys and 300-400 close friends, lol! We had 6 rods out and only had 1 strike on Wayns rod from a small Kokanee lost at the boat.
Was my 1st time fishing Baker lake and fishing for Sockeye and running 6 rods, a great learning experience! Wayne had been doing this fishery for years and said we where doing everything he does, moving gear up down speed up slow down trying and get those followers to bite.
Tons to learn still, will look at dropping gear further back next time when its slow. I looked to be slow all around, as nets where flying about once every 45 minutes or so.


The most scenic fishery in the world maybe?
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