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Our Sunday fishing began at 5am with lines in the water. JoAnn and I resolved to do a better job catching and stop losing the early morning fish we got up so early to catch.

This time I decided to start us at the Noisy Creek side of the lake and found the fleet, as usual, in the distance, allowing us a good 30-40 minutes of relatively clear waters and no competition. The choice paid off in spades as at 5:30am, at 33 ft, we caught and netted the first fish of the day. One in the cooler! JoAnn did a great job playing this fish and we got the DR line and stacker rod out of the water for clear netting.

Then, our skunk returned. Lost fish – two, one at 7:05 at 37 ft, as the stacker rod’s gear cut the leader of the caught fish, and two, at 7:50, at 39 ft, just plain came off. Our spirits were down, but I had reason for hope, despite the lack of other anglers catching fish, or maybe because of it. Our gear was obviously working, we just needed to get back on track.

8:25 and the familiar rod bounce signaling another fish, this one at 39 ft deep. Since I had lost the last two fish, JoAnn took the rod and again did a great job playing the fish. It glided into the net and we had our second of the day. Around this time we ran into Matt from the forum, with his GF. He was having a tough morning. Hopefully things picked up for them…

Now we went into that dead quiet period that makes one wonder if they will ever see another bite. Trolling around, watching paint dry. It was a brutal 2 ½ hours, and the fleet thinned out quite a bit. I would say many had another tough morning. Oh, if they had only waited it out.

BAMM! 10:45 on the Noisy Creek side of the lake, fish marking, and I observe a couple boats catch fish. “I think it may be our turn JoAnn” I say. Now, I can’t really call this a triple, but here was the sequence (as best we can recall): 10:50, left DR goes off at 33 ft deep, JoAnn grabs and plays this fish and we net her fish, then the stacker rod right at 24 ft gets a strike. Grab that rod, dang, fish comes off, but wait, DR rod right at 39 ft goes off! I get this one since JoAnn has now limited. I play the fish and JoAnn does the netting duties. Wow, 2 for 3 in the space of about seven minutes. I am sweating like a pig and the adrenaline is pumping. This is what it was like last year!

We are two fish away from the day’s limit, and it seems very possible at this point. We stow the fish and regear, but the active group of fish is nowhere to be found. Back to trolling and watching paint dry.

12:44pm, yes, another fish at 39 ft deep, into the boat and one more to go. We keep at it until 2pm, and finally I can’t take it anymore, telling JoAnn it’s been a good day. We have 5 fish today and 2 from yesterday so I have some filleting to do when we get home.

It was a good day. Moral of the story is don’t give up on Baker Lake at 9am just because you haven’t gotten bit. It just takes one group of active biters to turn the day around.

Note - fish photo is from two days fishing, two people.

bcustom1

8/6/2012 12:20:00 AM

Love it. Thanks for the report, it was a (very vivid) blast to read. Haha maybe it is just me, but I appreciated the part about not giving up as well. It's a good reminder. I still have way too many times where I'll show up at a river and fish the "morning bite" and leave with the crowds as soon as the fish stop biting. The people who consistently limit always seem to be the people who just keep the line in the water regardless :).

Augwen

8/6/2012 6:47:00 AM

Nice report!!! Way to go Mike!!

tele_maniac

8/6/2012 7:18:00 AM

Great report Mike! I like your persistence. It clearly paid off.

bryanpeck

8/7/2012 11:12:00 AM

Nice roport Mike. Glad you're having some success. Thanks for posting.

Matt

8/7/2012 2:20:00 PM

Way to go, Mike! Glad to see you guys out there. We ended up going 0 for 4 that day unfortunately, like you said, some days are just rough. The following day we went 6 for 10 however scratching a limit, and 5 for 5 this AM so all was not lost with 11 fishing coming home on ice. Report to come!

Thor

8/8/2012 7:55:00 AM

Great report Mike, glad you got into some fish. You mentioned that you grabbed the rod because JoAnn had limited; WDFW modified its regs to allow "boat limits".

WDFW FISHING RULE CHANGE
July 24, 2012
Boat limits allowed during Baker Lake sockeye fishery
Action: Each angler aboard a vessel may continue to deploy angling gear until the daily limit of sockeye has been retained for all licensed and juvenile anglers onboard.
Effective dates: Immediately through Sept. 4, 2012
Species affected: Sockeye salmon

Mike Carey

8/8/2012 5:14:00 PM

yes, we still fished four rods, but isn't a limit a limit? Now I'm not sure.

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