We were off to Baker Lake in search of a guest fish and some hot weather water play. In either case we were not disappointed. Although the fishing was not exactly on fire, or even warm or for that matter we did achieve our goal and put the guest fish in the boat. The rest of the day was dedicated getting wet and that we did.

I blew it regarding big numbers. I had it in my mind that the fish would be starting to move up on to the flats so that is where we started. We spent two 2 or three hours dragging flat lined 50/50 swing blades and baited lure combinations exploring the shallow upstream end of the lake looking for schools of fish. Last year the tactic was deadly, resulting in instant boat limits. This year not so much and although we metered a few single fish it was apparent that the fish had not moved up onto the flats in any numbers yet.

We moved back to the deeper water between Swift and Shannon Creeks and got our guest fish pretty quickly using my standard sockeye gear. Off of four rods we were running 50/50 dodgers, 50/50 swing blades or a chrome dodger I doctored up with gold prism tape followed by a variety of pointy offerings tipped with cured shrimp. I had everything stacked on 2 down-riggers running between 35’ and 48’ with a 15’ stack putting the upper lines at 20’ and 33’. Consistent with this years fishing, 1.0-1.2 mph was our magic speed for the day. All rods had a number of drive-by bites that may have been sockeye but more likely were kokanee. The kokanee thought was confirmed when we did catch and release a nice kokanee. After the guest fish, one of them being a 10 pounder were in the box we made a comfort stop at Swift Creek and then headed back out in search of a good beach for a few hours of water play.

Although overall the day was an absolute blast my personal highlight of the day came as I was pulling all the gear to head in for the day. After we got done swimming and general goofing off the girls wanted to fish some more so we headed over to the Swift Creek side of the lake for one run west to the bend before we headed in. I wasn’t metering any fish in the deeper water so we moved up into 35’ of water along the shoreline where I started to meter large schools of fish. At that point everyone had had enough sun and I had committed to pulling all the gear. Still trolling I pop all the down-rigger clips and let the gear go flat line while I stow the down-riggers and the start wrapping it up for the day. I was down to one rod in the water when I see a couple fish on the meter at 12’. While holding the rod I free spool about 30’ of line and put the reel in gear when after about two beats of the swing blade my rod goes complete bendo. Although I ended up loosing the fish it was way cool to be holding the rod when it got hit.

We had a blast, enjoying both the water play and fishing. I also met WL.com “Racer” and his buddies. Not sure how they did on Saturday but it was a fun to share their campfire and swap fishing stories with them Friday night.

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