Baker lake is winding down, at least from an angler pressure point of view. No doubt the fact that you can fish the Straight and the Sound for big kings has something to do with it. That, and the fact that it has been a tougher season for anglers, with limits harder to come by, let alone fish.

JoAnn and I arrived last night and went to our usual moorage for another delightful sunset on the lake. The evening bite did not cooperate. We explored up into the flats all the way to Baker river, and marked fish, but they were not interested.

Morning arrived and lines in the water by 5:30am. We started on the Swift Creek side of the lake. I was surprised to find the usual crowd of boats all down toward the old resort. We fished our area for a good hour with only a couple boats for company. Meanwhile, 40ish boats were a good mile away and fishing an area I have not seen guys concentrate around. Did they know something we didn’t? Were they all catching fish?? We spent the first 1 ½ hours with two bites and marked a pretty good number of fish. I resisted the temptation to join the fleet, preferring pounding fish by ourselves.

Our resolution paid off as at 7:15 JoAnn caught the first fish, at 38 feet deep. Trolling speed had been running 0.9 to 1.1, and the usual sockeye dodgers and pink stuff, and cured shrimp.

Things went quiet until 9:40 when I hit one at 44 ft. It came out of the water an amazing 5-6 feet! I am not joking, that fish was flying! I have NEVER seen a fish get that much air. Needless to say, the fish threw the hook. But it was well worth it just to see. I hope the boat that was next to us frequents this site so they can verify just how high that fish got.

9:50, another fish! At 44 feet, JoAnn had a chunky guy that she got to the net. When I went in for the kill the fish made a quick dart and came undone. My bad, but JoAnn maintained her humor about it.

9:55 another fish! Caught at 39 ft, JoAnn is out-fishing me on a regular basis now, LOL.

10:55, our last fish of the day, at 55 ft deep. My fish this time. We called it a day at 12:30.

Lot’s of fish being marked, and some pretty big schools, but again a lot of non-action for anglers out there. The crowd has thinned a lot, maybe 40-50 boats or so. It’s very comfortable trolling around now. We’ll have one more trip tomorrow and that will close the books on our Baker Lake 2012 adventures.

---