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Baker Lake Report
Whatcom County, WA

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Details

07/29/2014
Trolling
Salmon
Shrimp
Pink
Sunny
Morning
08/04/2014
3
2070

This report is actually for 7/27 thru 7/31. We arrived to the lake on Sunday afternoon and got our camp site set up at Shannon Creek. After camp was all together, we got to the lake and had lines in the water around 1630. We began the troll not far from Noisy Creek in the shallower part of the lake. It was a little windy, but we were able to get fishing anyway. Not even 10 minutes into the troll I had my first fish on. After a quick battle, I was able to get the fish to the net and get one in the box. The wind picked up about 20 minutes later and by 1730 we were over it.
We woke up the next morning (7/28) around 0600 and were on the water by 0615. Again, about 10 minutes into our troll we were in almost the exact same spot as the previous day when I caught another fish. This is going to be easy we thought... not so much. We spent the next 4 hours on the water and didn't even get a bite. We didn't see any other fish caught so we figured that at least we weren't alone. At around 1100 we decided to call it a day and go get some food.
Unfortunately, we had too much time on our hands and decided to "stay up late" (read adult soda's) on Monday night. This translated into a LATE start on Tuesday (7/29). We didn't end up getting on the water until after 1000 and by that time the bite was pretty much dead. We had heard of a few fish being caught, but didn't see anything around us (or on our lines for that matter). We called it a day around 1300 and headed back to camp to regroup.
After such a late start on Tuesday, we decided that we NEEDED to get on the water EARLY on Wednesday (7/30). With a short night on Tuesday, we were on the water before 0500 on Wednesday. We knew that things were going to be different today when we had our first fish in the box before 0530. The next few hours brought a steady run of fish to the box. I caught my first fish around 0630 and had my limit by 0830. The last fish of that limit was a FAT 8 pounder that put up an EPIC fight. It took quite a few runs on me and tail walked quite a bit. I think that the icing on the cake was that we were able to put 3 socks in the box in about 15 minutes (and all RIGHT next to a guide boat, made my day). By 1130 it seemed like the bite had died and we had 6 fish in the box. It was getting pretty hot so we called it a day.
We had such a great week, that we got on the water a little later on Thursday (7/31). We were able to get one fish in the box around 1000 and decided that we had had enough. Time to clean camp and get home to relax.
So...to summarize.

Almost all the fish came on pink hootchies. We had other rigs in the water, but the hootchies seemed to be the ticket. We also found that the shallow area north of Noisy seemed to have the most willing biters. The water is shallower up there (35'-40') and there are TONS of snags, so be weary. Most of the biters came around 25' of wire in the Noisy area and 35' in the deeper zones.
The hot bait of the trip was either cooked salad shrimp or raw prawns cured in Pautzke Nectar. If you have read my Koke 101 article, then you already know some of the specifics. Gold and silver blades (yes, the same ones I use for kokanee) took almost all of the fish. Didn't seem to matter what they were on, as long as there was a gold or silver blade on it. All leaders were at most 12 inches (measured from top of loop to bottom of trailer hook) and there was a little flash-a-bou tied onto all leaders.
Just like the Koke 101 article, make sure that you take your time and DON'T HORSE FISH IN!! I simply cannot stress this enough. I can't even begin to tell you how many fish I saw get off because people got a hit and reeled down as fast as possible. It was just ridiculous. I am working on some of the GoPro footage now, but hopefully it will show you that it takes me FOREVER to get fish in. Light drags, light rods and tons of runs. Also, dip the tip (koke 101). We were able to use these techniques and went 9 for 10 to the boat (the lost one was due to a broken off trailer hook).
Also something to note. If you use the Shannon Creek Boat Launch, use the right side (if looking from the parking lot). The left side drops off quite a bit and the pictured van had a little trouble (totalled!) and it took 4 hours to get it towed.
Hope that helps some of you, good luck!

PS. Hey Mike, just wanted to let you know that the TFO was AWESOME on these fish. That 8 pound beast tested that rod to it's limits. It simply pairs beautifully with my Calcutta D. Thanks again Mike!


Comments

gfakkema
8/4/2014 10:39:00 PM
Forgot to mention... All leaders were tied on 30 pound Maxima Flourocarbon. Hooks were 1/0 drop-shot style (biggest drop-shot they make) for the trailer and standard 2/0 octopus for the leading hook, both red.
timber bliss
8/5/2014 8:20:00 AM
some one told me you could not launch before 8 a.m. at shannon ????
Mike Carey
8/5/2014 1:07:00 PM
Glad to hear it, that is one sweet rod. Just curious, I thought no guiding allowed on Baker. Am I wrong? I admit to not seeing that in print, only hearing it second hand.
gfakkema
8/5/2014 2:17:00 PM
Supposedly only campers are allowed to launch there, but we saw a ton of day use people. Never saw any limits on times to launch. The shannon campground is pretty much a free for all, no enforcement that we saw. As far as the guide, I thought that they continued a few guide permits from last year, but not positive on that. It could have just been a guide boat on a leisure trip, but either way it had the advertising and phone numbers on it.
salmonbarry
8/8/2014 10:45:00 PM
Great report Gregg and glad you two made it up there and got into some fish along with that amazing scenery!
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709