Baker Lake Sockeye

Heading to Baker Lake tomorrow for a couple of days of  chasing sockeye. It looks like a better run than the last two years. Has any one tried it this year?  Hopefully I do better than last year.  Will report back Thursday. 

I hope you get into some, fun fighters and they taste great.  It looks like there should be plenty in there. 

Looking forward to your report.  I'll be heading up Friday.

Ended up just fishing one day.  It was quite the adventure.  Started off by realizing I left half of my fish finder at home on the workbench   Which led me to almost lose my downrigger ball on a submerged stump (I was able to break it loose). Fished from 445 am to 8:30. Very few nets were flying, the few (of the many many boats) of those that got anything were getting them between 50' and 60'. I was doing my final run when, the rod started bouncing.  It took a little line, then headed straight for the yak. It wrapped around the downrigger line and I thought I was going to lose it.  I chose not get the net  as I was certain it would break off, so I hand lined it up and over to my feet.  As it hit my feet,  the hooks flew out and one of them found my calf. Trying to get the fish on the clip without it wiggling over the side or shoving the hook deeper was quite a challenge. With the fish secured, I tended my hook dilemma  I was completely hooked, the point exited about a half inch from where it entered. Luckily it was just in the skin. Stupidly, I tried to pull it straight out but I discovered skin is very strong.  I got the needle nose pliers and was finally able to clip the barb (barbed hooks are legal in the lake)  It looked a lot worse than it felt.  I will definitely enjoy this dinner. Wayne

I got my one take down about 10 minutes after meeting Wayne, his fish and his freshly pierced leg. After a screaming run and short struggle it found freedom from a broken leader. Hmm, thought I check that. They have so many ways to get free. I've never had a sockeye run like a king, at least not a run of more than about 10 feet this one went about 30 yards. Wish I could have seen it, but that might have hurt worse.

I put in about 8 hours for one take. It's very very slow for opening week.

As it hit my feet,  the hooks flew out and one of them found my calf. Trying to get the fish on the clip without it wiggling over the side or shoving the hook deeper was quite a challenge. With the fish secured, I tended my hook dilemma  I was completely hooked, the point exited about a half inch from where it entered. Luckily it was just in the skin. Stupidly, I tried to pull it straight out but I discovered skin is very strong.  I got the needle nose pliers and was finally able to clip the barb (barbed hooks are legal in the lake)  It looked a lot worse than it felt.

Pictures! I want to see pictures of the hook in your leg!

The hooking incident could have been worse - The fish could have remained hooked, and you could have had a large irritated thrashing slippery fish attached to your leg by a hook.  That's why whenever possible I prefer to bonk fish while they're in my net or in the water under the control of a lip grabber, rather than plopping them into my lap, hooks and all, for a little Greco-Roman wrestling.

I need a tutorial on inserting quotes.  I was seriously considering taking a pic, but I was feeling a bit sick (insert big fat baby emoticon) looking at that thing (although it really didn't hut much). I usually try to net and bonk, --guess I got a bit excited

I usually try to net and bonk, --guess I got a bit excited

It's no wonder you were excited - pulling in a fish hand over hand can be tough, and the line can cut your hands.

I hate it when a fish wraps my fishing line around my downrigger cable.  Even worse is when a fish wraps my fishing line in my rudder or my Mirage Drive, because then I may not be able to reach my fishing line to pull the fish in hand over hand.  In an effort to avoid any of these irritating entanglements, when I get a fish on, after I set the hook I pedal hard to keep tension on the fishing line, and crank up my downrigger weight as quickly as I can.  And I turn my kayak a bit towards the side on which the fish is, to keep my fishing line away from my rudder.  I wait until my weight is out of the water before starting to play the fish in towards my kayak. 

I think your catch to effort ratio is higher than most fishers this season.  Nice job.  Love the fillet color.  Sorry to hear about the self inflected hooking.  I know it sucks.