Northwest Fishing Magazine July 2025 Volume 4 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 31
the Whatcom County lake.
The Sockeye here are big,
bright, and fight hard!
As I talked about with
Brewster, you'll be slow
trolling with dodgers
for these guys. Here is a
rundown on the gear I use
to consistently put Socks
in the boat. I like to run
either a size 0 or 00 dodger
in Chrome, chrome/ silver
scale, purple haze, 50/50, or
moon jelly.
Sometimes, I will put a
slight bend in the dodger
for a little more thump.
Hoochies work very well at
Baker, with orange, purple,
and pink being my go-to's.
I run a Macks Lure Smile
Blade above them and tip
my hooks with pink coon
shrimp soaked in Slammin
Sams XXX. Sometimes I will
also run just a smile blade
and beads, as well as just
bare red hooks. I tie all my
leaders with 8 to 10 inches
of 20 to 30lb fluorocarbon.
Any lighter and these crazy
fish snap it like it's nothing.
There are 2 main areas
where people fish here.
Down near the dam and
up lake in the old Baker
Lake bed. Don't be afraid to
move around and hunt for
these fish, as they will move
around to get away from
pressure.
Troll .7 to 1.2 mph and watch
your fishfinder for cruising
sockeye. Typically, the fish
will hang anywhere from
20 to 60 feet down and
are best targeted with
downriggers or 6 to 12 oz
of lead. There are 5 boat
launches to choose from.
Starting at the dam with
Kulshan, Horseshoe Cove,
Panama Point, Swift Creek,
and Shannon Creek at
the far end. In past years,
Shannon Creek has been
restricted to campers only.
This is a fun fishery and
should be good right from
the get-go on July 12th
when it opens.
