Duluth Harbor Tricks

[duluthdangler]

I've spent a few days out on the harbor out from the airport the last few weekends with very little success. Anyone want to offer up any tips? Had a great spread today with a few guys (varied bait, depths, etc) and nothing.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Jack Stasney]

Try a minnow head on a lure of choice and bounce it off the bottom. The eyes out there can be skiddish. Some days you'll see fish all day and nothing will get them on your hook, and the next in the same spot you'll have 5-6 in a couple of hours. Recently the bite has slowed down for me as well, but like I said that can change quickly.

[Northlander]

Some days a small minnow on a small jig is all that will get them going. Other days like today they will pound the biggest spoons you have. One hint I will give you is play the channel edges and bends. Also if you have a GPS or good map look for deeper holes and the few areas that hold weeds in the summer can also hold a few fish. A few of my favorite baits on the bay are Northland Rattle spoons in anything glow, whistler jigs, plain jigs, forage minnow spoons, tinglers or Slender spoons, gulp shiners or smelt oon a jig head our the tail of one on a spoon, jigging raps in white/chart or gold/orange, Rapala Jigging Shads and last but not least smelt tipped on any of the above. On my dead stick its almost always a forage minnow jig with a big shiner or fathead.

Thers plenty of days that its been slow this year so dont feel bad. Biggest hint I can give you is get all alone and bang a bunch of holes and try to fish them all. Today 15' made a huge difference.

[duluthdangler]

I was out there today too.

Thanks for the tips. I hadn't tried the more aggressive approach with the spoons and such. That has worked for me on a few other area lakes recently for crappies. I'll give it a shot. I plan on spending most of next weekend out there.

[Northlander]

Where abouts were you? In the big pile of houses out from the airport area? If so get out of that area and move towards either entry and get way away from others. That area has been pounded and truck traffic will spook those fish off the flats. Especially as fast as some drive down there. Constant traffic all day shuts down a shallow bite real quick.

One spot that seems to do well in winter is the channel dredged into barkers marina where it meets the main channel. Did I just say that?

When does the river close? Some people think it was today and others say next weekend. Myself I always thought is was what would be next weekend. Then in March we hit the lake.

[duluthdangler]

The river closes next weekend. So we have one more shot. I was out near the pile of houses out from the airport, but we were the independent thinkers that got a way from the pile and had a little success. Next weekend we'll have some time to move around so I'll try and get a way from the masses and punch a bunch of holes.

Thanks for the info. I'm in a Green Cherokee and have a Frabill Trekker.

[longcaster]

River/Bay closes March 1 for WI anglers and March 2 for MN anglers

[Northlander]

Ya thats what I thought and I looked at the 08 regs and thats what it says. Windy and cold out there today but did manage 1 pretty nice eye for my 20 minutes I spent out there.

Crappies and gills in the Ama nd walleye in the afternoon. Life is good.