Isle Royale Info/Tips

[whateverisbiting]

Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but its the closest I could find.

My Dad wants to plan a trip to Isle Royale for fishing lake trout. We have a 23' boat with lots of experience on Lake Michigan for Salmon. We have been to Superior once near the French River probably 20 years ago...not a lot of experience targeting lake trout. We would probably be taking our boat out from Grand Portage. Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. Specifically, I am looking for info on:

1) Fishing techniques / what is the fishing like?

2) Boating there / staying there

3) Best time of year for weather/fishing

Thanks...Mike

[redhooks]

I'm not an expert but have been out there before and am planning on making future trips.

As far as boating and staying out there you can leave from the Grand Portage or the canadian side. We fished the south side going into siskiwet bay,be careful rocks rise out of the deep right up to the surface so it is easy to wreckprops or bang up your boat. Make sure you have at least 2 motors or a 2nd boat along for back-up. The wind picks up after the sun rises so some guys take off in the dark way before sunup when the water is calmest. Its in michigan water so you'll need a Mi license and camping info can be found on their state/nat park websites.

Bring lots of gas cuz it's expensive out there,and no pets allowed. Fishing can be awesome, good shot at 20+lb lakers and i've heard the inland lakes can be good for a variety of species. We pulled Jplugs but i'm sure spoons,dodgers and other laker lures will work behind downriggers.

As far as time of year i think august is popular due to calmer conditions and warmer surface temps. Watch out for following seas on your way back and keep an open plan cuz sometime guys get windbound for a few extra days. If your looking for an extra boat to tag along i might be interested. Plan ahead and play it safe, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[cheets]

Ive never skippered my own boat to Isle Royal but have been on quite a few chartered trips where we fished lake trout and spent the night on the boat in a sheltered harbor. We typically trolled spoons on riggers on the SE corner of the Isle. Didn't seem to matter what kind of spoons-lake michigan style spoons would be fine. We were quite busy raising and lowering the balls to avoid getting hung up on the rock legdes that we fished. We usually fished within 1/2 mile from shore.

One trip we jigged with 1 oz. lead heads and cut herring on the SE reefs and had a ball on this light tackle.

We usually came back with limits of redfin lake trout(really good eating) in the 10 lb. range and relaesed the larger ones. Our best fish were in the 25 lb range.

cheets

[whateverisbiting]

Thanks Cheets and Redhooks, this information is very helpful. I am wondering, do you need techniques which bounce on the bottom, like at lake Michigan where they have used wires/larger weights, or are the fish up higher in this cold water? Redhooks, if we decide to make the trip, I'll post again. It would be nice to have two boats for safety.

[cheets]

We typically fished just off the bottom with spoons-no flashers or dodgers. I do remember a 25 pounder that came 30'(dipsey diver) down in 200' of water. The spoons all had single siwash hooks.

cheets

[Capt. Don*]

I have the good fortune of being able to fish the island almost everyday if I like from April to November. We have a cabin out there and commercial fish the island as well.

I would be happy to help you out and give you any advice I can, it is the best lake trout fishing in the US. Use my signature to open a website to contact me or email wrench528 at att dot net.

[whateverisbiting]

Well we decided to make the trip to Isle Royale and I have recruited my neighbor who grew up in the UP and was there a lot when he was younger and mostly worked the south east side with a smaller boat. We will head up July 26 or 27 out of Grand Portage and plan for up to a week stay. A few questions:

1) Seems like a long way from the west side to the east side of the island. Is there any reason to go to the east (fishing, weater, supplies) or is the west OK.

2) Any advice on where to stay on the island?

3) I have an LCX-27C...what is the best chip for Isle Royale GPS/map and are they accurate in marking rocks?

[Capt. Don*]

It is nearly 50 miles to Rock Harbor from the west side of the island. Some people want to get there just to see the island, if fishinng is the primary reason to visit the island stay on the west half. You have several choices depending on where you plan to fish and what you want to see, you are only allowed to spend three consecutive days at a spot that time of year so you will be making a move if you are camping. Gas is only available at Windigo or Rock Harbor, along with small stores.

I'm not familiar with that gps, western lake superior chip is a reprint of the NOAA chart and has most hazards, you may want to buy or at least look at a chart prior to your trip and familiarize yourself with areas you'll be near. There are alot of can openers around this island and unless you are saavy with aids to navigation and pay close attention to your location in relation to them you may find one by mistake.