Lake Superior Fishing Reports

[buzz1ng]

LOL 40mph East winds for the last 3 days......

[BigPikeGuy]

Hey everybody,

Hoping to get some info on possibly fishing Lake Superior Memorial Day weekend. The fiancé and I are gonna be up fishing some of the smaller lakes Northwest of Tofte and would like to try our luck on the big lake if we know the wind will lay down nice one day. I've got all the electronics on my boat that I think I'll need and 3 leadcore set-ups and a bunch of clip on weights for other trolling rods that I use for salmon on Lake Michigan ussually. I have a 17.5' medium-V boat with 90 HP outboard. We go to Lake Michigan for 4 days every summer with another buddies boat. A decent selection of spoons and cranks. No down-riggers........

Just wondering if the Tofte or Schroeder public accesses would be good options for lake trout (or other salmonoid species!) and what depths to try at that time of the year. I'm guesing trolling speeds of 1.2-1.6 mph and blue, green, and silver type flutter spoons would be alright to try. Thanks!

[walleyehunter80]

Josh You planning to be in the Bayfield area again this memorial day weekend??

Randy, As much as I would like to say that I will be.....................I dont think I will be!

I am just hoping to get up there once this year, and not sure when it will be!

[Jack Stasney]

I don't know about that far north, but around Duluth everybody is pulling top water cranks on boards out from the boat at about 75 to 150ft or so, or further if you like. On the boards you want your furthest line about 130ft back and 20-30 feet less on each line out as you get closer to the boat. Dipsey's with a spoon and leader about 6-8ft long are popular too, and often when they work I find they out fish the cranks. Try these at different lengths, but I don't usually go more than 35-40ft of line out. These presentations work well with Salmon and Trout. Colors can change from day to day, so start with a bunch of different ones and narrow them down as you catch fish. The slower the speed the better for Trout and the opposite for Salmon. The Salmon I get at speeds up to about 2.5mph depending on the day, and I know of some who go faster. The fish haven't really turned on yet from my experience and from what I've heard from others, so it might be heating up by then. Don't worry about downriggers as they aren't used much at all this time of year. I'm sure someone who fishes up there will chime in with their two cents as well.

[Jim Almquist]

I was out today with my brother and managed to get two Coho and lost one nice fish that I thought might have been a king by the way it fought. We found water as warm as 50.5 at at 55' to 70' and lots of smelt but we had all of are action in 30' to 45' and the water temp was around 48 degrees. Today pink was hit twice and caught one Coho and my smelt pattern took the other. On had one other hit and that was in 40' of water. We fished only the Mn. side but the warm water was right on the line.

[Jim Almquist]

Loonasea and I got out today on the cheesy side of the lake. Smelt all over but it took a while to find the fish. We ended up with 6 Coho, 1 King that was 29 1/2" and a Lake trout that was around 26" that we released. I lost a nice fish that might have been another King. It peeled a lot of line before I finally slowed it down and I only gain about 30' before it shook free

They were liking the 57 Chev and the reverse 57 Chev along with the red-headed step child. Once again they were not in the warmest water but we found the biters in about 46 degrees.

[walleyehunter80]

hey jim, glad to see you and randy got out and caught some fish!

[Jim Almquist]

Thanks Josh. If you get up this way for what ever reason make sure to let Randy or I know and you can jump in our boat. I realize things might be a little tough with the baby but it won't be long and he will be out in the boat with you.

We are going to get out this morning before the wind picks up.

[Jim Almquist]

The fog this morning did nothing for the fishing but things picked up as soon as it lifted. We ended up with 5 Coho along with 2 lost at boat and 2 Kings with the biggest coming in at 26 1/2" and figured we lost 1 more nice one. We also released a 24" and a 22" Laker. I had my wife's friend Tristin in the boat and I will bet her hubby wished he would have came along

Best action was on the 57s and a new secret plug but we will see how that one pans out next time but it dose show some promise.

We were on the Mn. side and caught our fish from 39' to 80'. We were in green and brown water and for the most part very few smelt around when we were catching fish. A lot of fun till the wind gave us the boot

Here are pictures of Loonasea'a 28 1/2" and Tristin's 26 1/2" I have to add that while I was trying to take Tristin's picture a reel started to scream with a fish on - It was another Coho

[BD110]

Great Looking photos as usual Jim!!

Randy just to let you know Red had to take a trip over to the computer to take a look at you with that nice looking King. He's getting around a little better each day.

[reinhard1]

those are some great looking fish!!!i want to live there!!!!good luck.

[Surface Tension]

Jim, Thanks for the reports and pics!

[Jim Almquist]

Got out this morning in some less than ideal weather conditions. Started out in a thick fog and almost had a run in with a ore ship in the wis. entry but he had a loud horn We were out in a friends 22' so the chop was not to bad and once the fog lifted we started to hit the fish pretty good. The water was cold with the temps anywhere from 44.5 to 46 degrees and for the most part green. Most of our fish were caught in 50' to 65'. The best lures were the 57 Chev and 2 of the UV Storm MadFlash. One is a Orange striped and the other is a Firetiger pattern. We ended up catching 6 Coho and 8 Lakers before the fog got thick and the wind picked up. The biggest Laker was 36" and weigh in around 16 pounds. We released all but the big one and that one was going on my friends smoker. We also had a Warbler that stuck around the boat for a hour and right after that one left we had a different variety take a quick rest stop.

[reinhard1]

that laker will be great in the smoker!!! nice shots of the birds. good luck.

[LoonASea]

Tom,,, Glad to hear good news about Red ,,,now if only my wife could stay out of the ER ,,,she had a fight with my table saw and lost

[walleyehunter80]

Randy, OUCH hope she not missing any fingers!?!?!

[chaffmj]

Jim thanks for all the reports and pics. Look likes a blast.

[Wables]

Tom,,, Glad to hear good news about Red ,,,now if only my wife could stay out of the ER ,,,she had a fight with my table saw and lost

I hope that Lori is OK. I heard about the accident today at work.

[LoonASea]

Wables ,,,Im confused as my wifes name is June ,,,buy sorry to hear about another table saw victim

[Wables]

Wables ,,,Im confused as my wifes name is June ,,,buy sorry to hear about another table saw victim

Sorry for the confusion. Hard to believe there were two the same day. In any case, I hope she is OK!

[Surface Tension]

Randy,, why am I picturing a Rookie & Bullwinkle + Boris and buzzsaw scene here?

I did the hand grab on a radial arm saw myself and lost. Hope the Wife is OK.

[Jim Almquist]

Got out today to join the zoo on the lake. The guy said there were 95 rigs at Loonsfoot landing at its peak. Talked the wife into going out but that meant a little later start than I would have liked. So we start putting lines out by the crack of 10:00 and i was just getting the second line out when the first started screaming. Hand it to the wife and she lands a nice 28" King. Finally get all the lines out and its my turn. Eater Coho. Hour later and the reels start screaming and its Lisa's turn and its another nice King. She battles it for 5 minutes before it throws the plug. We lost one other Coho before we decides to call it quits. When she got to see what the boats that were out early brought in she is more than willing to get a little earlier start next time. We worked the cheesy side in 60' to 80 ' of water with the temp right around 48 degrees. Bright plugs got all the bites with our speed right around 2.4 to 2.6 mph.

So we have called it quits and heading back to the landing. Going slow through the entry because it is so rough and Lisa yells there is a dog in the water next to the break wall. Here this golden lab ran right off the end of the break wall and its owners are not even aware that the dog is in the drink. We go over to the dog but it wants nothing to do with the boat. We yelled to the owners and told them they should try to get him to swim down to the end. Well that worked for about 100 yards but the dog was starting to get tired. This time I got the bow closer and had Lisa grab his collar and then be both hauled him into the boat. We brought him around were he could get back to his masters. He was one tired pup!

[reinhard1]

glad you and your wife had some luck. also getting that dog back to the owners was awesome work on the part of you and your wife. i bet that dog was scared and tired. thanks for that. good luck.

[dfeste]

Jim, nice work with the dog. As far as the fishing goes we did pretty well with bright stick baits out there as well. Got six yesterday and ten today. All on top.

Dave

[2thepointsetters]

Fishing is real good right now. We had 5 hit at once today, first time I have seen that.

[Northlander]

I had a triple on walleyes one day out there. Those are the fun days. Its easy to get 5 lines at a time Chris when you have 50 out.

[Lorin]

Fishing is real good right now. We had 5 hit at once today, first time I have seen that.

Today was an exciting day out there. Never had 5 at once in my boat. That would have been fun to see Chris. I wish you could have seen the triple we had right along side of you guys. Pretty interesting with 3 biggest lakers of the day, on at once, with the kids. Unbelievably there were no tangled lines and all three found the net.

[walleyehunter80]

you guys are killing me, I need to get up there!

[2thepointsetters]

Its easy to get 5 lines at a time Chris when you have 50 out.

I was fishing the MN side. Only 8 rods out Saturday and 10 on Sunday. I sure wish MN would change to 3 per person. Here is a pic of one of the 3 nice steelhead we landed over the weekend. My Dad caught it on a dipsy with only 28 feet of line out when it hit.

[2thepointsetters]

Today was an exciting day out there. Never had 5 at once in my boat. That would have been fun to see Chris. I wish you could have seen the triple we had right along side of you guys. Pretty interesting with 3 biggest lakers of the day, on at once, with the kids. Unbelievably there were no tangled lines and all three found the net.

I bet your kids had a great time with all the action and will remember the trip for a long time.