Lake Superior Fishing Reports

[tacklejunkie]

Some good fishing to be had at Two Harbors up to Silver Bay. The trick is to get out early in the AM as it seems after 10 am the fishing shuts down.

Fish all seem to be anywhere from 50-80 feet down no matter what the water depth. I've used just the dipseys on green and orange spoons. Nothing on the riggers

[FishinFreak17]

I am back from LOW and had a ball, tons of fish!. I will post details on the correct string. Now I am looking forward to using all the advice shared over the past week on the big pond. One more question. How far apart do you place the dipsey and the spoon?

[tacklejunkie]

I am back from LOW and had a ball, tons of fish!. I will post details on the correct string. Now I am looking forward to using all the advice shared over the past week on the big pond. One more question. How far apart do you place the dipsey and the spoon?

FF17....

Read your LOTW report. I love LOTW. As far as leader length, this is what I do. You may need to get a net with a longer handle. I do about 4-5 feet from the dipsey including snubber. Some guys will tell you that you don't need a snubber on her and that's true but it doesn't hurt. Get the Opti-Snubbers(clear ones). The best...IMO. I've read were some will tell you that the dipsey leader to spoon should be the length of the rod but if you have a smaller boat, it could make netting tough. I've had as short as three feet and still caught fish. Line counter reels are a must.

It's a learning curve but I would never go out on her without dipseys. I use the Walker brand but the Luhr Jensen is good, too.

[Jim Almquist]

Lately all I have been running is Dipsy's on Superior. I use the Luhr Jensen brand. I use the #1 with the mag ring set on 3 to get down to 50' and the #3 magnum set to 0. My leaders are usually 5' to 6' in length. No snubbers and all of mine are the clear Dipsy's for what it is worth. This weekend I found a nice bait ball and was able to get 2 nice Coho's out of it as well as 2 small kings. All of the fish hit between 50' and 60' of water in the morning. The one Coho was the biggest I have seen and was right around 4-5 pounds. We were using all spoons.

[JRS1022]

I have been out the last three weekends and have done pretty well also using spoons. Interesting that folks are saying that they are getting no fish on downriggers, because that is all I have been getting fish on (granted I have no dipsy set-ups). Was out on Sunday and got 3 lakers and 2 kings, and three other rod bouncers in 3 hours of fishing. All lakers were really fat. One king was pretty small so sent him back swimming, and the other was a real nice one, I would put it at 25 inches plus. Hit on a pink spoon down 90 feet and that sucker was jumping out of the water in seconds, pretty cool. Well pretty cool, until he flopped out of the net and went back in the drink! This weekend the thermocline was between 70-90 feet and that is where all of our fish came. Pink and watermelon have been the hot spoons for me. Happy fishing

[me_fathead]

Hey all,

Planning to finally give this a shot this fall and/or before as I now have a boat I feel comfortable taking out. I'm seeing a lot of posts about spoons and I'm wondering if that's just what you folks are confident with or if they really outproduce crankbaits.

I've got the downriggers and know how to use them, but that's not much help if lure/bait selection is really that critical.

Thoughts?

[JRS1022]

I am sure more experienced folks will chime in here, but I think spoons are more effective later in the summer and fall. When I have been getting fish in upper part of the water column on spoons, I have also had a crank running with no hits on the crank. But I am no expert! Good luck!

[walleyehunter80]

I do the same. I'm usually driving the boat and my fishing partners are usually reading or talking to me and that click can get our attention.

And another thing, I like to run just spoons on the dipsey as a flasher with a dipsey, IMO, is alot of hardware on the line

Speaking of GPS's, does anyone elses have certain areas on the lake that's hard to get a signal? Up at Silver Bay, it seems my hand held GPS lost my position as I passed that plant

For starters, do not shy away from running a flasher and fly on your dipsys, the dipsy rod will usually be the one rod on your boat that really gets thumped and thats because:

The dipsy, in anything other than very calm flat water, will be the one rod that attracts the most aggressive fish and most aggressive strikes!

There is nothing that can duplicate a dipsy in the water and how it trails a bait behind it. You will usually take bigger and more aggressive fish on a dipsy with a flasher/fly than a dipsy with a spoon!

Another thing, the amount of line between your dipsy and lure can really make a difference on any given day. If your running 2 dipsys set one up with 7' from dipsy to lure and the other 5' back. See what the fish want and switch the other to be the same.

[diederich06]

How has fishing been on superior? We will be there august 13th and hoping the water clarity has not screwed everything up... We're taking a launch out this time.

[tacklejunkie]

Anybody hear anything about a waterspout on the lake? I heard something on the radio in a weather warning from the NWS about a waterspout

[Feathers Rainin]

Anybody hear anything about a waterspout on the lake? I heard something on the radio in a weather warning from the NWS about a waterspout

There was a pic and article on the front page of the Duluth News Tribune today. Apparently they had one over on Lake Michigan too.

[FishinFreak17]

Finally hit the big lake yesterday, 1:30 to 4pm. Best and worst trip ever. Just my wife and I launched out of McQuade and stayed within 2 miles of the launch. 190 to 130 FOW, all strikes 90 to 110 ft down, all on purple (3 on purple spoon with black trim and single eye dot). 2.4 to 2.8 mph. Caught 1 king and 2 lakers (3 for 3), first king for me and my boat. Had another king on and it was coming up to the boat then ran across the back of the boat, spit the hook (had to be the only stick bait) and it flew back and caught my wife in the forehead as she was preparing to net it. Well, the fun ended and I cut the hooks and headed to the ER. 5 hours later, two hooks removed and I am in the doghouse! She is doing fine, but I think I will be netting my own fish in the future. I hope she still goes out. She can catch them all and I will be the net man!

[2thepointsetters]

Went out under the lift bridge at 6:30 am Saturday to find nice calm conditions on my first trip back on Superior in 3 months. We set 12 lines over 145 feet of water with primary lure choice being meat rigs. The water was near 70 on the surface and 45 degrees about 80 feet down. After two hours and not a hit on the meat rigs we changed to all spoons and bumped the speed up to 2.2mph. We started to pick up 2 to 5 lb lakers at 68 to 78 feet down with purple spoons being the bait of choice. We also picked up a fat 21" walleye on a 7 color with the french fry spoon. Ended up with 5 fish total. If I wouldnt have spent half of the four hour trip dragging meat we would have done pretty good.

[FishinFreak17]

Launched out of McQuade Tuesday at 4pm and thought purples/pink were still hot...not! We changed one to 57 chevy after an hour and 5min later we had a lake trout. Changed several others to reverse 57 and other orange based spoons and had 4 pops and another on, but lost it. Slow night. After 3.5 hours, we called it quits. I hope it picks up soon. Tried Dipseys for the first time...no action. It was a beautiful evening, not a ripple on the water after 6pm.

[tacklejunkie]

Seems like the last couple times I have been out have been slower than normal for me this time of year.

Could the cooling temps be a factor?

[diederich06]

6 of us went out with lakes and rivers charters on the 15th.. 1 lake trout in a half day....it was pretty slow. It was very windy so that may not of helped things.

[FishinFreak17]

Great day on the water! Went out of McQuade at 7:30am today. Caught 2 lakers and a king before 11. All caught SW of launch in 140 to 190 fow. 55 to 90 ft down. Picked up 4 more lakers going north of launch, bigger fish. 2 on dipseys and 2 on riggers. 7 fish is the best we've done in my boat. Emerald shiner spoon caught 2, the others were on various pinks and one on a Kavorkian colored spoon. 2.1 to 2.4 for speeds. Missed 3 or 4. Looking forward to getting back out there. Thanks for all the advice, it is working! I enjoyed catching a few on dipseys, first time!

[FishinFreak17]

We did watch a couple of boats catch several fish on in-line planer boards in 130 fow. Did not see what they were using, but they were catching lake trout and salmon. I did not have mine in the boat! We were marking fish 30 ft down, but no strikes with riggers set above 40 ft.

[Jim Almquist]

Fished Grand Marais Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Had a nasty front come through Thursday night with winds up to 50 MPH. Made for a lousy nights sleep in the tent. It also blew the warm water away from shore. Water by shore was anywhere from 43.9 to 47 degrees and the fishing was slow. Chased around and found the warm water on Saturday and was able to boat 3 kings and a 3 lakers. Went back out to the same spot on Sunday and was only able to land 2 small kings and 3 lakers. From the sounds on the radio and talking to others the fish scattered and really slowed down with the cold water next to shore.

[FishinFreak17]

Launched out of McQuade today at 730, and we changed colors often. First hit/lake trout was at 1100 (a 10 pounder) and another one on 15 min later. Pinks and purples again after chasing the rainbow trying find what would work. both caught in 180 fow, 95 and 75 ft down. Caught one more small laker before noon. At 2pm we lost something big that passed the boat! My buddy thought the dipsey did not pop due to all the weight and it was staying down. He tried to pop it twice, I am sure that was our failure. It was faster than 2.2 mph and his reeling abilities! We had a good laugh after all the crying...did not see what it was.

[Jack Stasney]

At 2pm we lost something big that passed the boat! My buddy thought the dipsey did not pop due to all the weight and it was staying down. He tried to pop it twice, I am sure that was our failure. It was faster than 2.2 mph and his reeling abilities! We had a good laugh after all the crying...did not see what it was.

Don't worry you are not the first and won't be the last. Take it slow and use your drag. And don't try to strong arm it!

[walleyehunter80]

Ha it was probably a 26 lb king

[Jack Stasney]

Or a 44in Laker.

[FishinFreak17]

We will never know what it was! Going out tomorrow, if the weather cooperates! Maybe I can pull in that big laker or king...

[BartmanMN]

How are the fish biting up there? I am staying in Tofte all weekend and have the opportunity to go out with Tofte Charters on Sunday morning if I can convince my wife that I should do that. Has anyone been out with them before?

[FishinFreak17]

Went out of Mcquade at 8am today and had a 9 lb laker in the boat in 5 minutes! Only two lines out, putting out a third down and noticed the first rod popped and bouncing. Caught a king 5 minutes later and a 2nd king within 30 minutes from the dock. Things slowed down to a normal pace and caught 3 more lakers in two hours. Waves got the best of us and we were off the water by 11 am. 170 to 182 fow, 65 and 75 ft down (one small laker at 95ft). Purple and pink spoons and one laker on 57 chevy. 2.0 to 2.4, hard to keep speed constant with waves. We did have a line snap after 3 minutes of fighting. I had 10 lb test and the drag was too tight. Just changed to 15 lb test. Great day. Oh, 3 on dipseys, 3 on riggers.

[FishinFreak17]

Mcquade at 9am, 10 lb laker in 5 min on first rod down! It slowed down after that. 4 lakers in 4 hours. Pinks were the ticket. same depth and speed as last time. Actually same waypoints reproduced within 100 yds. strange to see with little structure found. Lost a small laker 10 ft from net, someone did not play it out correctly...still learning! I am hooked! Have not walleye fished in a month...

[walleyehunter80]

FF, wait untill you get out there in april and get into the cohos next spring! Then you will be hooked!

[FishinFreak17]

Went out this spring and caught one or two cohos in several hours of fishing each day (4 or 5 trips). Used Planer boards, flashers/spoons and stick baits along the park point beach. I will not use flashers anymore. We have improved our catch rates tremendously via this forum and stopping into Marine General for advice. My wife is not a fan of all the extra tackle purchased...she thinks fishing is fishing and (according to her) I had too much walleye and muskie tackle already! Well, it gives us something to discuss as we troll the big water! Especially when she notices a new lure or rod...

[Jim Almquist]

Got out at sunrise this morning. Marked all sorts of fish and even had some feeding on the surface. Randy lost a nice fish that was on for a bit. Good fight before it swam free. He missed another and I caught 1 small lake trout before they shutdown. We went another 4 hours washing our lures without a single hit.