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Good report ST ,,,, I had plans to fish out of McQuade saturday but my buddys wife canceled on running the marathon  so they wont be making the trip ,,, Maybe once the rain quits I will get back out there 

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  • 1 month later...

Has anybody been out lately?

I am Heading up to Hovland, MN for my annual trip to fisherman's picnic next Wednesday!  I am starting to pick up on the importance of surface water temps, presentations, etc.  and I have very basic gear... my fish finder will tell depth and temp ( but not speed)  and i usually stick with lead core/watermelon spoons.

I can usually find a trout or two and an occasional Coho or King but if i were to find a perfect water temp/wind/color what would you say it would be?  I read 52-54 degrees? Watermelon spoon is always my go to.

Thanks for any feedback!

Jon

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If it were me I would look for temp breaks and put something down deeper on a dipsy diver. It could be a spoon or a flasher fly. Try to cover the top to down about 70'. Watermelon is always a good choice along with Wonderbread when it comes to spoons. I like a green flasher with silver tape and a green/blue fly for starters but change until you start getting some hits. Everyday and every year are different so its best to throw the book at them until you find what works. Good luck and report back on what worked.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Use http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/superior/s1.html

to find the latest surface temps.   Your locked into Hovland instead of picking a port with a break setup on it but still you can get an idea of whats out there.  Wind direction is going to make all the difference.  Could be blowing warm water in or out.   When fishing on top you could be sitting in what is considered a perfect temp for miles, finding fish on it is a needle in the hay stack.

Finding a temp change, slick, or seam is what your looking for.

  If you don't have a GSP or speed on the dash then set your speed by the action of your lure. From there change its speed with turns.  Pay at if it was the inside or outside rod that got hit and take it from there.  Did that for many years before GPS was around. 

 I'd probably start out with two outside lines on the top 3' or less.  Its OK to see them break the surface once in a while.  Next set would be 2 rods at 15-20' down.  Something like 2 colors of leadcore,  3 oz inline lead weight, or dipys.    Next another set of dipsy or downrigger 30-40' .  Now watch the sonar.  If your marking fish deeper move the downriggers and leave the top sets alone for a while.  Your not going to mark fish on top but if you see fish finning the surface,  temp break, or bug slick,  ditch the downriggers and get another set of lures on top.  Of coarse watch the sonar. 

Good Luck and let us know how the trip went.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

My buddy just took the lead at fisherman’s picnic for salmon. He said he found a seam and crushed the fish.

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Went outside of the Duluth entry the other day and the water temperature was 49 to 52°. I thought something was wrong with my temperature detector on my fishfinder but I stuck my hand in the water and it bit. Found water that was a little warmer and bounced lead ball with spoons in 80 feet of water and ended up picking up three on that set up alone.  Not a thing on planer boards or Dipseys 

 

That water temperature dropped almost 20° from the previous two days that I was out there.  An interesting lake 

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Well had some time off this morning so I decided to spend a few hours on the Big lake.  One salmon and one Laker. Both came on Dipsy divers and a monkey puke colored spoon over 100 feet of water. Both were decent size fish but packed  full of smelt 

 

Once the clouds cleared nothing but I had to get back in anyways.

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Got back from the trip in Hovland.  Overall had good fishing!

 

Started out trolling leadcore with spoons and x-raps on the surface in over 60 - 150 feet with a few hits and one 24" laker in about 90 minutes of fishing.

Went in for breakfast and another guy coming off the lake said he was getting a lot of action in 20-40 feet! so we started working from 60 feet in shallower and started getting some more action.  landed 5 lakers and one king in about 5 hours of fishing Friday with many other missed hits.  Saturday we landed 4 lakers in two hours before being rained out for the rest of the day and Sunday we landed 2 lakers and two kings in 90 minutes of fishing with more missed hits before dense fog and brief downpours pushed us off the lake.  Pink X-raps, and copper backed watermelon spoons seemed to be the most action and the water temps bounced between 51 to 54 degrees.  Seems like there are a lot of 22" to 26" lakers near shore.  Another boat said they were going to go out a few miles and try to get some large fish.  I didn't feel comfortable following them out that far in a 16 foot boat.

 

One thing that confused me was my reels were spooled with leadcore at marine General a few years back and I was told to let it run out 70 feet on my line counter and that would put me roughly 30 feet down... well, working near shore in 30-40 feet we came over a few reefs 12-18 feet that I didn't snag?  I tried to play around with it and let it line go out to 120 feet out with no snags going over 20-30 foot reefs? maybe it was speed or lure weight? I was going at a speed based on the action I saw and felt at the end of the rod. I was surprised to find I wasn't getting the depth I thought I would?  My mono leader was about 10 feet.

 

Overall great trip and feel we had good action for the time spent on the water!

 

Thanks!

 

Jon

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Each color (30 ft) will get you 5-7 ft of depth at 2 mph,,, Line counters are kinda useless with lead core since the lead is so thick your counters loose accuracy rather quick after 2 colors are let out ,,, How many colors did they spool on the reel ???,,, Maybe they were telling you to let out all the colors plus 70 ft of backing to get to 30 ft (if you had 5 colors on the reel),,, Lead will continue to sink with some backing let out ,,, Hope this clears up some confusion

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

  Thanks for the reports.  I need to get out soon.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Sunday the 12th.  Got out for a few hours off Two Harbors.    Picked up 2 nice lake trout and lost 2.   8 oz weights 100' out off boards got all the hits with Flashback Glow Watermelon.

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 Headed out early Saturday morning near the Wisconsin line. Caught one big walleye that measured 22 inches right before getting to the Wisconsin entry in about 40 feet of water. Released her, and headed out to deeper water.  Got four and lost two.  Two on a Dipsy and the rest on the 12 ounce ball near the bottom. All, including the walleye, caught on spoons. The lake trout had bellies full of smelt but some other minnows  that I could not identify what they were

 

 

 

Gave up around 11 o’clock as it got too hot and the fish quit biting, anyways. 

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A few of the lake trout I caught last weekend had what appeared to be stickleback minnows in their gut?  5-7 spikes along the top of the spine. 3-4 inch long minnows.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

8-22  trolling off the Lester.  60' down and 95' of water took 3 lake trout on riggers and 3 lake trout on dipys with 100' of line out set on 1.

Hot spoons were green w/orange ladder back and Wonderbread.

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We are heading to Isle Royale this weekend for 5 days,,, Praying for good wind and weather ,,, I've never been disappointed by the fishing out there ,,, The reports I'm seeing are positive ,,, Should have a video of the trip when we get back 

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Fishing right out of Duluth is really starting to pick up

 

Went out yesterday and picked up the first one in around 60 feet of water on a  high-riding Dipsey going right straight out from the lift bridge. I thought that was a fluke so I stayed in at the 60 to 70 feet depth and picked up a coho and two other nice lake trout. I was going to troll to the Lester river but never made it as the fishing was good right out of the lift bridge

 

Everything was on spoons

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On 8/24/2018 at 7:40 AM, LoonASea said:

We are heading to Isle Royale this weekend for 5 days,,, Praying for good wind and weather ,,, I've never been disappointed by the fishing out there ,,, The reports I'm seeing are positive ,,, Should have a video of the trip when we get back 

Good Luck, looking forward to hearing the reports and seeing the video(s).

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On 9/2/2018 at 7:12 AM, Surface Tension said:

9-1  noon-4 report.  Beautiful day for fishing off the Lester River.   Downriggers set at 65' and stacked at 55' 4 Lake Trout taken off the stacked rod hit Jim' Flashback Blueberry Muffin.  One walleye off the dipsy rod set at 2 with 125' line out hit a Watermelon spoon.

 

1880470465_91lt.jpg.65537db52ef86ebbc1f574897ce8ddb6.jpg350623491_91walleye.jpg.b9340dd4092d5c39796ffde25676ab80.jpg

 

 Nicely Done! We were out in that area at the same time and didn't catch squat.

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Went out this afternoon. Launched out of McQuade and headed out to about 120 feet . Trolled towards Lester. Picked up 3 and lost two. All onDipseys and Jim Flashbacks. I’m really liking these Flashbacks. Nothing on the 1 lb ball and flasher/fly

 

No salmon

Edited by tacklejunkie
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