North Shore Fishing Tips Needed

[JohnnyM]

New member and a first time poster!

Grew up on the shores of Lake Superior fishing out of Ontonagon MI  fishing Lakers, Coho, Browns and Kings. I live in the Twin Cities area now and want to do some fishing on the North Shore out of the McQuade launch. I have a 25' bayliner set up for lake superior fishing.

My question is, How do you guys set your downriggers? Is the north shore lake bottom sand or jagged rocks. My norm is to drag the cannon balls along the bottom. It is not a problem off the UP as its all sand and very little hazards to snag the weights. I also deploy Otter boats and dipsys.

Any Lures, Flies or Spin N Glows that give better results. I plan to go in the later part of June with a few friends.

Thanks for your help!

[Mike89]

first welcome!!  and maybe try the Duluth forum too..  but I'm sure you will get help on here any where...  

[PRO-V]

I am no expert but have fished out of that launch some and Knife River. It's rocky with reefs in some areas on this end. We were out a couple of miles and it's quite deep. Fished downriggers from 30-80' deep, lead core on boards and a couple long lines. Usually used spoons and #13 floating Raps. Color is a crapshoot. Caught mostly Lakers and the occasional salmon. That was June also.

[Surface Tension]

 You can drag in some areas and others you snag for sure.  Park Point is all sand and a good place in Spring till June.  That time of year about the only place you'd want to drag being shallow with lake trout up close.  Coho will be around and we play that game as long as we can.  You'll get into lake trout doing the same.  What you'll want to add to your game plan is fishing the surface with planner boards.   Keying in on surface temps and breaks while targeting the top 10' is where you should be concentrating on from Spring till June.  Those times are for stick baits such as X-Raps, Husky Jerk, Bombers, Brads, and Reef Runners.  

 You'll also want something for intermediate depths like dipsies, leadcore,  copper, weights. 

I don't start targeting deep lake trout tight to the bottom till late August- Sept and the salmon are gone. 

[JohnnyM]

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 5:22 AM, Surface Tension said:

 You can drag in some areas and others you snag for sure.  Park Point is all sand and a good place in Spring till June.  That time of year about the only place you'd want to drag being shallow with lake trout up close.  Coho will be around and we play that game as long as we can.  You'll get into lake trout doing the same.  What you'll want to add to your game plan is fishing the surface with planner boards.   Keying in on surface temps and breaks while targeting the top 10' is where you should be concentrating on from Spring till June.  Those times are for stick baits such as X-Raps, Husky Jerk, Bombers, Brads, and Reef Runners.  

 You'll also want something for intermediate depths like dipsies, leadcore,  copper, weights. 

I don't start targeting deep lake trout tight to the bottom till late August- Sept and the salmon are gone. 

Thanks for the input!  I definitely don't want to snag one of my rigger weights! I have otter boats I run off a mast on both side of the boat. I run surface spoons and stick baits off the lines. Works well out of Ontonagon and sounds like it will work here also. I have a few dipsies also but do not have lead core on any of my set ups. I run a flasher or dodger on one of my lines also. Usually on one of my dipsies.

I pretty much sounds like fishing off Ontonagon except for the snags on the bottom of the north shore.

Thanks for your wisdom! I appreciate it!   

[JohnnyM]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 6:48 PM, PRO-V said:

I am no expert but have fished out of that launch some and Knife River. It's rocky with reefs in some areas on this end. We were out a couple of miles and it's quite deep. Fished downriggers from 30-80' deep, lead core on boards and a couple long lines. Usually used spoons and #13 floating Raps. Color is a crapshoot. Caught mostly Lakers and the occasional salmon. That was June also.

Thanks for your response! Sounds like fishing is pretty much the same on this end as Ontonagon. Aside from the rock reefs and possibility of snags on the bottom.

I don't run lead core but have a pair of downriggers and some dipsies. I fish a lot on the surface with my Otter Boats with Rapalas and some spoons. I always run at least one dodger or flasher in the mix with a Howie's fly or a spin n glo behind it.

Thanks again for your input! I appreciate it! Hopefully I can have a good weekend fishing!

[JohnnyM]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 3:00 PM, Mike89 said:

first welcome!!  and maybe try the Duluth forum too..  but I'm sure you will get help on here any where...  

Thank you.. and thanks for the advise on the Duluth forum! I will look that up and subscribe.