Two Harbors Breakwater update

[CrappieJohn]

walleye will be caught there on occasion during the summer months and every once in a great while I'll see a nice northern cruising by, but I have never seen a smallie off the wall.

[cloyd]

left last night at 2 am an headed for the breakwater for a morning of fishing anyway

drove up I-35 an was scared to death when i passed thru some construction an a woman was walking in the fast lane some 5 miles north of black bear casino....i stopped an gave this indian girl a ride into duluth

finally got to the breakwater at 5am...winds were calm outta the south-southeast....nice swells that were casual almost cresting over that bottom lip of the breakwall but not quite.

some lights on the lake from the boats..its was desolate out there an i put on a glow plug an started throwing

wasnt to long happene to catch the northern lights above two harbors...they seemed to drift over the top of me after awhile...was a sight to behold

the sun soon started to rise an i changed to a orange an gold kroc

winds never changed nor got worse that morning..no fishermen on the breakwall just me..i worked all sides on the end

boats came at sunrise an the horizon was littered with them..they trolled the harbor itself an out a quarter mile or so...musta been 10 boats out there

sunrise was nice..redish orange orb that tried to burn its way thru the morning fog out there...must admit the sunrises on lake superior are hard to discribe to anyone..

i finally lost my kroc to a snag...not one follow..not one hit an left about 9 am

empty thermos...

* thinks of breakwall an colorful adjectives an verbs come to mind*

[CrappieJohn]

Cloyd...

Are you going to be up there the weekend of the 24th/25th? I will be leaving for the cabin at Two Harbors on Thursday evening of this week for a 13 day adventure. The weekend of the17th/18th I'll be out in a boat this upcoming Fri., Sat., Sun., Mon., and Tues. unless the wind keeps us off the lake and will then be on the wall. The float leaves on Tuesday so I will be wall-bound for the rest of the trip.

Unless the weather is ugly (heavy rain, NE wind hard, or lightning) I hit the wall in the morning for a few hours and again in the afternoon around 1 or 2 for a couple more.

If I knew you were coming up on that weekend I'll be on the wall and which day, I would say that I know a place where you can get a really good home-cooked breakfast. For free.

The time you have spent fishless there has only made you more determined if you have returned more than once. Take a little time to think about that body of water...there is still water in the lake that was there before the Pilgrims landed and well before then. And then look seriously at what you are undertaking when you hit the wall in quest of fish.

The basic shore angler will hit the beaches at two time of the year: when the salmon run in the fall and when the steelies run in the spring. Liken this sort of fishing to bear hunting over bait or to crappie fishing in the spring when they are in a serious pre-spawn mode. The odds then are in the fishermans favor or lean toward the bear hunter.

When these two shore seasons close down and the fish again retreat to the lake, the fishermen wanting them have to go after them in boats or find another way to reach them. The occasional fish caught at river mouths will be more random than what the breakwter will offer.

Summer and early fall fish will still tend to be deep. At the mouths of the rivers you migh find 20 or 30 feet at the end of a good cast. At the end of the wall you will find anywhere from 45 to 90....even up to 110 feet depending on the length of some casts. The way thr base rock is steeply built up out of this deep water comes off as nothing more than an island to the fish and this is what attracts them to it. And all that huge rock structure holds tons of smaller lakers which equate to dinner for larger lakers. This structure helps to create some interesting current there as well and many times I have seen shoals of walleye, salmon, herring and smelt working these invisible roadways. And on many occasions I have watched some huge trout toy in these currents and watched as they fished for dinner. These fish can offer some amazing shows to watch and the diligent fisherman will learn a little from them.

Do rivers give up fish all year? Yes. It's just that when there is no reason for the fish being sought to be there they likely will not be. Do I catch fish at rivers? Yes, absolutely....in the spring when the steelies and loopers are in. And occasionally very late in the evening, like the last half hour before the sky goes to ink and the hour following complete darkness, during the summer months. Lake trout will slide up next to the current breaks under cover of darkness and give the caster some action. ( the glow lures you mentioned will really shine doing this kind of fishing after dark, no pun intended)

I don't do fall river fishing and prefer my time to be spent on the wall where that deep water aspect is still more apt to hold numbers of fish.

I'll jump at any opportunity to get on the water, you bet your underwear on that, but the times for me are limited. And again, the wall will offer up a whole lot more than any summertime river flow will get.

Far too many people get disgruntled with the 1/3 mile walk to end of this place,and in reality thats good. I need the exercise for my lungs so I don't whine. It takes a ton of trips there to get some real understanding of what is there and how you need to approach it. Keep in mind that currents and wind can change things in less than an hour. Now toss in weather and unpredictable cloud cover....getting the picture? The only true benefactors to fishing the wall are those that are masters of persistance, who believe in themselves, and find more to fishing than just catching a fish.

To make a point here....I met a kid out there about 6 years ago that had never been there before. He was from Virginia, Mn. He was tossing a 3/4 ounce krok in the gold/orange stripe when, after about fifty casts , he hooke into a piggie. An hour later he was holding a 17 pound trout. And then he was gone. He returned for about twenty trips after that, never caught another fish and sold the whole nine yards in the parking lot one afternoon late in the fall because he "caught a fluke" and had no other luck. Just as with the beginning hunter who nails a 12 pointer the opening day and thinks that hunting is a piece of cake, he thought that fishing was going to be a snap. It ain't that way out there.

You don't have spawning fish to help you out. You don't have down riggers to help you out. You don't have a boat to help you out. Like boxing, this is as close as it gets to a one-on-one fishing challenge. And in all the years I have fished this wall, the only skunk I have been aware of is the skunk that is brought out there.

Now Cloyd if you get the chance to come over the weekend that I mentioned (24-25), hop on board. I always enjoy meeting the fellow FMers out there. Just don't haul the skunk attitude out with you. It may be a long wall, but there is simply no room for that stuff out there.

[Steve Foss]

Tom, you poet.

My wheels are fixed, and with the price of gas dropping I may be able to swing down to the wall one day this weekend or the one after. Probably the one after, since you'll be stranded in a boat this coming weekend.

[CrappieJohn]

Stf....Let me know what day (Sat, Sun) and breakefast will be on us. I leave Thursday so get back to me before then.

[Steve Foss]

Tom, let's make it a week from this coming Saturday, firm.

Mrs. Catfish may drop me off and continue for a day in Duluth and pick me up later, or she may join us. Or, who knows, I may just point the Chevy downhill from Ely and hope it'll stop before splashing into Agate Bay.

See you down there around sunup. Hope the weather sucks. Life is full enough without a full wall.

P.S. -- Mrs. Catfish says she wants her Boundary Waters Blues Festival hat back. I guess she left it at your cabin last time? Ring any bells?

[cloyd]

thanks tom...

legend will have it many years from now of the crazy old man who raised his fists to the heavens an screamed at the skies begging for a bolt of lightning to strike him dead until he filled his dinner plate

i may use some adjectives an verbs from time to time but a garage sale will not ever happened at the wall with my fishin gear...you may see a rod or two layin sparkling at the bottom of the rocks in 30' of crystal clear water entertaining a trout or two from time to time but yay i say I will endure an feast from that wall

i will be back up before season closes an will indeed post before my trek once again

to share a sunrise on the wall with another FMr would indeed be somethin id relish...maybe we will experience a memory of legendary proportions someday..that fish of a lifetime...ones like the old-timers used to brag about to each other an still do when we take time to listen

ill be up there again..an again..an next year an the year after that

an i will get my dinner even if it takes a stick of dynomite an my landing net

but thats another campfire story about the wall..haha..

[Steve Foss]

That's the spirit!

People with boats worthy of the big lake don't usually fish the wall. Why would they? And people with such boats shouldn't compare getting skunked on the immobile wall with getting skunked with the total mobility of a boat. Why would they?

But people with no boats or small boats who are limited to North Shore shore fishing can find no better place over the long haul, if you consider the full length of the fishing year and the species that swim by on a regular basis, than the wall.

There are a small number of shore fishing locations, most notably by a couple North Shore rivers, that can offer faster shore fishing on occasion, but day in and day out, over the course of a few years, one begins to see that the wall is the most consistent North Shore shore fishing location of all. I fished all those spots three years hard, hard, hard, and so have come to this conclusion, even after having a banner day of several coho and a limit of three loopers at the French.

Sure, a person can argue my assertions here, and please do if you feel lucky. I know Tom feels the same way.

As to being skunked on the wall, I'm with both Tom and Cloyd. There've been days I was ready to chuck my gear into the wild blue depths after going without seeing a fish three days running (and accompanying that chucking with a dizzying array of blue language, too boot.) But the big lake offers a beauty that has nothing to do with fish. Funny, how after I'd calmed down and just appreciated the beauty of where I was, how little it mattered after that whether I pulled in supper. And, having gained that appreciation, how much the actual catching improved.

[CrappieJohn]

I think I have seen it and wondered where it came from. I'll put the hold to it if I can locate it yet.

[Skunked-Rookie]

I did go out on Sun morning from 9:00 untill 8:00. I think I have now paid my dues and then some for the rest of us all. This is my 6th time in a row without a hook up. I had follow ups all day long, I saw at least 25 fish maybe 30 but not one hook up.

On one particular cast I let my kroc hit the bottom and started retrieving it toward my crawler and caught my other line, I pulled the spoon in with my crawler line also and started to seperate them, then I looked down in the water and slowly swimming by is a school of 10-15 big lakers (they were all keepers) so I quickly got my spoon free and cast beyond them and let it fall a little bit and started bringing it back in, one followed it for a little bit untill it got to close to the wall for his comfort and then he took off. The funny thing is that I think the crawler was in a better spot because after my line got crossed I had to pull it in closer to them to seperate the lines so they almost swam right into it.

I guess I did get one fish into my hands. I was about to cast and saw something moving close to the top of the water slowly, and then I saw its back moving on the top of the water, and it was splashing water. So I slowly got a little closer hopeing it was maybe a salmon. It turned out to be an eelpout, it was dying so I picked it up to look at it 1st one I have ever seen.

I think I'm giving up on the wall the rest of this yr its not worth the drive with the gas prices for me.

[Northlander]

Thats the wall for ya.

[biff]

Great post earlier Tom. Part of what makes the wall, and for that matter, lake trout fishing from shore exciting is the challenge. If I could go out in a boat and catch a limit every time it would not hold the same thrill. As you say it is the one on one challenge. When you hook a fish on the wall it really gets your blood pumping and when you land one it is a real sense of achievement. Each fish is a memorable moment. I think I can remember every laker I have caught from shore. The rarity just makes the quest more exciting. I enjoy fishing for walleyes and other fish but I do not really get the rush I get when I hook a fish off the wall or a laker anywhere from shore. If I went out there and caught fish every time it would lose that thrill factor. It is not about the numbers it is about the challenge and the experience.

Rookie, well at least if you did not get a fish you got a thrill. It would be frustrating not to get a hook up but at least it builds up confidence knowing what can be swimming around out there. I have been thinking about trying something and after reading your post it makes me really want to try it…Instead of using a crawler maybe trying a sucker minnow. Maybe set it out deeper for those following but finicky lakers. Then switch back to crawlers after laker season closes. I may try it next time out.

[TRZ]

I'm going to have nothing to do sat. in duluth so i'm going to give the wall a try. I'm planning on using a baitcaster with 6lb and a waleye rod. is that a good idea? was also wondering if i need a long net? thanks for the info, I'll be there 9-3 sat.

[Steve Foss]

Either a long-handled net is needed or you have to be ready to really lay down on your belly and scoop them in with a shorter net. There also are ladder irons set into depressions on either side of the wall just short of the end. You can get down a little farther in those, but either way, it's quite a challenge to be holding a rod in one hand and a short net in the other on the wall. Easiest way to make a short net longer is to take a broom handle and shove it into the end of a the net pole really hard, then duct tape the joint or set in a short screw. Cheap, easy to do with most matierials lying around, and when you're done needing the long net you pull out the broom handle and — HEY PRESTO! — you're back to a walleye net.

A rig as described will work, but I wonder how far the casts will go. Best rig is a long spinning rod with a fast tip and limp 6 to 8 lb line spooled on an oversized spinning reel (like the Shimano 4000 series. But your rig will work. Long casts maximize possibilities, but I've caught good numbers of fish withing short casts of the wall.

biff: Once, knowing how much lakers like meat on the bottom, I rigged a slip rig like for catfish with a 3 oz bell sinker, a barrel swivel and a leader attached to a single hook. I threaded the line through the smelt's mouth and out it's vent hole using a coathanger clamped onto the line, then tied the hook on and pulled it snug. Frozen smelt, when thawed, break apart easily, so that was the best way I could figure to keep it hooked during the cast.

I rigged it with 14-lb mono on a 7 foot, medium action rod with an Ambassadeur 6500 and cast her out. Got a nice cast out of it. Let it fall on a slack line and laid the rod down level on the wall with the spool free and the clicker on.

I know lakers will snarf that kind of bait on days they turn away from lures. I only used that one day out of all the days I spent there, because it seemed a bit involved, and the crawler up top attracted all the other species besides lakers.

If I was spending more time on the wall like I used to, I'd use that rig more often. I reckon it'd be the ticket sooner or later. The deadbait on the bottom often yields the biggest lakers around (no chase, just gobbling off of the dinne plate), and with that rod and line combo, I'd have a lot more muscle than the lighter spinning tackle.

[cloyd]

bait shops carry frozen smelt..or how about preserved smelt of sort?

just lakers forage off the bottom..heard browns do..the hawgers but no sure?

also now that ya bring this up..(heard of this meat offering before an didnt quite understand)

can a guy using a meat offering as such..use a heavy sinker..spinner rig an reel in like used on walleyes an northerns?

I know huge pike will suck up dead bait...big browns will suck up dead offerings as well

might haveta give a try if i can find the smelt somewhere..pack the old lawnchair with an catch a tan on the wall

[cloyd]

oh yea..prob seee ya all up there this weekend if ya gonna show..ill be the lunatic talking to himself on the very end...yea the wall does that to me

be up sat sometime depending where my truck hasta take me on friday...late work nights an drive to the wall early morning are a no can do...

[CrappieJohn]

Cloyd...

Al's baits in Two Harbors has all the smelt you'll need. They sell it frozen on flat trays by the dozen.

There were some browns that would show up in the harbor by the coal docks years ago, but I have never seen one and of recent years I haven't heard of any ice anglers getting any either. They may still be in the area though.

Dead bait on the bottom has given up one fish for me....an eelpout of about eight pounds. Any bait I fish out there now is very close to surface waters.

[TRZ]

what is the best way to rig a crawler? plain hook, jig head or something else? any help would be great.

[Steve Foss]

I rig them two ways. Single bare #8 hook, hooked once or twice. When a trout or salmon see a crawler, they grab, not nibble, so a lot of dangle is just fine, and you're only casting 30 feet at most, so you don't have to worry about snapping that worm off the hook.

Other way is a chunk a couple inches long off the hook of a 'looper bug. Those are the bugs widely used under the weighted bobbers by the Kamloops rainbow North Shore crowd. They are cheap, and you can get them at many tackle stores in Duluth/Superior.

I prefer the whole crawler on a small hook, because I just think that presentation is so natural it works better. I also tie on a ball-bearing swivel and make the last three feet out of fluorocarbon leader. As invisible as possible.

[biff]

For that matter, I know people use smelt under bobbers for pike, why not lakers? I would not worry about browns...pretty much anywhere on the north shore. Sure its possible but not very likely. If I was after browns I would hit chequamegon bay. A smelt fished off the river mouths or the washburn coal dock, or the hot pond could be interesting...especially now as the browns should be moving near shore. Man, there are just too many things to try. I need something like that movie where michael keaton makes copies of himself, I think it was multiplicity. I could send my clones out to scout things out and if they run into something I could head out there...this is what too many hours on the wall with nothing but your thoughts can do.

[TRZ]

Steve, thanks for the info. i tried my hand at loopers this spring with no luck maybe the bugs i bought could catch me some now. i'll be on the wall sat. during the day, i'll give report.

[jig n' jerk]

Do you ever use spawn sacks at the Break wall? I wanted to try them out but figured that fishing with spawn sacks is more of a river mouth tactic. Let me know what you think.(I can't wait until 4 pm because after that I'm on my way to the nord shore!!)

Kurt Joly

[Steve Foss]

I've thought about spawn sacks. Used them and crawlers both fishing loopers at the French. But about 2/3 or 3/4 of my loopers came on crawlers there instead of spawn, so I just opt for crawlers from the wall. I reckon salmon also will eat looper bugs, but I just generally go with the plain crawler because I'm more confident in it.

[cloyd]

well ill be on the wall around 4am or so..spending the day..things get fun ill camp the night an head back sunday

ill post my findings...

[Skunked-Rookie]

Where do you guys camp up along there? That might be a good idea for me to start doing next yr when I plan on heading back to fight with the wall some more.

[cloyd]

well heres my update from the wall :

first off skunked..all the state parks offer some fine camping which i do alot...get the minnesota topographical map book..its not real detailed but offers alot for us campers an shore fisherman for the entire state

also many campsites off the road abit in the woods that offer privacy an access to some of the fine stream an lakes up there

saturday mornin i drove up

was on the wall by 5am...all alone an enjoyin the quiet wind when i heard my name bieng called...scared the beejeepers outta me actually..wasnt prepared for that one

Mr Tom an gary offered me a ride out into the lake on the boat which was hard not to accept

I was givin a crash course on boat fishing with down riggers etc.

to be honest it had been a most enjoyable experience ive had fishing in quite awhile...my sides hurt from laughing an we even caught some fish..i managed a laker an one previous though didnt quite feel it was mine all i did was reel him in

I got to see first hand the yankee doodle circle jig which was funny in itself...got to see sinthetic smelt floating along the boat access thanks to toms keen eye...cant forget the DNR guy on the wall who learned way to much about me which wasnt true an the look from the old lady walking by at the time of the conversation an her burning eyes upon me (thanks tom)

I opted for a motel room instead of the fine invitation of tom which im regrettin now thugh it wouldnt have made much diff..the hottup couldnt be used for a live well nor fish tank (oh the shame)..not to mention how a meager hotel room up there was running 189 bucks

...got up about 2am an my old injury flared up..i was so locked up an in pain i had to call it an head back home for some serious bed an medication(which i forgot like a (Contact US Regarding This Word))

overall like i said..i had the most fantastic time...some unbelievable laughs...some fish

fish hit a variety...in a variety of depths...from meat to glow plugs to other stuff we dragged past them from 90-30 feet..simply amazing

thanks tom an gary...you guys are the best an really hope sometime we can do this again..for any species..you guys are the best

definetly a memory ill relish an laugh upon for months if not years

[Casaloma]

Threw orange & Blue, in silver & brass, smooth & hammered today at Stoney Pt. 5pm to 8pm without hooking up with a fish. The Moon came up very fat & Autumn-ish.

I'm feelin' good about the change of seasons....

_Cloma

[TRZ]

i was on the wall 10-2 on sat. afternoon, threw cleos and had a crwaler on a bobber. had one smaller fish on my cleo but it got off before i saw it. one guy next to me got a 15 inch rainbow. Nice place to fish, but all the tourists do get iritating"whatch ya all been catsin" gets old the 25th time. i will try the spot again though.

[SFBOY]

I have never fished there but from all the tourist talk, not sure that I want to. Not much more irritating than people that you dont know ruining a nice quiet fishing trip with the exception of them doing it when a guy is bow hunting. Is it always that bad up there? Grew up fishing out of Sturgeon Bay back when a guy could actually catch fish off the pier and there was never any of that.

[Steve Foss]

People who visit the wall tend to believe that people who are in that place doing those things are locals. That makes the anglers' answers authentic, and worth asking for, from a tourist perspective.

Still, maybe I'll build a big sign with, as Crappie Tom and I have joked about for years, the answers to the top ten tourist questions. Not the questions themselves, just the answers, to let them puzzle over what the questions would be. For you FM insiders, I've included the questions after those answers that may not be quite self explanatory. Man, I miss the melting pot at the wall.

Answers such as:

1. Trout and salmon, with the occasional eelpout thrown in.

2. About three times a week. (how often does one get, ahh, action, how often ore boats come in, how often you catch fish?)

3. Thirty-five feet deep on the harbor side, 80 feet on the lake side.

4. Tom. We call him Crappie Tom. No, bubba, there are no crappie in here, but he hails from Muddy Waters country. Yeh, bubba, he's ugly, but we can't pick the fishing partners out here. You should see some of the REAL ugly ones who've come here. Why, there's northlander, xplorer, stfcatfish (in order of descending ugliness) . . .

5. Not really, and we don't care about them (any walleye around here?)

6. Nope. (when they find out you're from LaCrosse and ask if you know some German guy named Klaus.)

7. Nope, but my doctor said I must take 1,000 casts per day for my health and, since I don't have a boat, I can't fish for musky, so I come here. (Any fish in here?)

8. About 45 degrees.

9. Back, just another step back. OK, another short step back so I can get you in focus. Ohhhh, shooot, you fell in. Is the water cold? (After you say yes when they ask if you'll snap their picture at the end of the wall.)

10. Pickled eggs, because they look like a smelt bloated with spawn. But they're darn pesky to keep on the hook.

Ahhh, can't wait until this weekend. Thank god the color along the shore hasn't started to peak yet, or we'd REALLY be in for a shellacking.

OK, that's not fair to Crappie Tom, that one question, but he's out of reach at the cabin, and I KNOW he'll get me back in a week or so. I mean, he's actually kind of cute in a Joe Cocker sort of way.