Pinpointing Lake Superior Brown Trout
For Lake Superior brown trout, splake, and rainbows near shore, it’s important to point out that these fish are “swimmers” and constantly cruising. This means they are always on the move, feeding with the current, and always on the look for the next easy meal.
Lake Superior brown trout are a schooling fish, which basically means they will sometimes cruise, and feed, in schools. I have had mornings that have been slow and then suddenly a handful of “JawJackers” pop up and your rod almost gets torn from your hand, a sign that hungry Lake Superior brown trout are passing through the area.
These fish move with the current. Sometimes you will find that you get all of your bites when the current is on either an inward or outward flow, moving in from the big lake to the mainland and then back the other way.
I like to search out the inside and outside contours, in 5 to 40 feet of water, close to a drop-off that dips into the main lake basin. Here is where your gps with a lake map helps in narrowing down some of the location game.
The Chequamegon Bay and Apostle Islands area is big water. Don’t be intimidated by it. Instead, learn it one small piece at a time and put a plan into place. Using your electronics and gps lake map, check the contours for any debris on the bottom (logs, stumps, trees, big rocks, and rock piles). Other good places to check over are old docks, near shore rock piles, that may extend out into the lake along with shallow bays, big and small. Cameras work very nice for this.
On days where the bite was not so hot and on the slow side, one thing to consider is to fish for them at night. This is when the large Lake Superior brown trout and splake come out and are actively feeding.
Wait 30 to 45 minutes after the sun sets, as they will need a little time for their eyes to adjust to night vision mode before feeding. Stay with the fish until your well satisfied. This is a fun game and it’s not unusual for me to be the last one off the lake. (Written by John Marksman, HSM Outdoors)
For more information, contact Marksmans Guide Service at 715-373-2864 or [email protected].