First timer thinking of heading up on Sunday, probably fish out of Duluth. I’ve always wanted to try it, and I know the fish are supposed to be shallow this time of year, so I’m hoping we can get by with walleye crankbaits, regular spoons, and jigs/plastics. Any reports or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Did you see last weekends show?
-J.
I did! Lots of good information there. I was just curious if anyone had anything more specific on Duluth.
The fish aren’t necessarily going to be shallow. Salmon will be in the top few feet of the water column.. which could be in 20′ and it could also be in 100′. Shallow is a pretty loose term on Superior. Lake trout will be all over the water column depending on the weather, changes in pressure and all those factors. I’d recommend launching at McQuade and heading back towards Duluth. Start somewhere between the pump house and Lester and troll towards town. There have been a lot of boats fishing in front of park point this week also. I’ve been hearing mixed reports that seem to fluctuate as much as the weather has been recently. Earlier this week there was a lot of muddy water from the rain we got which makes things tricky but also gives you the ability to fish the mud lines.
Also, just an FYI, there are additional boating regulations required for vessels going on Lake Superior. You are required to have flares as well as a sound producing device like a horn or whistle.
Thanks for the info! Is there any particular reason you recommend starting out north of town? Just had better lucky up there, or is there something else? Like I said I’ve never fished the lake, so I’m looking to soak up any and all information I can. Thanks for the reminder on the flares, I’m heading to Cabela’s to grab a snap weight kit, an extra planer board (for some reason I only have one), and I’ll make sure to grab some flares as well!
I know the general rule of thumb is just tool around until you find some bait, and then run passes over the school for as long as they’re biting. How much time would you spend in one area trying to find bait before moving? I know that’s a subjective question, but I guess what I mean is, say I get out to my first “spot” in 40-60 fow, how long should I run around at 10-15 mph looking for bait, before either moving on, or dropping the rods and trolling around continuing the search? Like most anglers, confidence is my biggest challenge when I’m fishing something for the first time, so knowing how long the average (i.e. more experienced) angler does stuff will be a big help! Thanks again!
I think I’d stay along the north shore… I know James said dumping warm water, but she is being dumped into. Look at some of that brown east of Chequamegon Bay, it almost looks like land!!!
We were going to try, but the prevailing thought is finding the mudline might be a bit more difficult…
Mark
My reasoning for choosing the north shore was the water was really dirty (out from the MN and Superior entries) earlier this week from the rain runoff dumping out of the St Louis River but I think it has cleared up now judging by the fact there are currently 6 boats fishing park point right now. If you want to fish park point, I’d launch under the Blatnik Bridge (off of Garfield Ave) or Loons Foot if you want to fish closer to the WI side. But if you are planning on fishing somewhere around the Lester River, its about 2 miles shorter of a boat ride if you launch at McQuade. There are going to be a lot of boats out tomorrow, I’d just make sure you are in the general area of other boats and get lines in the water and start trolling. Since its your first time out there, I wouldn’t spend a ton of time trying to find a specific school of bait to target. A lot of the time when I hook into fish out there, I don’t mark schools of bait or even fish before I get the bite.
So….. how’d it go?
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