North Shore Search & Destroy

TEAM IDO consisting of Grant Sorensen, Joel Nelson and I are heading up the north shore this weekend in search of some hot laker action. We’re not exactly sure where we’ll start yet as that will depend on water temps (pretty high in most areas near-shore right now) and of course wind and wave conditions. I just got the down riggers mounted on my 2100 and the trolling rods are slowly being assembled and readied for the trip. I’m pumped! Our final laker trip of 2011 produced a 28# giant for Grant. I’m hoping to top the young lad’s mark… but I’m not holding my breath as that was one heck of a fish!

Grant, you better still be having dreams about this one. I know I am!

For all you Lake Superior guys, how closely do you watch water temps and do you feel the data available is all that accurate? Looking at things right now there is some cooler water tight to shore from Hoveland to Grand Portage. I know Grant and I would like to see it in the 50’s so we don’t have to run as far or fish so darned deep. Last summer/fall when we did well we were only fishing in 45′ – 60′ of water.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a hard west/north west wind to pull in some more cold water near-shore.

http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/twosuperiors.html

You heading to to the Isle, or hitting the shore?

I generally look at the surface temp maps right before to get an idea and then once on the water, look for a temp break…..

Knock ’em dead.

T

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You heading to to the Isle, or hitting the shore?

I generally look at the surface temp maps right before to get an idea and then once on the water, look for a temp break…..

Knock ’em dead.

T

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Honestly not sure. Wind will play a role, of course, as will last minute fishing reports from some friends that will be fishing near Silver Bay later this week. We plan to stay flexible and make an educated decision just before launching the boat.

And if all the intel gathering let’s us down we’re flipping a coin….

Lets hope the streak continues!! Oh man that fish was a sow (or aqua cow as we like to call em aboard the Skeeter when we are on Lake Superior).

I can remember the rod doubling over as that fish hit just like it happened yesterday! and then many, many minutes later she hit the net!

The water temps are very volatile out there right now. We plan on fishing wherever we can find the colder water, whether that is in silver bay, grand portage, or offshore numerous miles. The skeeter 2100 will be loaded down with gas and ready to venture where the water temps take us!

Numerous sources have stated that water temps on the lake are the highest they have been since many can remember. Lots of temps in the 70’s have been seen this summer when normal temps are in the 50’s.

The program we like to run this time of year likes to focus on cooler temps, ideally in the low 50’s or 40’s. A good north with in the next few days will drive those temps down as it blows the warm surface water out the door!

This time of year, some species of lake trout will begin their migration shallow to spawn or get ready to spawn. Now through october can be the best time of year to hook up with that 45 inch female full of eggs that could easily push 40 plus pounds.

I have yet to break that 20 pound mark this summer on the north shore and after a 2 week absence from the water im looking forward to getting back on it and hopefully putting the hammer down on some big ones!

The next few days will go by fast and may this trip bring big fish and bigger memories!!

I was up on Sunday with some good success near Two Harbors. Thanks again to Grant for giving me some much needed info and confidence last August.

This time I ended up going 5 for 8 with 3 lakers, a king and a coho. I never ventured more than a mile off shore and found temps to be near 61.5 all day. Temps rose the farther out you went. I found 57 near the harbor at the end of the day.

I was fishing solo and had a blast. It’s so rewarding to be successful on a body of water like that.

I’d love to join, but I have plans in Saturday morning but wouldn’t mind hitting the water on sat afternoon and all day Sunday.

One of coolest things about an annual trip is anticipation built from the recollection of old fishing memories!

Enjoy the next few days as the excitement builds and good luck making new memories this weekend gentlemen!

The Hovland area has historically been good for cohos in August but I haven’t heard if they are there and biting. NOAA genrated surface temps are pretty good but it doesn’t tell where the thermocline is. Last weekend it was 73 on top and 50 degrees at 55′ on Lake Michigan near Kewaunee. The weekend before it was @80 to get to 50 degrees. We had good fishing with fish in the 45-75′ range which is doable with 8 oz on the front of 5 color lead core out 10-12 passes out on boards, 300′ copper, dialed tight mag dipsys out @120-160′ and downriggers. All these were working last weekend. I’d rather have the fish deeper so they are not so spooky. Good luck!

have fun,looking forward to the results.

Here’s to you guys getting “Hooked Up” with some Aqua Cows

I had 53 degree surface temps last Thursday fishing out of Grand Marais near 5 mile Rock from Noon to 4. Reports were 70 degree water temps in the area the day before. Temps go wild depending which way the wind blows for sure.
Caught a mix of Coho and Kings 40-80 feet down in 120 feet of water. A nice family outing complete with screaming teen age girls as we returned in a bit of a chop.

We’ll be out this weekend too, a bit east of you guys (Bayfield) but hopefully all will do well.

Got a spinning rod set up with 350 yards of 12# test and hoping to lock into one of them big Lakers like Mr. Sorenson did.

Have fun.

Al

It’s been years for me, and I’m excited. I’ve caught them inland through the ice, through the ice out of Bayfield, even a short jaunt from Duluth, but I’ve never been on a tanker program like James and Grant were last year. I can’t wait!

Bringing icy-hot for the long fight sequences!

Joel

I’ll be up there this weekend as well Probably be doing a little Lake Trout fishing between Taconite Harbor and Tofte…Can’t wait!

Cloud cover is obscuring the water temp reports. I’m going nuts trying to keep myself occupied!

But i like clouds!! lol.

You see up around Grand Marais? 32.1 degrees! lol. thats just flat out crazy! 0.1 away from freezing! That makes a guy think twice about breaking out the SnoSuit in August!!

Hows that NE wind today???

Shes a rollin!! I can white right now from 5 miles away! that means at least 6 footers haha. We may have to deal with some rollers tomorrow. Winds look good after we get through today.

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But i like clouds!! lol. That makes a guy think twice about breaking out the SnoSuit in August!!

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Light Gamehide winter gear tonight here in Minocqua, but chasing muskies instead and then taking in the Packer game with the parents who are staying at my bro’s place!!!

Go get ’em on the Gitch!!!

Mark

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For all you Lake Superior guys, how closely do you watch water temps and do you feel the data available is all that accurate? Looking at things right now there is some cooler water tight to shore from Hoveland to Grand Portage. I know Grant and I would like to see it in the 50’s so we don’t have to run as far or fish so darned deep. Last summer/fall when we did well we were only fishing in 45′ – 60′ of water.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a hard west/north west wind to pull in some more cold water near-shore.

http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/twosuperiors.html

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Very true this season so far I have not went very deep at all to find the lake trout. Around the flats or out around Outer Island. Kinda nice not having to reel for 10 min.

You boys still up there? Any quick reports?

Waiting…..

Al

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You boys still up there? Any quick reports?

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The bite was very good but it took some serious looking to find them with surface temps in the mid to upper 60’s. Morning of Day 1 we ran 50+ miles in search of cooler water that never materialized. Isle Royal was a complete bust. We finally settled on a reef surrounded by deeper water (500 – 700 feet) near Grand Portage. Once we put the program together the action was fast paced. Day one was better than day two. Day two we had 24 fish in the boat by 1 PM when we finally lost track of things and stopped counting. Mostly lakers but we did get 4 – 6 steelies each day along with a couple kings each day as well.

Big spoons on riggers and big spoons on 832 Lead Core with 2 Oz snap weighs behind the boards worked best. Crankbaits behind boards just weren’t producing for us on this trip hence the switch to spoons and lead behind the boards which is a bit unconventional (at least for us) but after some fine tuning we were off and running. In fact it worked so well we plan to dig into this presentation further in subsequent trips as it should be an ideal presentation any time the fish want spoons over cranks. We only have 2 riggers on my boat but with the lead and snap weight program we can easily run 3 lines per guy and put the lures right where they need to be and the fish seem to prefer the action of the spoons behind the lead over the riggers… at least during this trip.

If you’ve not tried the 832 lead core it really deserves a look due to the depth advantage it has over other lines… while we were getting a feel for how to fish it we were snagging up big spoons in 80 – 90 feet of water using 10 colors of lead with a 2 – 4 OZ snap weight at 2.3 mph (ooops).

It is impressive how much deeper that new lead core will take a bait. On 10 colors we figure we were seeing a minimum if 20 – 30 more feet of depth than with standard lead. Once we got the experimentation behind us and the program together (7 – 8 colors lead with 2 oz snapper when the fish were deep. 5 colors when they were up shallow) the lead core outproduced the down riggers 3 – 1 and allowed us to put out a solid spread pulling spoons without the use of dipseys.

We targeted 60 – 80 feet in the AM or late in the day and 100 – 130 during the day. Video to follow in a couple days. All in all it was a great trip that forced us to hunt down new water and areas we had never fished before using a presentation that was basically a “make it up as we go along” deal for us.

Thanks for the report.

I too managed to get up there saturday afternoon and sunday to fish solo. I fished near the Knife River and did really well in the last 2.5 hrs before sunset on sat. Managed 5 kings and 2 lakers and missed the biggest fish of the weekend.

Sunday I managed 3 lakers and 2 kings. Caught the biggest laker (30″) out over 450′, about 50′ down.

I used primarily dipseys with spoons. I saw water temps as low as 57 and as high as 65.

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Sunday I managed 3 lakers and 2 kings. Caught the biggest laker (30″) out over 450′, about 50′ down.

I used primarily dipseys with spoons. I saw water temps as low as 57 and as high as 65.

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I don’t know that we ever saw temps below 63. We’re going to need a return trip or two yet this fall. As soon as the temps start to drop we’ll start putting together our next outing.

Thanks for the report!

Couple of questions, what are you using for temp reading only sonar/surface temps or do you have one that attaches to your riggers?

After all your searching did you end up fishing nearer to shore, and were you still in MN waters or offshore a ways?

I am hoping to get another laker trip in next Monday and Tuesday. I always fish the Apostle Islands this time of year with great success, but I know it will be strictly lakerswith salmon hard to come by, the north shore would be fun with a mix of cohos and stealies thrown in.

It is generally a long boat ride in my 16ft./50 hp rig when I am out on the flats or in the Islands, but always doable(depending on wind.)

Just trying to put together a game plan for next week, wouldn’t mind a shorter boat ride without sacrificing fishing.
Sounds like you guys did great!

Thanks for any further info.

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Thanks for the report!

Couple of questions, what are you using for temp reading only sonar/surface temps or do you have one that attaches to your riggers?

After all your searching did you end up fishing nearer to shore, and were you still in MN waters or offshore a ways?

I am hoping to get another laker trip in next Monday and Tuesday. I always fish the Apostle Islands this time of year with great success, but I know it will be strictly lakerswith salmon hard to come by, the north shore would be fun with a mix of cohos and stealies thrown in.

It is generally a long boat ride in my 16ft./50 hp rig when I am out on the flats or in the Islands, but always doable(depending on wind.)

Just trying to put together a game plan for next week, wouldn’t mind a shorter boat ride without sacrificing fishing.
Sounds like you guys did great!

Thanks for any further info.

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We were about 10 miles off-shore. I wouldn’t make the run in a 16 foot boat, but that’s just me. As for how we monitored temps, we used our electronics to monitor surface temps. We didn’t have a depth probe.

Here’s some video from last weekend. The guys definitely had a good time and caught a bunch of great fish!