Ice, Land or Sea?

Hi all, I am hoping to get a little point in the right direction. I am going to be in Duluth on the weekend of March 26th. Instead of going to our cabin over the kids spring break I have recently been informed by my wife that I will be spending that time at the water park in Duluth. In exchange for my cooperation I will be allowed to get some personal time to go fishing. I am not that familar with the Duluth area from a fishing perspective. I am not sure if the best use of my “personal time” should be used fishing for crappies on the ice, fishing from shore with some sort of a long casting rod or in a boat on the big lake chasing some species I am unfamiliar with. I do not really care which it is. For my personal sanity I just need to get outside and try to fish for something.

Can anyone here offer me some suggestions on what type of fishing I would have my best chances at? I am hoping that it would be within 30 miles of Duluth. I am not looking for specific information, just a point in the right direction. I did talk a couple of guides in the area and I am a little suprised that I did not get a call back from either guide.

Thanks for any responses, It would be a great help to me. RED

Less than 5 minutes from your hotel is the Lester river. We fish at the mouth of the river, on lake superior from shore. The time you are up will be prime looper/salmon/steelhead time in front of the rivers on the north shore. You will need a trout stamp if you don’t have one already.

You don’t need a special long rod to do this, although most guys use a 8 foot spinning rod. Ive got plenty of fish on 7 foot rods from shore. The reason for the long rods is the ability to cast a long ways off shore. Again, you dont have to cast out 50 yards to get fish, there are plenty of them within 40 feet of shore. On bright, sunny days i like to cast out a little further though.

As far as lures, a little jig with hair or plactic such as the Custom Jigs and spins ratso will work great. I like the number 4 ratso. These big 5, 6, 7, 8 pound trout feed on little bugs and the ratso is a great imitation of them. You will have this lure under a bobber. A 4 foot margin from your bobber to lure is ideal. Some days i go 5 or 6 feet if its sunny. Some guys tip their bait with a waxie, i dont, its mainly personal preference.

I may be out that saturday the 26th in the morning from 6 to 8 or 9. If your available, we could meet up and i could show you around a little. Let me know what your schedule looks like and send me a pm.

Grant, Wow!! Thank you for the great response. Much more than I had hoped for. I am psyched to give it a try. I will give you a PM if I can figure out how to do that. Red

Looks like ya figured it out

It sure is fun to tie into one of those fish. Patience is the key, one or two fish is a good morning, but the good part is they are 5 plus pounds so they give ya a great fight!

Is the south shore clear of ice as well grant?

I highly doubt it. The ice likes to hang in there at times. There are still 20 foot mounds of ice near shore. Or at least this was what it was like last week when i left. Im soaking up the sun in florida right now. But I doubt anything has changed. Give it another 2 or 3 weeks and it should be all gone.