Walleye fishing on Lake Superior

I have a cabin on the south shore of Lake Superior between the Amnicon and Brule Rivers. I now live in CO but have been going up there every summer for the past 55 years. I have NEVER caught a fish on a line in Lake Superior. My brother and I now have access to a small boat and depth finder and are desperate to catch something, preferably a Walleye. We have both fished before but would be considered novices I would think and know nothing about how to fish for Walleye in such a big lake. We have sandy bottom and are fairly shallow right off our beach. We also have a small river that empties into the lake when the rain makes it strong enough to break through the beach barrier. We tried fishing in 25-35 ft of water last Fall with no luck. Can anyone provide us with some helpful hints so that we are at least in the right ballpark? Like best: depth (we are NOT going to do 100’+ fishing), lures, trolling patterns, weather conditions, etc. I realize things change depending on outdoor and water temps but general rules of thumb would be awesome. We see boats out in front of our beach all the time so I assume that someone is catching fish! Thanks

If you can trailer the boat I would be heading to Chequamegon Bay in Ashland in May. You can troll the shorline right along Ashland in 7-15 fow with shad raps an/or filcker shads and get into some trophy walleye, smallies, pike and trout

now there some nice info

welcome to IDO – JdeVC

look at that you earned .02 cents! Welcome to the site, maybe some day you will be rich like BK!

I have always wanted to do this…I will be watching this one closely.

Ryan

I have a lot of expirence walleye fishing on Lake Superior around the Duluth/Superior area. I cant speak for the cheq bay area tho.

Walleye fishing out there can be very good yes, but let me tell you, the fish are very vulnerable to changing water conditions. Best times would be from June till Sept 1st.

Water clarity is everything out there. That is the hands down number one biggest factor. The nemadgi river is responsible for completly shutting down that bite for weeks at a time. Unreal how much mud pours out of there. Dont be surprised to see 3 inches of water clarity in july.

Last year was a joke, if you paid attention to MODIS last summer you know what i mean, those images were incredible. So much mud, debris, etc.

As far as depths, I fish from 8 feet on out to 75. There are just so many factors that determine where I will be, but if your not technical about it, get out in 35 fow and troll away. In the springtime you will catch eyes, lakers, browns, kings, and coho all mixed in. Fun time of year.

Lures I like Rapala TDD9’s and 11’s. DHJ’s work very well also.
As far as shallow baits, i like any 4.5 to 5 inch minnow type lure. I dont have good success with shad type bodies out there at all.

White, green, blue, firetiger all work.

There is no structure out there at all so pay attention to 1. Water clarity 2. Water temp 3. current weather conditions 4. speed 5. current 6. baitfish in area. I could go on and on, but its not like Mille Lacs where your going to troll up on and in between reefs. The fish out there can be ANYWHERE. there is nothing holding them in one area.

Park point beach can be good, also right outside of the Superior entry in early June.

Hope this answers a few of your questions!

I know you were asking about Walleye fishing in Lake Superior but have you every tried the Brule River in late May/early June for Walleyes after the Steelhead run is over??

I remember it was pretty decent when I lived in Duluth a few yrs back. Fish from McNeils landing downstream to the mouth. At the time, not many guys bothered to fish for Walleyes in the Brule river. Never got huge numbers but could always catch a few. Not sure if it is still good but it might be worth checking out. Dead drifting whole crawlers was my bait of choice. You might even get lucky and pick up a drop back steelhead or two.

Thanks Grant, I was hoping you would respond. We are patient and it would be nice to catch something close to where we live, so your suggestions and hints are welcome. Some wind better than calm? We had some great clear and quiet days last Fall but no luck. Your lure tips will be a great help. Once again, thanks.

What about fishing the Superior Wisc side of the lake in spring??

Also what about Bayfield and that area?

Al

Grant, another question (sorry, I’m a novice at lures). Is the TDD a tail dancer? Also do you always fish with 4-5″ lures or do you sometimes use shorter ones (if the TDD is the tail dancer, that looked like it comes in 2″ size)

Also, how long do you spend in one area trolling if you are not getting any action? Do you assume that there is nothing there after an hour or that you might not be using the right lure, etc? These are the things we have no experience with. Thanks

No matter where or what you are fishing, if it’s not working…CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE and if that dont work CHANGE some more !!! (IE lures, colors, depths, speeds)

How is fishing in the Nemadgi itself now a days? I remember as a kid learning to walleye fish here with my grandfather. My brother and I never thought you could catch fish in the “chocolate” river but he always put us on fish and we always had a few in the cooler for dinner. He would make these bucktail spinners of some sort. They caught fish somehow. Amazing how one word brings back a ton of memories for you.

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Also, how long do you spend in one area trolling if you are not getting any action? Do you assume that there is nothing there after an hour or that you might not be using the right lure, etc? These are the things we have no experience with. Thanks

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How long might depend on a couple things, I’ll troll with as many different baits as I can depending on regs and number of people in boat.

I’ll keep an eye on the sonar and if I see fish I may run through that area again with different baits, I tend to vary speeds a lot as I’ve had quite a few strikes when the boat changes direction or speed.

Even if I see fish and after two or three passes they aren’t biting I will generally move on.

But like G said, don’t be afraid to change bait/speed if they’re not biting.

Al

Great…thanks. All of this advice is helpful and probably something we’d figure out after years of fishing…but we’re trying to shorten the learning curve