Grand Maraais in aug

Hi all. Anyone want to share some tips for early Aug? Lures, depths, colors. I will be fishing within a couple miles of gm harbor. Thx

It can literally change day to day and hour to hour depending on water temp. Are you looking for salmon or lake trout?

Any idea what you would try first?

I’d try spoons near the temp break. Look for 48-54 degrees. Color varies. If you’re gonna have multiple people in the boat it doesn’t matter what you try first. Just diversify. If it ant workin, change it up. If you want specifics, stop in to Marine General on the way up and get the latest and pick up a few spoons.

’57 chev yellow spoon or green spoon

Both Buck’s Hardware and the Beaver House should be able to give you an idea where the temp breaks have been lately. When I’ve been out there this time of year we went for salmon with spoons on lead and copper and usually had decent action. As biggill said, it can change rapidly out there but having an idea of where to start is helpful. Good luck.

Day in, day out I start with gold/orange anything on at least one rod if in a boat and start with that color if casting. Silver/blue, silver/green, rainbow trout pattern, wonderbread, monkey puke….all are good color combos. If you are trolling I’d also have something in purple/black or purple/blue if its real cloudy.

Biggill mentions Marine General in Duluth. They’re on London Road. Easy to get to. Do a google search with a map if you don’t know where it is. This is one stop I would not pass up on not only because of the tackle but also information on what happening at the present.

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Glad to see there are people willing to share their experience. This will be my first trip ‘on my own’. I consider it a learning experience so I have pretty low expectations. I have a 17′ inland boat and plan to stay within safe distance of GM harbor or not go at all if there is any wind. Is there any structure out there or do you just go out to a certain depth and start trolling? I have two small riggers, one line with 626 lead core, and one dipsy diver. Thanks again everyone!

Rather than structure, what you’re looking for is the right temperature to attract baitfish. Like biggill said, 48-54 degrees is the “structure” you’re looking for. That temperature might be near the surface, but this late in the year, you will probably need use you riggers, divers, lead line to put you down to the correct depth.

If you don’t have the tools on board to help you ID water temperature at depth, check in at the shops mentioned to find out what depth you should be targeting in the water column.

Here’s a couple useful websites for surface temp and water column temps out of Duluth.

http://www.d.umn.edu/buoys/

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

Mud lines caused by river run off can also create “structure” to key on. Follow the edge of a mud line, keeping your bait in the correct temp. Here’s some satellite imagery that can be helpful.

https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/region_map.html

There was too much cloud cover the last couple days to get good images, but you can look at the archives to see what’s been going on so far this year. Early in the year, fishing out of Duluth was difficult due to all the mud in the lake, we had to run to Two Harbors for clearer water and better success.

Careful, there’s something in that water that’s addictive.

X2 on The 57′ chevy……… buy 2

Be aware of the coast guard requirements you must have in your boat. There is a c.g station in GM so odds of getting checked are high.
Google lake superior boating guide to find.