looking for an answer for too long

so last march i was driving along the north shore of lake superior and i saw a bunch of people out on the lake ice fishing…does any one know what they would be fishing for and how often you can ice fish out there

Loopers!

And lakers I believe.

and coho.

Ice will develope along the shore that is “accessible”. The old adage that “no ice is safe ice” really applies here. People have been caught on large pieces of it that get broken free and have had to be plucked off by the coast gaurd and they do NOT bring equipment back with them.
The ice along the north shore can be holding anglers one day and not be there the next.

These guys do enjoy some outstanding fishing when they can get out there. Loopers are crazy in open water and I can’t imagine what they’d be like thru any kind of ice.

Its mostly loopers that I know of on the north shore. I have never seen anyone venturing very far from shore. The south shore is way different, yes, its still got its dangers, but the ice is much more uniform comparing to the north shore.

That is the scariest ice I have ever seen by far. It is usually little chunks of ice that come floating in and mend together when the lake is calm enough to let it happen. Fishing on 2.5″ of broken ice isnt my cup of tea!

so what is a looper i have never heard of these fish

Its a rainbow trout originally found in the Kamloops region of British Columbia, hence the name “looper”. Minnesota’s dnr traded walleye eggs with BC dnr several times to procure the looper eggs from them. The looper is supposed to be a keepable alternative to the steelhead in Lake Superior and the associated tributary waters. Steelhead have to be released, loopers can be kept for the table and they are darned good there.

Loopers will run up to around 6-7 pounds, are quite thick across the shoulders and are very heavily peppeeed with black spots across the back. Most all of the loopers you’ll see in Lake Superior are hatched in SE Minnesota hatcheries and then planted up there. Most all of the loopers you find there are “clipped” with either the adipose fin missing, the mandible is clipped or perhaps both. Some loopers might be tagged with spaghetti tags which, when turned into the dnr office at the French River hatchery, can be worth some serious jingle.

The looper is a bug eater and waxies or yarn flies will account for many of the successful fish stories, but they do like the spawn from other salmons too and spawn bags can be a super bait- especially in the spring when the steelies hit the rivers to spawn.

While trolling for lake trout I have seen loopers follow slicks on the water patrolling for insect life and have caught them in the fall so full of lady bugs that they crunch when you hold them to take them off the hook. While trolling they will hit minnow imitating plugs run higher up in the water column as long as the baits are not too large. Most, I think fall, to the shore anglers.

Like the steelhead, they are spring spawners and will use the rivers at the same time as the steelies. Fishing them is pretty basic when they are in the rivers…..a small float, a splitshot and a plain walleye-type hook in a size 6 or 4 sporting a pair of waxies [or a spawn bag]. Set the depth so the bugs “just” tick the bottom as they move downstream. Watch the float…if it sinks straight back into the current and pops up again or stays in one spot you have a rock. Any tiny move to the side or if the float stays down and moves with or against the current calls for a rod snap…..then hold on.