McQuade

If the weather holds and it isn’t not iced in, my son and I will be launching out of McQuade Harbor tomorrow. We should be able put a few in the box.

I was there a couple weeks ago and found REALLY muddy water. By the looks of the satellite photos, I strongly recommend heading to knife river or two Harbors to find cleaner water.

Water clarity was about 3’ near mcquade.

Oh and FYI, lake trout is closed. You cannot keep anything until December 1st.

Salmon and loopers can go in the box though.

Well, things didn’t go as planned. My son had a tough night at the hospital and was to pooped to go. I went anyway without the boat, just to see what was happening on North Shore. Arrived at McQuade at approximately 0700 hrs to find it skimmed over with ice. I wasn’t surprised as it was 9 degree that morning. I brought the Long poles along because I knew I was going to Bank fish at the French river anyhow. Went to the French and ran into a couple of friends who had been there before sunrise. I set up and threw out a spawn bag and watched the tip of my pole for three hours, just like everybody else ! The wind switched and the lake became Very Angry! I swear the temp dropped 10 degree ! Everybody reeled in and left. No fish for anybody! Lucky me, I live only 25 minutes away.

I was out yesterday and managed to get one nice size Looper pitching spoons from shore. The water is still a little dirty. The boaters are having better luck further out in cleaner water, catching a mixed bag.

Yesterday was a stellar day to be bank fishing. The water is clearing up and a few more fish are being caught from shore. Boaters are still having better luck though.

Went out on Sunday myself out of McQuade. Got to the ramp around 745 and had our first coho by 815. Trolled to the pumphouse and back in 40-60 fow and had our limits of coho by the time we trolled back to McQuade. Caught most on the surface but caught fish on 5 colors of lead and down as deep as 60′ on the rigger. Spoons, f/f and stickbaits. Orange, pink, yellow and purple all caught fish.

Fantastic day to be on the water. Long sleeve tshirts we’re enough to stay comfortable. Great December day for sure!

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Nice box of fish!

Nice, those Coho’s are pretty dang tasty too!

For those who want to brave the elements, McQuade is still open. The Loopers & Coho are there to be caught.

Time to put the boat away for the season. A person could still launch at most ramps, but getting the boat out of the water might be a problem. Local ramps are covered with ice.

I have been wanting to try trolling out of McQuade for years and putting a Coho or Lake Trout in the boat would be awesome! Seeing your reports have persuaded me that I have to just do it sometime now. I see most of the reports are from November on into December. Is there a bite here in the spring into the summer as well even it may not be as good as Nov/Dec? I will be trailering a fair distance so weather wise travel would be better now.

Also I have an 18′ deep V with a 150hp. I realize Superior is a different animal and everyone has their opinion on what can or should be taken out there but on a decent day can you find decent trolling out from Mcquades without having to travel miles and miles? A lot of questions but just wanted to have a better idea before I head over that way! Thanks

Mos’ wrote:

Is there a bite here in the spring into the summer as well even it may not be as good as Nov/Dec? I will be trailering a fair distance so weather wise travel would be better now.

Surprised no one has replied to your post yet, but IMO now (May through the end of June) is likely the best time of the entire year to be fishing out of McQuade so by all means find a couple nice weather/low wind days and give it a go!

Shouldn’t have to run far. Can set your lines right outside the harbor and start trolling back towards Duluth. The stretch from McQuade to the Lester River should be productive, just need to figure out the depth (how far offshore) the Coho are holding over. A swing through Marine General on your way into town should give you a good idea of where to start (not to mention the other boats already out on the lake). Also can troll N up past the French and Knife Rivers as well without having to motor very far at all.

While you are out on the water look for seams along mudlines, water color changes, or “slicks” where the texture of the surface ripples smooth out some. Those will mark slight water temp changes that often concentrate insects/baitfish and therefore the trout & salmon.

Stickbaits in the top 15′ should produce some Coho, smaller Lakers and the occasional Steelhead this time of year. If you have downriggers, dipsy divers, snap weights or heavier leadcore/copper rigs- can run one or two of those deeper for Lakers as well.

Should go without saying, but there are some additional safety equipment requirements required while boating out on the Great Lakes that you may or may not already have. The MN DNR has a Lake Superior Boating Guide that you can google/download that will contain all that and other useful info if it is your first trip out in the big lake.

Be warned though, once you get the hang of it fishing the great lakes becomes addicting :-). I used to walleye/smallmouth fish 90% of the time, now I only chase Walleye a couple times each summer and spend every other available fishing day out on Superior or Michigan.

Hey thanks a lot for the response and insight! I will download that boating guide and have to make a trip out there I think. It does look like a great time so I could see how it would become addicting! Thanks again and I will post how the inaugural trip goes when I finally do make it over there

@mo25315

Sorry for the late reply. I missed your question somehow.

Let me start out by confessing that I’ve never fished Superior between January and June, from a boat. With that said, I do watch the reports on all the fishing forums religiously all year long. Most claim that March through June is the best time to fish because the fish are concentrated in the Duluth/Superior area and are right near the surface.

Mleslie covered that pretty well. I want to reiterate that fishing mudlines, bug slicks and temp breaks are keys to a good day on the water vs an ok day. I usually start on the cold side of a temp break and will work my way onto the warm side if necessary. On the cold side fish should be closer to the surface, on the warm side, deeper, maybe 20’ or maybe 120’.

I can’t stress enough about water temp. It is your only structure in the Duluth area.