Opener on St. Louis

It was cold wet and windy.Very fast dirty water below the 23 bridge just about impossible to fish. Spend 2 hours up there no bites saw no fish landed.Worked down stream still nothing Its now 10:30 and not a bite yet.Finally went in to Spirit Lake and found some fish.Spent 3 hours there catch 3 19″ 1 20″ and 1 16″.It was the only place i found anybody with any fish.Went back there sunday morning just before the down pouring rain started.5 hours and only 1 21″ walleye.US Coast Guard is doing boat inspections on river if your boat is 17 feet or over make sure you have everything you need to make them happy.Lets hope the rain stops and they shut the dam.See you on the river!
Jigmaster

Heard the exact same thing from a friend who was up Saturday, water was so fast crankbaits wouldn’t even run true at a stand still. Water temps still in the low 40’s, usually only means one thing… The fish are still way up, and it should only get better from here on out. River is on my list for the end of the week. Good luck to all that try.

Water temp. was 46-48 still cold.Things will only get better.
Jigmaster

i fished for about 2 hours from shore by the forbes damn last night, wishin id brought the digital camera, but ill have to post pics when i get the film developed in the disposable cam. i was fishing the eddies about 50 yards or so down from the dam, using almost every sinker i had left in my bag to try and keep the crawlers on the bottom. the water is moving very fast and is very high.. i got a good picture of what i believe is a redhorse sucker?? looks alot like a goldfish being so red in color. the other suckers werent as colorful. as i was very slowly reeling in i was feeling the bottom, seems everytime i could feel rocks, id let it sit for just a minute and tap, tap, tap.. couldnt trigger a strike so i tried a little luck and set the hook into a better fish, only to lose it when my line got wrapped up on all the debris in the water down there. others were fishing small spinners with minnows, with no luck as far as i could tell…

I dont know what river you fished but the St.Louis river is closed to fishing from the 23 bridge to the dam for one more week!

Spent all day sat and sun morn up there. between three boats both days we did not land a fish. we fished from the 23 bridge all the way down to just below the 53 bridge. between the three we only say a total of 9 fish caught. the local contest the bar puts on only had 13 fish weighed in. there is about 100 or more boats that get in it every year. 6 of the 9 fish we saw caught were in a back cut right down from spirit island. talked to a few locals and the dnr and from what they say the fish are done spawning and are moving back down to the lake. The dnr guys we talked to shocked above the bridge on thurs and only shocked a very few amount of fish. they also shocked down by the highway 2 bridge in a spot they would call a resting spot as they drop back and shocked a very large amount of fish. the locals confirmed that to us and said the did very well sat morn. right at the 2 bridge and just above it. we ran about 48 to 49 for water temp. its seems to early and cold for them to be done to me but they could be. hope this helps for anyone interested in making a trip up there.

Walleye Fool

All the fish dont spawn at the dam.There are several small rivers and creeks they go up to spawn.Fish can be catch even below where you talked.Before my fishing partner died 2 years we always fished in the harbor to stay away from the crowd and did very well.Two months of good fishing yet to come.The fish have not left the river.Trust me!
Jigmaster

I guess i’ll just have to get out there and give it a try and see what’s really going on! . I didn’t get out last weekend. Are you getting my pm’s jigmaster?

which dam?>

There is only 1 dam on the St.Louis river its in fond du lac
Minnesota power plant.
Jigmaster

The Forbes Dam is south of Eveleth.

Here is a map for reference:

Upper St Louis River Map

Sully

pretty sure theres more than one dam on the st louis… am i wrong for fishing there??(FORBES)??

Not sure where forbes is but im talking about duluth\superior where it dumps in lake superior.
Jigmaster

i dont recall saying anything about duluth/superior….

From the map it looks like a fairly long river. Anyone know where it starts?

Deeplake, you are not wrong for fishing Forbes Dam, in fact you are lucky. The upper St. Louis provides some great walleye opportunities. I dated a gal from the range whose brother introduced me to some great untouched portions of the upper St. Louis.

It looks like the headwaters is Seven Beaver Lake. Here is a link to the same map, just a different part of the map.

St Louis River Headwaters Map

Sully

You are correct that Seven Bever Lake is the start of the SLR .

Fished sunday only, never even thought of taking the boat off the trailer on saturday. Went down into the harbor and found temps at 49. in 2.5 hours we marked a few fish pulling cranks and spinners, but only had one fish on. Very large fish, but lost about 30 ft behind the boat. I am about 90% sure it was either a large pike or musky as it managed to get tangled in both of my partners lines before he could get them pulled. After docking, i saw a boat throwing fish on the ground from their livewell…walked over and saw 9 lakers, one eye, and the biggest brown i’ve seen around here. It was between 9 and 10 pounds, and the 16year old that caught it was getting it mounted
Word is the river is still high/muddy, but improving some. If it was me (which it might be tomorrow, trying to decide if my almost 4 year old will mind well enough in the boat for me to take him out solo) I would be trolling for eye’s just outside/inside the superior entry until the river clears up a bit. Plus you never know what else might show up on the end of your line.
The St Louis drains a very large area, and will take awhile to really clear up, hopefully we dont get the possible thunderstorms tonight thier predicting. The Louis starts at 7 beavers, and the only section closed to fishing is above the 23 bridge to the dam til May 18th, then the area from the boundary cable to the dam is closed all year long. Anywhere from the fond du lac dam to 7 beavers is open during the regualar season dates.

Grand Slam Tournament this saturday and sunday on the river maybe they will find the fish.
Jigmaster

Quote:

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I would be trolling for eye’s just outside/inside the superior entry until the river clears up a bit.

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Good call! That can be real good. When I was out this past weekend I wasn’t able to do my full milk run with my Dad, but that is the direction I was headed. He had the look on his face that said I would be a really popular son if I took him in for lunch.

Another spot I wanted to try was the sand off of what I call “Bird Sanctuary Island” near the Duluth entry.

Keep us posted on how you do.

Sully