Superior Ice (Duluth)

nice fish. Good luck tomorrow.
Keep the pics coming folks and stay safe out there.

Over 65 not needed. Under 18 not needed. Fishing with a 24-hour or 72-hour license, not needed. Fishing with a special angling license, not needed. But for most of us out here, those anglers with an annual license, ages 18 to 64, need a Minnesota trout stamp.

Patric Doyle wrote:

Wondering are the current ice/wind conditions safe? I know it can change quickly, any opinions on if it will be safe tomorrow? What should I be looking for as a sign to either get off the ice or not go on it at all. Finally, is there a spot that is usually more safe than others?

Saturday is good as far as wind goes. You could fish anywhere from Duluth to Two Harbors without worry.

Sunday is a definite no go. It’ll be the strongest WNW wind since the ice formed. I am worried we will lose some of it.

As far as when to get off. If people are packing up and leaving, it’ll be too late. Just because people are out there doesn’t mean everything is peachy. Herd safety doesn’t apply. The herd is always lead by the stupidest person and if you don’t make your own decision based on the whether, you’re no smarter that the first guy.

With all that said, the ice sheet is really solid right now. That could change tomorrow though. I really hope tomorrow doesn’t screw things up.

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Patric Doyle wrote:</div>
Wondering are the current ice/wind conditions safe? I know it can change quickly, any opinions on if it will be safe tomorrow? What should I be looking for as a sign to either get off the ice or not go on it at all. Finally, is there a spot that is usually more safe than others?

Saturday is good as far as wind goes. You could fish anywhere from Duluth to Two Harbors without worry.

Sunday is a definite no go. It’ll be the strongest WNW wind since the ice formed. I am worried we will lose some of it.

As far as when to get off. If people are packing up and leaving, it’ll be too late. Just because people are out there doesn’t mean everything is peachy. Herd safety doesn’t apply. The herd is always lead by the stupidest person and if you don’t make your own decision based on the whether, you’re no smarter that the first guy.

With all that said, the ice sheet is really solid right now. That could change tomorrow though. I really hope tomorrow doesn’t screw things up.

Well that explains why I’m always the first guy walking into the Bar.

I found a pair of sunglasses on the donkey path out this morning. This was on the south end of Brighton beach park. They must have been dropped Friday evening. PM me the details, I’ll get them back to you.

Marking lots of stuff, but nothing fun yet.

Lots of fish chasing baits along the bottom today. Fighting, not so much.

That’s why they call it fishing and not catching.

I just talked with one of the city plow guys and they’re taking guys off the city routes today after 4 hours of cleaning up the main thoroughfares in town. He said Rochester is forecast to get 14″ of snow tonight with 50 mph winds following. He said the map he was shown this morning has this heavy snow going all the way up to Canuk country, the winds too.

I don’t know about ya’ll but I’d be fine if this next round just sort of jumped right over the state and went to Moscow to void its load.

meanwhile at pictured rocks…..

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phishingruven01 wrote:

meanwhile at pictured rocks…..

And I thought the guy riding his motorcycle to work in the winter was nuts

Hey guys new to the forum. Been trying to get up to Duluth for lakers and coho’s for a long time. Me and my bro have next weekend off what are the chances the ice stays for our trip?

Getting there when you have time is going to depend on the weather. Fishing when you get there may depend on the wind. I think the ice right now is in fair shape. Crossing the broken shelf ice at shore is a fun trek but doable. Once you’re on flat ice you should be fine as long as others are around fishing. As has been mentioned, if you see lots of people bagging up and leaving, do the same as something is probably not right with conditions.

Some big league wind is forecast for tomorrow and if the open water further north gets rolling bad it can do in a huge amount of established ice in a hurry, so if your trip is next weekend check back on say Tuesday to see what tomorrow’s blow does to things before you commit.

The ore harbor at Two Harbors probably won’t suffer from the wind and that’s always an option for you. Its an experience really so if you can settle for the harbor just to do it, I say go for it.

Appreciate it Tom! We don’t really care where we fish just wanna catch some lakers/cohos through the ice. I’ll check back in here Tuesday to see how tomorrow’s wind effected the ice. Thanks again!

Hey Guys, I thought I would give an update. I did get out today and am happy to say I’m still alive to give the report of my experiences. Really wasn’t as scary once I seen so many people and houses this afternoon. Didn’t get out to the lake until around 2pm, just carried out the bare essentials glad that I left my house at home this time, the first part of the trek out was a little “un-even!” Thank you guys for your willingness to help and your insight and tips!

Stopped into Marine General prior to heading out and one of the patrons overheard that I was after Lakers and gave me some good tips on lures and such. I spent about 4 hours out on the lake with little movement on the Vexilar. No Lake Trout. Went and conversed with a close neighbor and came back to the hole to find this 57.75″ Lake Sturgeon. It was honestly the fight of my life! My arms still hurt. At one point I thought for sure I would lose it, as it drew line off of my spool to the point of where I could see the knot. Was able to gain line back, land the fish, take pictures and measure, before releasing it back into the lake. Thank goodness for fellow sportsmen, as that neighbor I mentioned ran over quickly when I hollered for help. I honestly would have probably lost the fish without his assist. He also took the picture and measured for me once the bugger was iced. Amazing guy and amazing fish. Once in a lifetime experience! I also have to give kudos to TUCR, my LTP was literally bent in half for the entire fight! Great job Guys!

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that is AWESOME!

now that’s a different kind of laker! congrats-great fish.

duplos

That would certainly be an eye opener. Nice job, great catch.

That is so amazing, congratulations! How deep did you setup? That’s a fish-on moment you’ll never forget.

I packed up @ 1pm along with a lot of other like minded folk. The % leaving was so high, it looked like the ice was just about to possibly blow out.

That’s crazy. Pretty amazing to catch one on any body of water. Lake Superior is a lake where you truly never know. I saw someone post a report on another site where he caught one trolling.

I had a trout on last week that felt as big as that sturgeon. I forgot to engage the clip on the snap when I put a new lure on.

I imagine ice breakup out there would look a little like this.

Was out yesterday all day with a buddy of mine. First time either of us have ever done it. We caught 3 herring and 1 coho. All caught prior to about 10am. We started in 50 fow and worked are way out to 128 little by little. Unfortunately did not hook into a laker, but it was a really cool experience. We did have some marks through out the day that we thought could have been trout, but never could get one to bite. Lots of marks right on bottom when we were out deeper, but could not get them to chase at all. Who knows what they were.

Would guess the ice was about a foot thick minimum no matter where we went, near the pack ice I was not even able to drill through it in some spots. The pack ice maze is no joke and a lot of work to get through.

I am almost positive that at one point we were fishing less than 50 yards from Patric who caught the sturgeon. I had snapped a photo looking toward Duluth and there is a guy in an orange jacket that was sitting on a bucket! Congrats on the nice fish! I am guessing we were already gone otherwise we would have seen/heard you catch it.

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I’m up in Duluth and trying to get some fishing in on the big lake. Went out Saturday of off 21st ave and set up in 75 feet. Had marks on the bottom all day and could get some to chase for a couple feet but couldn’t get any to commit. Looking back, I think my approach was too aggressive as I was using a medium sized spoon (little Cleo) that fluttered pretty wildly. I spoke to about a dozen different fishing parties that I passed while accessing and exiting the lake and not a single person caught a fish. Lots of marks was a common theme though. Of course people could be lying, but people sounded pretty disappointed. Most travelled from pretty far away to fish. Can’t expect to slay them on a lake you’ve never fished before though! The basin in front of duluth seems to bottom out around 75 feet where we were and I have a hunch the more aggressive fish were in deeper water further up the shoreline, like where they found them on the latest IDO episode.
The wind today kept us off the lake. We just weren’t confident enough to go out and play on the ice sheet with 40-50 mph wind gusts. Went for a drive up the shore and saw a handful of people braving the conditions. We walked on the lake up off of Brighton beach and grabbed some pictures of the pack ice right off shore. The ice was much taller up there than it was right in Duluth. Very cool experience. We spoke with a local gentleman who was out walking his husky on the lake and he mentioned that he hasn’t seen the ice reach all the way across to Wisconsin from Duluth up to two harbours with this thick of ice for quite some time. Are there any old timers from Duluth on here that can verify this is a pretty rare year? He said he is very confident the ice sheet won’t be going anywhere, but once again we just weren’t willing to risk it.
Tomorrow’s plan is to fish off Brighton beach and stay mobile from 80-130 feet. Hoping to hook into my first laker!
By the way, we didn’t find less than 12 inches of ice while fishing out front of Duluth. We got past all the ice ridges and pack ice and it was a consistent 12 out there. I can report what I find in front of Brighton beach tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Keep the reports coming! I am living vicariously through all these reports. Just got buried in Rochester with a foot of snow but if this shelf stays put, I got to make the trip! Conrats guys on all the awesome fish!

Well how’d we do with all that wind yesterday??

Jake wrote:

Well how’d we do with all that wind yesterday??

It hung on….

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Pretty good odds it holds till next Tuesday?

There was a fresh crack with open water about 50 yards off shore from Brighton beach today. That’s the only difference I noticed there today compared to Sunday around noon. I fished a couple hundred yards from shore out in front of it and once again found a consistent 12 inches past the pack ice. Saw snowmobile tracks out there so people are starting to drive some machines out there. I feel like it would take a long stretch of heavy winds out of the South West or North East to break things up now. Once again, the only noticeable difference I observed in the ice within a couple hundred yards of shore between noon Sunday and today was that little crack with open water in it. That’s all that happened after 24 hours of sustained 30mph+ winds with 50+ gusts. Wind was out of the North West all of Sunday.

Also, fair warning for those of you planning on fishing the lake: the pack ice is much taller and aggressive north of Duluth than it is right out from Duluth. This is a very difficult walk, especially when pulling a sled with gear. You’ll be walking on snow pack one second and the next your foot falls 2 feet and is wedged between ice sheets. If you go too fast or lose balance I could see some ankle/knee/leg injuries happening easily. With that said, I highly suggest you be in relatively good physical condition as it’s a pretty strenuous walk.

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Thomas Brynildson wrote:

We spoke with a local gentleman who was out walking his husky on the lake and he mentioned that he hasn’t seen the ice reach all the way across to Wisconsin from Duluth up to two harbours with this thick of ice for quite some time. Are there any old timers from Duluth on here that can verify this is a pretty rare year?

We fished the spot IDO filmed at a couple days before they filmed the show and were told by locals it hadn’t been ice fished since ’96. Not sure how true that is but that’s what I heard.

wasn’t superior 95% or so frozen a few years back when we had the polar vortex? I’ve watched youtubes of guys out 20 miles fishing lakers. Also, after the vortex winter, I remember reading and seeing pictures of ice washing up on shore in late june.
…edit to add graphic I found

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