Dude that is a slob!!!

The Fog was completely ingulfing. I went out at 6:00 and only saw two boats until 2:00 and one was my buddy who was targeting the same area. I had my stocking cap, rain coat and sweat shirt on until noon. I love natural air conditioning.
I ended up 3/5 a very nice 8lb King, a 29″ Steelie and a 7lb laker, lots of tick and runs on the long line. I don’t count them because I never really had them on and I assume they were Pinks. All fish came off of a #7 purpledescent tail dancer. I’ve done so well with these up there I have 5 in my box. Run them 150′ behind the boat/board and hold on.
Saturday night I ran solo again from 7-8:30 and got 1 Coho around 5lbs, 3 lakers and I downsized and got 6 pinks and 2 more bows. A very intense 90 minutes by myself. Ending up 12/18. Most coming off a 2″ pink and white luhr-jenson spoon I got out of a bargain bin for 50 cents.
Sunday was tough. We only got 2 lakers from 6-12:00 both around 5lbs. Found a very nice temperature break and fished it hard but only got one from there and the other just out in the abyss. Went out to 650′ and found 59 degree water but no fish. Hope to head up labor day weekend or maybe a day trip during the week.
Fishing is only going to get better. Anyone who likes to fly fish should be ready to head up there. The lake is full of pinks and when they decide to make their run it’s going to be intense. I’d say 2-4 weeks.

Went up to the north shore on 4/2. Hit the Lester at day break. Had one on, saw 5-7 Loopers caught up by the railroad bridge and then it got crowded around 9:00. We started up the scenic route and stopped at the French and the Tallmadge but didn’t fish till the Sucker. We caught 2 natives and saw a few more jumping the rapids. Didn’t see any Loopers caught. Got chased away by the thunder storms around 4:00.
Spawn bags and yellow or orange yarn flies were the successful baits. If you get an oppurtunity to try this, I defineatly would.

Convension Center. Down Town Minneapolis.

No hard feelings. I’m just trying to get a picture of my five year old with the biggest Walleyes he’s ever caught. Was a little concerned about him sticking his fingers around it’s gills, I’m sure you understand. And you know how girls are, I’m just glad they wanted to go in the boat at all, much less hold some slimy fish.

Truth be told, I usually get a length and girth and figure out the weight, rather then trust a scale which has been banging around in the boat. You can see in the pictures it’s not even on. The scale measures pounds and ounces and the graph I use figures it in pounds and tenths of a pound.

By the way, a single puncture hole will heal. I wouldn’t “Slice” a hole in any fish. The worst, most stressful, thing I’m doing to these fish is catching them. I know for certain that putting a fish in a net, tearing up it’s scales, fins and tail is doing much more long term damage then one hole in their lower jaw. But you want to take it out of the net, do the tare weight and then replace it in the net. I can’t see the benefit.

We were out in no mans land. We never got with-in half a mile of anyone fishing, so we were well off the flats. We did catch a few on top of the flats near Garrison a couple weeks ago though. Surface water temps were in the low 70’s.

The bigger fish always seem to go on the leadcore, but if you want to put fish in the box riggers are the way to go. I can see why the lead works for the bigger fish, spookier, wiser, more stealthy, but I am not really sure why the smaller fish go for the riggers. Alot of the time I run all Shad-Raps because I know they work, but with the extra rods I’m going to experiment as much as possible.
I’d say definetly give it a shot. If you have the gear, might as well use it.

At a Boy, Chucker! No one is really doing well on the Salmon this year so don’t feel bad. Going up the next 2 weekends to try and hammer out some 20 lbs’ers. Haven’t heard alot from up there so glad you chimed in. Thanks and great report.

Thanks for the info. Tried the things you said and put 3 over 25″, one 20″er and 3 slotters in the boat. Absolute hoot.

We only caught 2 fish in dipsy range, which I consider 60′ or less. The water is just too cold for the fish to rise that high. If the water raises above 50 you can catch them from top to bottom. We caught everything in 150+ fow, right on the bottom. Even the guys running out to the state line in 300+ are down 150 to 200 for even the coho’s and steel head. This is a funny year. We need about 2 weeks of 90+ degrees and a stiff south wind to get the north shore going. If I were you I’d buy a Wisconsin License and hit the south shore, the fish are closer to shore and shallower. They’re getting a few walleyes in the 30+” range with laker trout and salmon mixed in.

Went back up on the 18-19. Got 11 Lakers in 2 hours on Saturday evening from 7-9:00. Then went right back Sunday morning at 5AM and got nothing. Sat night water temps where in the low to mid 40’s and Sun AM tough to find any above 39, headed north with no luck. Decided to pull the plug at noon and smacked a nice 7-8 lbs King right outside the break wall. Sure was tastey.

A couple more notes on the Siscowet:
They are only found in Lake Superior and make up as much as 60% of the total bio-mass of the entire lake.
They typically live in water from 300 to 900′ and spawn in 100′. Being they are that deep they have a great spawning success rate because of the lack of predators.
Up to 80% of their total body weight is in fat, making it one of the the only fish in the world you don’t need oil to fry. Problem is you start with a 4lb fillet and end up with an 8oz meal.
At the turn of the century they were harvested to make low grade lamp oil.
Last thing, pound for pound, I don’t think they fight near as hard as the leans, which rarely in Lake Superior get over 12lbs. But any 20lb fish, regardless of species or strain, is going to give a good fight. I think they’re so used to being so deep and so cold, they’re just lathargic.

Here’s my boy with a couple silvers. I had to almost bribe him to go with, now he wants to go tommorrow and he asked if I had any plans for the weekend.

Wind is suppose to switch to the SW 5-10 Friday morning and deminish throughout the day. Then Saturday it’s going to get wicked with the wind kicking up to 20 out of the east with rain and temps in the 30’s. No Thanks. I’ll PM you next time I have an open seat.
Guess you’re going to have to hit the rivers Thursday, sounds like they’re catching a few Loopers and seeing the occasional Steely on the Lester. I would love to get a day of that too. Wife got me a Steelhead fly-rod for x-mas my old one struggled with big bluegills and I’d really like to try it out.
Try this website it’s pretty cool- (iWindsurf.com), and check out the forcast for Two Harbors. It gives you hour by hour temp, wind and overcast percentage. It’s as reliable as the rest of them with more details I care about.

They’re not really that bad. As long as you’re o.k. with your fish I.D. you’ll be fine. Anyone in particular your concerned about? I’m sure someone here will help you out.

Thursday is out but I’m calling in sick from the boat on Friday so if you’re open I’m sure I’ll have room.

No you don’t need them early but later I would say probably yes. Not that the water ever gets warm but the fish do go deeper, especially the Lakers. You could run pump handles and lots of guys run Dipsy’s, but then you’ll need the rods to handle them. You can find some cheap manual riggers on e-bay and always turn around and sell them if you don’t like it.
You’ll be fine in a 16’er. Just be careful, don’t take any chances and stay in close. Some of the best fishing is with-in half mile of the harbors.

I run an 18′ Lund, but I don’t plan on running all the way down from Two Harbors. If I can’t catch em there, I won’t catch them anywhere. Should be a few fish around the Stewert in Flood Bay or I could run up to Gooseberry. Just have to see. McQuades should bust open in the next few days, I would think.

Heading up Wed or Thurs depending on the wind.
Grant did you go south from Two Harbors or put in elsewhere?
Thanks for the report.

Landing is open in Two Harbors…Hoping to head up Friday… No word on any catches yet…Yeah!!!!

Nice Browns!!! Way to go!

Wright County, south of Monticello.

Man Thats a BEAUT!!! Caongrats!

Craig and I have one trip to Port Washington Aug 7-9, hoping the fishing is better this year and put a couple more trips together earlier.
It’s nice having Craig and his boat out there so when we limit out they can come and relieve us.

You just can’t compare that one on one time with your kids. They can tell you’re just as excited as they are when they’re pulling those fish up. It’s days like those they’ll remember forever.
Way to Go!

Dandy Fish Grant!

Water temps are in the low 40’s still. There’s just too much water to freeze even with the cold temps we’ve been having. Unless you’re one hard core boater you’ll have to wait for the pack ice to blow down from Canada.

I’ve got one sitting on my flat bed right now. It had embalming fluid in it that reeked. They’re actually for stationary use. Maybe if you could insulate it somehow it would cut out the echo. You ever put a 5 gallon bucket up to your sunflower heater. Think of being inside it.

I was pretty deep as well, 9-10′, was trying around the sunken islands and only marked bait fish in 5-6′. Moved to deeper water around 2:00 and stayed there for the remainder.
Maybe I’ll see you out there, still riding the tan King Quad pulling an eskimo, ice just isn’t thick enough to drive the diesel on yet.

I was on the same lake and did well on Saturday as well but didn’t really get into them till around 3:00 when the freezing rain started. How deep were you fishing in?