Walleyes, salmon and Lake Trout. All three of my favorite fish within 10 miles of each other and accessible without taking your boat out of the water. You could say Duluth has some great fishing! And right now, the bite has been very good! From walleyes on the shallow, warm St Louis River, to lake trout and salmon in the clear cold waters of Lake Superior, the fish are hungry!
Let’s start with the St Louis River first. WOW is all I have to say. 50 plus fish in one evening ranging from 16 to 25 inches is common right now. How are you catching them may you ask? Simply by putting a Rapala Husky jerk (Tennessee shad color hint hint) back 80 feet behind the boat and trolling in 5 to 11 feet of water. Yup that’s all it takes. Shad raps and JSR’s have been working as well. From the Superior entry up past the Bong Bridge, the fish are on a tear. Windy days have been which isn’t a surprise, you just have to work a little harder to keep boat control inline. I have been longlining 4 rods right out the back foregoing my planer boards. You will catch more fish this way, period. Leave the boards in the boat or at home, if you have the rod holder setup to longline 4 rods.
Lake Superior lake trout are finally starting to move deep after residing in 6 to 10 feet of water for a few months. Getting spoons and cranks down 30 to 55 feet now is the trick. And to do this, you don’t need downriggers. Suffix 832 Leadcore will get you there…and then some. Last fall, We were snagging up in 100 fow with a spoon on this lead. If you want to get deep, this is the trick. The best part is you can easily fit numerous colors on your size 27 walleye line counters! Spoons in the green, white, and wonderbread colors have been best as of late. The area immediately out of Duluth has slowed down, so instead, I would head out of Mcquade landing, or else Knife river to access some cooler water with more contrast. Troll 2.1 to 2.5 mph and look for water temp breaks or else mud lines. There are still some out there. 3 degrees is a big deal this time of year.
The salmon are quickly disappearing as the water warms up. Coho fishing has been descent up in silver bay and two harbors. Kings are well kings and kind of hard to find. There are a few around tho so set those drags right! Lol. The salmon will rin 25 to 35 feet down this time of year as well. I have a busy schedule for the next week or so, but after that I plan on hitting it hard again for awhile! Take care!
Looks like a blast Grant !!!
Nice to have that in your back yard !!
Way to go, Grant – Nice fish!!
We still need to hit the river – keep in touch!
Love the drag singing big eyes and trout, keep at em pal – BIG QB
man thats what im talking about!! could someone give me a list of the boat ramps that are nearest to the areas you generally fish? i was thinking knife river marina would be a good one to use this time of year.
also what time of year can you catch lakers by jigging? or can you get em all year doing this?
LOTS of information in there, and a great report! Love the tip on the keeping the boards in the boat. If the bite is hot right now and you don’t have to, why run them.
For the salmon, are most of these fish coming on spoons or plugs. Colors?
Joel