The North Shore

Well, here we are, an official area of this site dedicated to Lake Superior. I wanted to post a message with the North Shore as a heading so we can zero in on this area. I originally posted my question under General Discussion, but now we can communicate here. So lets get it started!!! My questions are

1. Who plans trips to this area?

2. How long have you been doing it?

3. When do you usually go?

4. What do you usually catch?

5. How do you fish the area?

6. Etc.

I hope this string really gets going, good luck to all

Smitty II

I think the best chances of picking up trout/salmon in the Duluth area are earlier in the year, Mid April thru June. Later on in the summer you are better off going to Two Harbors and beyond. Silver Bay has a great facility, there is also a launch by tofte but it can be a nightmare in the wind.

If you surveyed most people out on the big lake the favorite trolling lure is the Bomber Long A. The Yozuri cranks are being used by more people as well but I have never used them much.

Spoons of course work with Northport Nailers being very popular.

Flys are becoming more popular, like they are on Lake Michigan, but you need to troll down to around 2mph for them to work.

The biggest key is to keep changing baits to find out what works for that day.

Good Luck

Yellow Lab, Thanks for the info! I have made plans to stay in Tettegouche (sp?) State Park over the Memorial Day weekend. As you probably know the park is quite a bit north of the areas you are referring to. Is the fishing up by Silver Bay and further north good during this time of year? If youknow I would appreciate the info,

Thanks

Smitty II

I don’t know if you’re much of a river guy but you might still find a steelhead in the Baptism at that time of year. That’s getting a little late in the season but you never know. Might be something to think about if you get blown off the lake. That’s a great park and the river is right there plus in a pinch there are other good rivers nearby.

I have never fished the lake up there that early in the year, but I am sure there would be fish around. You may want to contact beaver bay sports to see if they have any info. I believe their website is beaverbaysports.com. I am not sure how helpful they would be but it is worth a call. I will talk to some of my buddies who fish more than I do to see if they have any hot tips and post back.

Also bluefins note to check the rivers is a good one, if there is water in them there will be fish and the Baptism is a great river.

Like I posted before, my pilgrimage starts in March at the Lester River, and then on to the French, and if that is crowded, the little and Big Sucker, Bluebird, Stony Point, and the Knife. Looper bobbers and jigs, rigs with crawlers or spawn sacks, or even casting Little Cleos. In September, you get the Lakers moving in by Brighton Beach, and Stony Point where you can get them shore casting Cleos and Raps, and Doc Spoons.

Tuck

Eye-Guide, Are the fish usually running shallow or deep that time of year? Can you drift fish or should a guy troll? Anchor? Or fish from shore? I am a first timer and don’t want to look like an idiot! Thanks, Smitty II

Eye guide may have some different opinions but the methods he is talking about are shore fishing methods. They are pretty simple rigs. A looper bobber is just a weighted bobber so you can cast it way out there. You can pick some up an Marine General in Duluth. The fish that time of year are going to be pretty shallow.

If you are out in the lake in your boat troll. A couple of shallow set downriggers, starting at maybe 10ft, and a couple of board lines with plugs or spoons and an ounce of weight. Then once you get your spread out start watching the graph and make changes.

If you shorefishing in the rivers drift spawn in the current bouncing it off the bottom and if you are on the lakeshore Eye-guide gave a great synopsis of locations and techniques. If you want some more specifics about setting up the shorefishing rigs let me know.

I always here that people ar catching loopers from shore-one question: what the heck is a looper? Some kind of hybrid trout?

‘Looper’ is an abbreviation for ‘Kamloops’. It is a strain of rainbow that is stocked by the DNR. They provide excellent shore-fishing opportunities. People also have luck with small boats fishing just offshore. This is normally a cold weather fishery-late fall through late spring. The shore fishing is not too complicated. I believe it was addressed in a earlier post in this forum. Post back if you have any questions. Also, any of the places mentioned in my post in the ‘resorts’ thread are right nearby good looper spots.

daveb –

as a followup to my other post: loopers run somewhere between 2 and 9 lbs(approximately) and are chunkier looking than a steelhead (if you are familiar with those). They are fun fish to catch but can’t compare with the fight of a steelhead. They do also run the tributary rivers

Lab, nicely done! I rigged downriggers on 2×4’s across the boat, attached them with c clamps, or pins through the orr locks. (On smaller boats.) I also added rod holders to it, and had a great easy on- easy off rig for downrigging.

The shore fishing is a blast too! But, when drifting spawn sacks, the French is the only river in the area where you cannot fish the actual river, you have to fish the mouth. And, when fishing from the mouth of the French, you have to be 100 yards either side of the mouth to use 2 rods per person.

ICO on London Road has Looper bugs if Marine General is not open! They have goofy hours!

Tuck