LS forum around here seems bit dead so far this season (eerily like much of fishing along the N. Shore to this point), so here’s a trip report from our run out to IR this past weekend.
Had not been out to Isle Royale for 20+ years so, like a child before Christmas, I could barely sleep for nearly a week in anticipation of finally retuning to the island.
My friend Kyle and I headed out on Friday morning in my 20′ Grady along with another friend who was bravely bringing his teenage son and 78 y/o father along in his 22′ Sea Ray. Largely uneventful if not somewhat wet crossing in 2-3′ waves (should have put up the canvas) and after a brief detour to take some photos out by Rock of Ages, we rounded the channel buoys into Siskiwit Bay around 10 AM and set out to find a campsite. Found an empty shelter at the Siskiwit Bay campground and set up shop there.
Fished for 4-5 hours that afternoon working the SW shore of the island from the bay back towards Feldtmann Head going 9/11. Nice ratio of Redfins in the mix, average size was 6-10# with only one large fish approaching the upper teens. Most of the fish came in 40-50 FOW and nearly all of them were picked off the top of the humps and reefs that litter the area. Our most consistent rods were: chrome dodger and green/chart SnG, purple/white spoon with pink dots, white/red bloody nose spoon and a copper watermelon FB. Surface temps were in the mid 40’s and the fish didn’t seem too interested in chasing their meal, as everything came tight to the bottom off of the riggers or 7-8 colors. Think one laker hit a stickbait on our 3 color, but everything else came on 7+ colors or bottom hugging riggers.
Despite a forecast for 10 kt winds and 1′ seas on Saturday, we awoke to the same 15-18 kt winds and SW 2-3′ chop we dealt with on Friday, which would only get worse as the day progressed. We headed out Sat morning and worked the most productive area from Friday, but the water had cooled overnight to 40-41 degrees and we found the fishing much slower. Tried a little shallower and a little deeper without any improvement. Boat control was getting to be an issue as the waves built and trying to fish tight to the bottom without snagging and hanging up was starting to become a losing battle. After donating our fair share of tackle to Lake Superior and losing what was probably the largest fish of the weekend 20′ behind the boat, we headed in for an early lunch after only going 3/6.
We decided to seek out some warmer water for the afternoon session and had noticed some 50 degree water at the entrance to Siskiwit Bay as we ran back to camp for lunch. Accordingly, we decided to stay in the bay when we headed back out as it would also afford some more protection from the winds/seas that were now gusting into the mid-20’s. Sat afternoon we trolled the SW shore of Siskiwit Bay and out towards Redfin Island where we found a nice swath of 50-52 degree water. The fishing improved in the warmer water and we salvaged the day with an 8/10 afternoon including a nice ~7# Chinook that may be my personal best on Superior.
The king hit an orange crush spoon on a mono board line and immediately took the outer board skimming across the surface towards the shore. After about a 25 yard run, the board went under and didn’t reappear for several minutes. No idea how we didn’t lose that fish, as despite freespooling the reel several times to get the board to pop back up it just wouldn’t. The board finally surfaced barely 10 yards from shore and I was finally able to get the counter going in the right direction. Not surprisingly after towing my TX-22 around under the surface for 5 minutes, that Chinook was pretty gassed so didn’t have a lot of spunk left in him by the time we got the board off and to the net.
I had planned to fish at least a half day on Sunday before heading back to the mainland, but unfortunately the guys in the other boat really wanted to get up and head straight back. Naturally, we awoke on Sunday morning to find a beautiful flat lake with only some slow rollers, so as much as it pained me to do it, we broke camp early and were back at the dock in GP by 9:15.
Overall, it was a good trip. I was a bit disappointed in the smaller than expected average size of the Lakers and the fact that we never tied into any upper 30’s or 40″ fish, but undoubtedly my expectations were set a bit too high for not having not fished the island in so long. One thing is for certain- It will certainly not be another 20 years before I return the next time!
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