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Lower Shore: Duluth to Two Harbors
West winds blew warm water offshore and brought in cold water in the lower 40’s at the beginning of the week that went as deep as 100 feet. This made fishing difficult at times for some anglers. Anglers did well from the Lester River to Two Harbors trolling 80 to 100 feet down. Most of the Lake Trout were 17-20 inches. Using spoons seemed to be the most fruitful with several reports of green producing the most fish. Anglers fishing first thing in the morning or during the later hours of the day seemed to have the best luck. A ton of Smelt are being found in the stomachs of Lake Trout so if you’re having trouble getting bit a meat rig is worth a try. Reports of Chinook Salmon were up a bit this week from all over the Lower Shore. There does not seem to be any real pattern to these fish, and most were caught while trolling for Lake Trout. Walleye fishing in the St. Louis River Bay was decent running bright colored stickbaits with planar boards.
Upper Shore: Twin Points to Hovland
Surface water temps plummeted into the upper 30’s and low 40’s early this week due to strong north and west winds blowing the warmer water offshore and bringing cold water up from the depths. Anglers reported the cold water extended deep into the water column. Yesterday surface water temps were nearing 50 °F close to shore. This cold water negatively affected angler success and Lake Trout were widely scattered throughout the water column and varying distances from shore. Anglers reported that presentations run closer to the surface using flat lines, planer boards, and dipsy divers were all effective. Coho and Chinook Salmon were rare from all stations, but Pink Salmon are beginning to show up. Most were 14-16 inches long with the occasional larger one. Pink Salmon make great table fare and should not be overlooked! Anglers also reported an uptick in the numbers of Steelhead caught this week, with some larger fish up to 28 inches. Angler pressure was light to moderate from most stations while Grand Marais has seen more consistently moderate angler pressure.
Management Updates
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As Lake Superior surface temperatures remain high during the summer, anglers should consider that hooking mortality for Lake Trout is estimated to be as high as 43% when water surface temperature exceeds 50 °F. Please exercise caution and do not sort through (catch-and-release) numerous fish to get to your limit and be cognizant that if you are catch-and-release only fishing that you may actually be killing more Lake Trout than the harvest angler that catches their three fish limit and goes home. Shawn Sitar, a Michigan DNR Fisheries Researcher out of Marquette, conducted a post-release mortality study on Lake Superior Lake Trout that began in 2010, read more about his work below.
Lake trout: to release or not release. Shawn Sitar, Fisheries Research Biologist, Marquette Fisheries Research Station, Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Shawn P. Sitar , Travis O. Brenden, Ji X. He & James E. Johnson (2017) Recreational Postrelease Mortality of Lake Trout in Lakes Superior and Huron, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 37:4, 789-808.
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 Questions?
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Email us at Lake Superior fishing report
Give us a call at 218-302-3277
Fishing report hotline at 218-302-3293
Report suspicious activity at 800-652-9093
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