Lower Shore: Duluth to Two Harbors
Surface water temps were 44 °F near Two Harbors and as high as 60 °F near Duluth. Anglers found success trolling bright spoons, stick baits and flasher flies near the thermocline, 30-60 feet down, in 100-150 feet of water. Anglers reported catching good numbers of 18-31 inch Lake Trout, 16-18 inch Coho Salmon, and a few 20-25 inch Chinook Salmon from all stations. The St. Louis River Estuary Walleye bite was consistent for 14-20 inch fish trolling stick baits and worm harnesses on the flats and jigging live bait on deeper structure. Construction on Highway 61 at the McQuade intersection and on Lighthouse Point Road in Two Harbors is taking place, which added some congestion at Agate Bay this week.
Upper Shore: Twin Points to Hovland
Surface water temps were 36-39 °F with a few pockets of water as warm as 43 °F reported. Anglers reported doing best for Lake Trout trolling bright, glow spoons and flasher fly combos in 100-200 feet of water near structure. Those anglers were catching mainly 17-22 inch Lake Trout while other anglers report fair luck targeting larger fish, 24-33 inches, suspended in the water column using live imaging technology and jigging. Shore angling was not productive yet as the water temps were too low and very few reports of Salmon were received for the same reason. Angler pressure was light from all stations during this reporting period.
Management Updates: Lake Superior is Different!
Lake Superior is just different than the other Great Lakes…it’s bigger, deeper, colder, and is dominated by native predator and preyfish like lake trout, cisco, bloater, and kiyi. In an average year, Lake Superior surface temperatures are 3-9 ⁰ F colder than the other Great Lakes. The cold, deep waters and high abundance of native species helps prevent the establishment of invasive species like alewife, Eurasion ruffe, round goby, threespine stickleback, and zebra and quagga mussels.
If you have been on the water this year, you have noticed this has been a colder than normal spring and water temperatures are still very cold except closer to Duluth. Although it makes fishing for salmon a bit more difficult, it is a good “reset” for the system which in recent years has seen unusually warm waters extending as far into the year as late October when lake trout are typically spawning. Cold springs, especially cold water in June, is one driver of cisco year-class success which we had seen the past few years from the historic 2022 year-class. Because of the lack of alewife which is the preferred diet of salmon in the Great Lakes (especially Chinooks or Kings), juvenile cisco provide an incredible food source that we have seen produce record-breaking coho and enormous Chinooks.
The problem is that over the past 30 years, successful cisco year-classes have become smaller and further apart with only a few successful but very small year-classes being produced in a ten-year period likely due to warmer springtime water temperatures and a lack of ice-cover. These small year-classes do not produce enough fish to provide enough forage for salmon like we had seen from the 2022 historic year-class. Compared to lake trout that can live well over 15 years, salmon have a short life cycle and need ample forage to grow from a newly hatched fry to a spawning adult in only 3 to 4 years and in most years that is just not what Lake Superior provides. Coho have a bit more diverse diet strategy than Kings, which is likely why we see higher coho abundance, and lake trout are extremely opportunistic eaters that can shift their diets to whatever forage is available which is why they truly are built for Lake Superior and why anglers have enjoyed record catches the past two years.
Diversity in the fishery is a great thing and although cold years make for short summers here on the North Shore, they just might provide the forage we need to continue to enjoy this great fishery!
For more information, questions about fisheries management in Minnesota waters of Lake Superior, or to suggest a topic for a Management Update, please contact Lake Superior Fisheries Supervisor Cory Goldsworthy at cory.goldsworthy@state.mn.us or 218-302-3268.
NOAA CoastWatch: Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis (GLSEA)
Helpful Links
 Questions?
Email us at Lake Superior fishing report
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