Staff Fishing Report

By -
A few of the Minnesota Steelheader staff headed for a North Shore excursion this past weekend. I say excursion because with the lack of water in all the tributaries from Duluth to Canada we just didn't know if this was going to be a fishing trip or a sight seeing adventure.

We packed up our gear and headed north Thursday evening. After much discussion we decided to call Two Harbors our home for the night. The last minute planing with are buddy Greg helped as we decided to all meet up Friday morning for some Middle shore river fishing. Nothing to early as the spring like air expected to get down to 10°f. With the cold evening temps we expected the water to be a bit too chilly at first light - water was 34°f at 7:30am on the Stewart.

Arriving to our main destination by 9:30am we were ready to get our feet wet. With water temps now at 38°f and a blue bird day we new it was just a mater of time before we got the magic of the 40°s. Though the water was low we did manage to land 4 fish on Friday - one nice buck at just a hair under 30". Not huge numbers of fish for 3 guys but we weren't complaining.

We moved North around 4pm to give some northern rivers a try. Water was low at every river we stopped at but the temps were perfect. Friday evening was not very eventful, though we did manage to hook a steelie right before dinner.

On Saturday we made it all the way up to the Brule. After exploring a bit we did manage to hook into one fresh chrome steelie that put on a show of 3 consecutive 3' acrobatic jumps then a smile and kindly returned the fly to the water. It made the overheated walk in the sun worth every drop of sweat.

Overall the shore needs rain bad, but there are fish in the larger rivers and the rivers with acceptable flow. We either caught or talked with people who caught fish in 4 of the7 rivers we visited spanning from the Split Rock to the Brule. On Sunday we talked to two guys we walked out of the river with that landed 8 and 5 fish respectively in about a 4 hour time frame - middle shore river. Between two of us we only had one during the same time frame. You can bet our hind sight was killing us. We opted out of going to the hole where the the majority of those 8 fish were caught. The trust your gut lesson is still being learned...

DB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shorecasting the North Shore

By -
Image
Shore casting the North Shore of Lake Superior can at times appear to be a daunting task, it is, however, an enjoyable and very effective way to fish the big lake.  River mouths Most of us have seen the numerous fishermen lining the banks near the French or Lester rivers. Why? Because these are consistently good places to fish. A beginning shore caster would be smart to start their quest fishing river mouths, particularly early in the season when steelhead, Kamloops and lakers can be found in abundance. The river plumes provide warm water and a steady flow of bugs which fish like. Due to the fairly shallow water found at most mouths, it’s best to fish them in low light. Target these areas early in the morning and late in the evening or on a dreary overcast day. You will be less noticeable to the fish and they will be less apt to spook.  Seeing how there are over 25 potential stream/river mouths to fish it would be crazy to ignore these great areas. Fly and hardware...
Read more

Pom-Pom Eggs - The Inexpensive Glo-Bug

By -
Image
One of the most useful and productive fly patterns you can carry when you fish the runs for steelhead, kamloops and salmon are eggs. Any time free drifting eggs are in the stream is a good time to fish them and, they can be fished with any type of equipment from Fly to Spinning rods. A wise SE Wisconsin guide once told me, "Any pattern will catch fish, as long as it has an egg in it." As with all flies, you will go through A LOT of them. One option is to purchase them, but at a dollar a pop or more, making your own is a simple and inexpensive proposition. In a short amount of time and with just a few simple tools, you can crank out eggs by the hundreds at just pennies per piece. I’m going to assume that you know how to do some basic tying; but if you don’t, this is a good pattern to start learning with because it will teach you some of the basics: How to Start Your Thread , how to position materials, and the Whip Finish . On Sizing I use the metric standard because it is eas...
Read more

No Treble Hooks!

By -
Image
 Years ago all an angler had was a paper regulation booklet and the word from fellow anglers and DNR officials stating that treble hooks are not allowed in our north shore tributaries below the posted boundaries.  This should be enough, right? Today we still have those regulation booklets and honestly they have come a long way in clarifying the dos and don'ts regarding our north shore fishery.  We also have dozens of signs along our rivers explaining the dos and don't as well as specifically stating the use of treble hooks. If that was not enough, anglers can simply search the internet.  Heck, these days, you can search stream side right from your phone.  In fact this post will be available streamside to anyone willing to take the time to search the web or scan the UR code from our report cards that went out this spring. Pictured above is a photo of a a crankbait that is in many o' bass anglers tackle arsenal. Heck, I have a few myself. T...
Read more