May 1st 2022 Update

By -

 Latest North Shore Conditions: SHORE-WIDE BLOWOUT

Cripes! There's no way to sugar-coat that and we were just flirting with our first major push of the 2022 season, at least on the Lower Shore. No question there are fish around and have been for a while. They are being caught in the rivers and at the trap, but May 1 flows across the shore are in ludicrous territory. 1800cfs at the Knife, 1580 and climbing at the Baptism, 1400+ at the Arrowhead Brule as of this writing. It's enough to make a steelheader cry but DON'T, one thing we don't need is more water right now! Which is crazy to think given last year's widespread drought, we would have paid cash money for this kind of precipitation.

Lower Shore conditions since MNST started tracking on March 5th. Flow values ice-affected or backwater/backflows prior to April 13th and not posted. The charting ends on April 30th immediately before things got crazy but as we said, we were flirting with it:

Mid Shore was trying to warm on the 28th and 29th as flows began dropping:


Same for Upper Shore:



For an idea of just how far off the map we are right now, here's a Knife River gaging curve converted to fishing ranges. It illustrates where fishing conditions fall based on gage height and/or flow. If you know the flow, then draw a line straight up from the corresponding number at the bottom (or straight across from a gage reading), it gives you a rough idea of what fishing conditions are likely to be. Things start to get dicey on the Knife at around 500cfs, we're currently triple that: 


 Here's hoping we string a few dry days and some sun together!

Regards and tight lines-

Minnesota Steelheader

 

Location: Duluth, MN, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 MNST Creel Project Results

By -
Image
The Minnesota Steelheader Creel Project - Celebrating 10 Years! Each year, Minnesota Steelheader collects angler-submitted creel reports of steelhead, kamloops and presumed coaster brook trout through our Creel Project page. This catch information is presented in ways we hope provides you with the most accurate picture of Minnesota's annual and long-term North Shore steelhead run behavior. This is not a scientific creel by definition. We do however incorporate and present as much of the available scientific literature as we can; the difference is that this is done from an angler's perspective. These tools provide an opportunity to be a more knowledgeable and most importantly, a more successful North Shore steelheader. While the primary focus has been fish caught in the tributaries during the Spring migration and spawning run, we appreciate and accept creel reports year-round . MNST analyzes reported catch dates, region caught, the numbers by species, measurement
Read more

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 fisherme
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