Field reports: Western Lake Superior gives up another large lake trout

In case you missed it in Wednesday's News Tribune, Duluth's Tim Jezierski, a long-time Lake Superior troller, has caught what is believed to be the largest "lean" lake trout taken at the Duluth end of Lake Superior in many, many years. Fishing from his wife's cousin's boat on May 24, Jezierski caught a lake trout that was 45¾ inches long and 31 inches in girth. Though he kept the fish, he did not weigh it.

Don Schreiner, Department of Natural Resources area fisheries supervisor at French River, estimates the weight of the fish at between 35 and 40 pounds.

Jezierski, 62, was fishing with Jack Janousek of Duluth and Janousek's son, Mike Janousek. They were seven miles out of the Superior Entry in Wisconsin water. They were trolling over 105 feet of water.

The fish hit a black and purple Bomber minnow imitation trolled on the surface with no weight, Jezierski said.

"It headed right for the bottom," he said. "After about 15 minutes, it surfaced. At that time, it looked 6 feet long to us."

The anglers put the fish on a hand-held De-Liar scale, which bottomed out at 28 pounds. They left the water at 5:30 p.m. and didn't take the trout to be weighed. Grocery-store scales are too small to support a trout of that size, Jezierski said.

"And it was Sunday night on a holiday weekend. I didn't figure any butchers [who have larger scales] would be at work," he said.

Length-girth ratios would have put the trout's weight near 50 pounds, but Jezierski is sure it doesn't weigh that much.

"I think it would have been 40 anyhow," he said.

"Tim's fish is the largest lake trout I recall being caught on this end on the lake over the last 15 years, including siscowet [so-called 'fat'] lake trout," said Don Schreiner, Department of Natural Resources Lake Superior area fisheries supervisor at French River.

Jezierski plans to have the fish mounted.

More fishing contests coming up

The 28th annual United Northern Sportsmen's Club's summer fishing contest will be held Saturday and Sunday on Island Lake. Entry fee is $5. Tickets are available from club members and Chalstrom's Bait and Tackle before the contest and from the UNS clubhouse on Island Lake at 7229 Rice Lake Road during the contest.

The second Grand Slam Walleye Contest of this season will be held Saturday and Sunday on the St. Louis River. Entry fee is $250 per two-person team. Contact tournament director Tom Pfister at (218) 348-0700.

Looking ahead: The Lincoln Park District Walleye Open will be June 20 on the St. Louis River.

Walleyes stocked on Sag

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has stocked 4.5 million walleye fry on Saganaga Lake to bolster natural reproduction of walleyes on the lake, said Steve Persons, DNR area fisheries supervisor at Grand Marais.

The fish, each about 3/8 of an inch long, were stocked May 21-22 at various locations on the U.S. side of the lake.

"For many years, we've been seeing low numbers of small, young walleyes in our assessments and in reports from anglers," Persons said. "We had some concerns that recruitment [production of young walleyes] had dropped off, so we thought we'd supplement that with some fry stocking."

The plan is to stock fry every other year for a few years, Persons said. The fish were unmarked, so it will be difficult to measure the results of the stocking, he said. The fry were raised from eggs taken this spring at the Pike River on Lake Vermilion. They should begin showing up as 12- to 13-inch fish in three years, Persons said.

Peregrine watch to begin on Lakewalk

Starting Wednesday, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory will again provide people on the Lakewalk a free look at peregrine falcons nesting atop the Greysolon Plaza Hotel.

Naturalists will be on duty from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, weather permitting, at Lake Place Park.

Two falcons again are nesting in a box placed for that purpose atop the hotel. Last year, the falcons had four young, three of which died from disease and a fourth that survived and fledged.

This is the seventh consecutive year the falcons have nested there. They are presumed to be the same pair, although that isn't known for sure. The same female has been there since 2006 when she was banded, said Julie O'Connor with Hawk Ridge.

The female is sitting on eggs now, O'Connor said. Peregrine Watch will continue through mid-July.

Knife Island cormorant nests counted

Cormorants have 112 nests on Knife Island in Lake Superior, just off the town of Knife River on Minnesota's North Shore, said Don Schreiner, Department of Natural Resources Lake Superior area fisheries supervisor at French River.

That total is down from 122 nests in 2007, he said. No official count was made last year. This year's count was done by Gaea Crozier, nongame wildlife specialist for the DNR at Grand Rapids.

The count also turned up 779 herring gull nests and three goose nests, Schreiner said.

Free fishing weekend Minnesota's Take a Kid Fishing Weekend is Friday through Sunday.

Minnesota residents 18 and older may fish free with children younger than 16.

Wisconsin's Free Fishing Weekend is June

6-7. Resident and nonresident anglers of all ages can fish Wisconsin waters without a fishing license on these days.