Thunderstorms early last week brought both challenging and rewarding fish outings. We are definitely changing up some techniques and patterns as summer moves into fall. Last week, we found success working mud-basins and sunken wood.
Our boat sonar, side imaging and GPS electronics have been major contributing factors for finding fish but don't forget old-fashioned marker buoys. If you solely rely on a "mark/waypoint" on the graph, and something happens like the wind picking up, pushing the boat off the spot, it can be tricky to get back.This last week it was good fishing pitching jigs with soft plastics and/or live bait at the marker buoy knowing the jig was falling down to where we wanted it to. It reminds me of the days Grandpa would position us in front of a white cabin about 50 feet off the east shore and lined up with the tall tamarac tree on the North Shore. Gives me a chuckle as I'm certain this sounds all too familiar to a lot of you.
Inland lakes were decent with crappies and perch starting to move off their summer weeds. Things continue to pick up in deeper waters related to structure such as rock and wood. Slip bobbers and/or jigging small plastics or crappie minnows has been successful. Walleyes and Pike continue to check in on mid-lake reef trolls in the area. Speed trolling in the 2.5-3 mph range has been good using long-line crankbaits over 20-30 feet of water. Water temps in all area waters are definitely in the cool down period. Bass are still being caught near shallower areas under shade. Throwing wacky worms or smaller floating stick baits have been good.
The St. Louis River has been on the quiet side as of late except for Muskie angling and a "few" walleye/crappie reports. Boat traffic has dwindled and anglers can find plenty of room. Many areas of the river have dirty and faster water making angling a bit on the slower side. Best bet for walleyes is to target in on trolling channel edges with crankbaits. Smallmouth fishing in the upper sections of the river near Oliver, Boy Scout and Chambers Grove has been worth the effort. Casting tube jigs in bright colors continues to be best bet. Don't overlook a topwater bait, especially at dusk and dawn.
Lake Superior streams are producing browns, brookies and the occasional Chinook salmon.
Lake Superior continues to impress with good reports from both charter captains and recreational anglers ike. Trolling deeper waters of 100-150 feet near the bottom has been good. Running flashers continues to be a good bet. Smaller fish seem to be the norm, but there can be somewhat of a variety with a few small kings, an occasional bonus walleye and a bunch of lake trout. This is the time of year where bigger Lakers can be caught. So look to see a fair amount of Lake Superior anglers from the Lester River to Two Harbors on the search for a trophy. The South Shore walleye bite was quiet last week mostly due to the recent storms. Chequamegon Bay is putting out some nice catches of smallmouth and big pike near Ashland.
