fishing reports Lake Superior-Douglas County Fishing Reports

[Joe]

Please post your current fishing reports and lake conditions for Douglas county which include, Amnicon, the Brule River, Lake Minnesuing, the Eau Claire lakes, Lake Owen, Gordon Flowage near Gordon, Lake Superior and the St. Louis River!

 

Have fun.

[LoonASea]

I decided to go to the mouth of the Brule and do some shore casting yesterday ,,,the guys next to me did catch a few fish but the majority of fish I did see were those jumping in deeper water ,,,Nice day to be out standing in the water and I learned something new

LAS

[Jarrid Houston]

I want to start a topic on NW WI Douglas and Bayfield counties. Fishing has been pretty good. I have been to Amnicon already a half dozen times and pulled up a few walleyes and some nice pike on tip-ups. Also been to Pike chain of lakes and caught decent bluegills. Anyone else been fishing these area lakes?

[Jarrid Houston]

Gonna head out to Nebagomon tommarow, will give a full report.

[BD110]

Jarrid,

Welcome to HSO... I'm not sure if you checked the forum listed about six above this one titled Wisconsin Fishing and Hunting. There are many sub forums listed under it and one of them may be of more use to you for this topic or thread.

Hope that helps and thanks for the report.

[Steve Foss]

Jarrid, welcome. As Tom pointed out, there are specific Wisconsin forums that will probably do you better than this one.

I will say, however, that Nebagamon can be a mighty good fishing lake. Also check out the Eau Claire chain of lakes, Lake Owen and Lake Minnesuing (for crappies). When I lived in Superior I fished all these lakes with good success.

[Bill Berscheid]

Any luck on Nabagomon? I am new to the area and would welcome suggestions for ice fishing in Douglas County. How is the ice on the lake?

I have tried to find lake chips for this are but the ones I have found do not have contours for Nabagomon. I have tried Navitronics and Lake Maps. Do you have any suggestions on where to fish the lake?

[Steve Foss]

Bill, welcome to HSO/FM. Great to have you here.

Seriously, you'll get more and better information about NW Wisconsin area lakes by looking in on these Wisconsin fishing forums, and by posting a Nebagamon inquiry in this one in particular.

My info on NW Wisconsin lakes is old, because I haven't lived there for about 7 years, while the folks who post on the forums I mentioned are fishing these lakes in their back yards all the time.

Good luck!

[jefdig]

Jarrid, I live in Superior and I'm new to the area. I just went to the Wisconsin Fishing Forum and went to the Superior Area. 4 posts down is ice conditions around Superior. Maybe get on that and start posting. Seems like not many people post about lakes around Superior, so maybe you could help. I'll be looking forward to seeing you over there. Also, maybe even start a new post in that category of lakes around Superior. I've been fishing MN Duluth area and WI Superior area and find alot more info and responses on lakes in MN for some reason. Be good to get some more activity and knowledge of lakes around Superior so check it out and add your adventures and suggestions. Thanks

[Poacher's pariah]

It'd be great to have comments posted on the WI site. Let's all join in.

[Poacher's pariah]

BD110, might you be known as a "tuffy" in your younger years?

[Poacher's pariah]

BD, never mind. He was a lot better lookin' than you.

DJA. 116 the next street up.

drop me a line.

[outdoor ran]

PP, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not saying theres not northerns in Amnicon, but I've been fishing it for 25 years and have never caught a northern in it.

[jefdig]

I agree, all posts are almost a year old, maybe you could help out with some on there. I did a couple and will do more every time I go out. Is there easy access out on Minnesung and Amicon? Sure spelling is wrong, but what are some good panfish lakes close to Superior? I found the St. Croix to be pretty good and they are driving out full size trucks, I caught a few crappies on Sun. Thanks

[Steve Foss]

jefdig, thanks for helping out on those forums with reports. That's the kind of participation that strengthens any forum.

Minnesuing has public accesses on the north and southwest ends, and about mid way down the east side of the lake, where the highway goes right next to it, there's a Cstore/bar (not sure of that business and going off old memory) where you can park and walk out. I believe the deepest hole in the lake is off that highway, and that's where a bunch of folks set up for crappies. I fished a few times off the southwest access for pike and had a lot of nice tip-up action.

FWIW, if you like blackberries, there are scads of lush blackberries in August around that southwest public access to Minnesuing.

I fished Amnicon several times with good luck on 'eyes. Got a secret spot there I keep thinking I'll return to one of these days. There's a public access along the northwest shore, not far from good walleye water.

MIddle and Upper Eau Claire lakes are good clear walleye lakes with lots of sand and rock, and they have night bites for 'eyes. I also mentioned Lake Owen, which is also clear and a nice pike/walleye fishery. All three of these lakes have public accesses not far from good fishing water.

You should also check out the Gordon Flowage near Gordon. Not a walleye fishery, but I had some VERY good days there with tip-ups for pike and bass. Pike to 10 lbs, bass to 5 lbs. Public access there, too.

And the bays off the St. Louis River on the Wisconsin side (accessed in Superior or in the Superior Municipal Forest) are good panfish water.

When I lived in Superior about eight years ago I fished all the water I've mentioned here. I'd recommend you pick up the Sportsmans Connection book of maps for NW Wisconsin (Northwest Outlet or any fishing store should stock them, as well as some Cstores). Mine is all marked up with notes from those days, and I pulled it out just now to help with info and it brought back a lot of good memories of exploring fresh lakes. Good times for sure.

[Poacher's pariah]

There are only two public accesses to Minnesuing that remain open thru the winter. One is private, but used by most folks for free along the east shore at county hwy P(across the road from a tavern called "the Side Lines").

The other access is on the west side of the lake where it narrows. To get there, take US 53 south to county hwy "L", east on L for about 4 miles to "Minnesuing Acres rd"(it's the only side rd going north from L). Go North about 2 miles to N Bennett rd, turn rt. continue about a mile to Park rd, turn left and follow it out to the ice.

Minnesuing hosts a decent population of crappies, but please, please, PLEASE, don't over harvest! 20 years ago a guy could go out and catch (and release) several hundred really nice crappies in an afternoon. Now because of wintertime over harvesting, a typical fisherman needs to work hard for a limit of 25. If you want a fun lake to fish, Minnesuing is a great place, but if you're looking to fill a freezer, look someplace else. The lake isn't big enough(less than 500 acres) to support such pressure. At some point the DNR likely will need to step in and reduce the limit on this lake, or forever risk loosing what used to be the best lake in the county.

[jefdig]

Thanks for the helpful info Steve, as I've only lived here a year but love fishing the Duluth and Superior area. Don't have as much time to fish as last year, but will post my adventures out. I will try a few of the lakes you mentioned and post results. Definitely will be getting me one of those books and marking it up myself. I do appreciate the info. Thanks, Jeff

[jefdig]

Fished St Croix Wed morning 7-10am. Ice was over 16 inches. Fished in 18-19ft of water. Fishing was slow but managed a few. Caught sunnies right on bottom using jigs with waxies and crappies suspended 2-4ft off bottom using jigs with minnows. The bites were very light as the bobbers barely moved. Still some action is better than none and never know til you go! Just good to be fishing.

[jefdig]

Headed out fishing yesterday afternoon to St. Croix. Fishing was very slow. Showed fish in 18ft but had little luck. Moved to other end of the lake with same results. Talked to few other fisherman, some were catching a few, but slow and not aggressive. Crappies were being caught 17-20ft and gills in 8-10ft. Gills seem to be biting better.

[Raider4ever]

Been fishing Minnesuing for the last 21 years (mostly in the summer but do make it down there 5-6 times a year for ice fishing) since I married into a cabin. It is a great lake for only being 500 acres. I have seen the Crappie and bigger bluegill pop. going down of late. That lake used to put out some really nice sized 'gills. I can't believe that the WI DNR has a limit of 25 for Crappie/Bluegill. No way a small lake can sustain that. Plus, Minnesuing seems to have a tournament on it every weekend during the winter. Again, a 500 acre lake can't take that.

P.S. Everybody who comes down to fish it, keep going after those Walleyes!!! The lake's full of them!! They are all out in the middle of the lake!! Leave those darn grass carp for me!! There are no fish near the shore, honestly (*wink-wink, nudge-nudge*).

I will try to post my trips on here for anyone thinking of hitting Minnesuing. They might be spotty during the winter until about Feb.-March when I normally get out there though.

Remember, Opener is May 1st, two weeks earlier than MN. Minnesuing usually opens up around the 3rd week of April. Looks like around 17th-24th this year. It usually has safe (i.e. walkable) ice through the first week of April (I'm a pretty big guy, haven't been out there much past the 10th).

If you're out there this summer, look for the beige 1750 Fishhawk NOT finding fish near the shore (*wink-wink, nudge-nudge*).

[Jarrid Houston]

There's those valuable posts I been looking for. Thanks everyone for the info. I agree with the comments on minnesuing about crappie population. Ventured out about a dozen times last winter and worked hard to catch crappies.

[Jarrid Houston]

Going to head out to ULSC (upper lake st. Croix) today. Going to try and find some dusk crappie bite. Always do quite well out there. In the summer you can find me in my new 08 Lund running about the lake. Today I will be in the blue clam voyegeur with the snowmobile on the west shoreline just north of the hotel. Stop by a chat if you want to. Had some success out there last year. Good night bite!

[JAR JAR]

Jarrid,

I was out there on the west shore last friday afternoon off the balsm street access and I never even had a fish show on the Vex. it seemed that everyone shot across to the east side right at dark.. good luck and let us know how you do.

Jar Jar

[Raider4ever]

Going to be hitting Minnesuing Saturday 1/16 hopefully. Will post (good or bad) if I make it out.

[st.louis.eyes]

Raider I will be out there tomorrow, i've never fished on minnesuing, any tips? I usually stick to the St. Louis out my back door, I don't venture around much. I guess there is a tournament of some sort, I don't think I will be entering since I've never fished the lake, but it would be nice not to go out there and get skunked.