Apostle Islands

[ReelTimes]

Heading over to the Apostles this weekend. I have been there a number of times but never for fishing. I assume same techniques as everywhere else in Lake Superior but are there any particular areas better than others. THx.

[Jim Hudson]

Same techniques for the most part ReelTimes. Depending on the weather and the size of boat will always dictate where you can fish. August will be the start to what I would classify as our "big fish" time in and around the islands. When we are specifically talking about lakers. But, some really nice fish have been caught this year already, with quite a few fish over th 30lb range being boated. One from last Friday that I personally seen and brought the guys to a certified scale. Taped out at 44 1/2 and weighed 32.8lbs.

Most fish are being caught on just running a spoon off your rigger (or run a flasher/dodger in front of the spoon too) or by using a flasher ahead of either a spin n glow or marshmallow off your rigger. Just like other areas,run dipsys in your spread with spoons, flashers, and the alike. Mainly just covering the entire water column, as some days these lakers want to chase up to a bait or they might want the ball right on the bottom. And you never know when you will come across a pod of salmon out there in the islands. Another note, is in shallower water, 60" to 80" I have seen some nice browns being caught in amongst the lakers.

Lakers can be caught pretty much anywhere out here, but a lot of people have their favorite spots. Say out off Outer Island near the refuge line, the flats area behind Madeline (where people like to run the refuge line that is in this area), the north side of Sand Island, etc etc etc.. the list can go on and on. My one bet for someone who wants to just catch fish, not dependent on the size is to hit the flats, in a 95FOW to 105FOW staying west of the refuge line. A lot of lakers out there. But, for bigger fish, most of the big guys come from waters in and around the more outer islands of the Apostles.

Good luck and if you have anymore questions, let me know.

[outdoor ran]

Bill, how did the Algoma trip go?

[ReelTimes]

JKH,

Thanks for the tips. Will post how we do. It is as much a sight seeing trip as fishing but hope to wet a line at least once or twice. I wasn't aware of a refuge line? I'll have to get more details when I get there. Thanks again.

[ReelTimes]

Randy,

I took the family and kids vs a guys trips. I had made a couple trips earlier to canada and my wife was souring on me going again with the guys. We had alot of fun but weather was very windy and seemed everytime we went out someone was throwing up. So we only got out a few times but boated several kings each time we went out. It is always fun over there. We still have to get out sometime. Maybe can do something in September? Been getting any eyes on the shore?

[outdoor ran]

Bill, good to hear from you. Have you been hitting the Knife river marine at all? The south shore was just on fire for a few weeks for walleyes. Really slowed down here lately with the rain and high winds. We had a time that out of 7 walleyes, 5 of them were over 27" up to 29".( All released ) I would like to hear how you do by the islands if you get out. I have a good hot spots paper map for that area if you need to borrow it just let me know. I beleive it shows the refuge on it.

[fishingchef]

OR, I heard that there was a decent bite going there a couple of weeks ago. I was just a bit curious as to where you guys were having success, are we talking open water, bad river area, or in the bay? I am not looking for you to give up any spots or secrets, just curious because I live on Madeline and spend a lot of time fishing the bay. I have had decent success my last couple of days out trolling, fish have been scattered, anywhere from 12-40ft, bottom and suspended. It is always a mixed bag of smallies, pike and of course walleye, which i am always am targeting.

Unfortunately, I am limited to staying close to home, I fish a 16 ft boat with a 50hp tiller, not going to head down towards the Bad in a small boat, way to vulnerablbe if weather/wind take a turn.

Chime in if you can, I would like to here about that run, sounds like you caught some nice fish, haven't seen anything over 22 down in the bay, but they have been nice chunky fish, looking forward to the fall, and hopes of targeting some more concentrated fish.

Couple more questions...day bite or low light, suspended? Crank baits or spinners, answer what you like, just like to know whats working around here.

Heven't been out for a couple a days, probably be back onm the water tomorrow morning. Thanks for any info, FC

[outdoor ran]

Chef, I was talking about the South Shore here in Superior. I do alot of walleye fishing out on the big lake. I don't go much further then the Middle or Poplar rivers. I haven't done any trolling around the Islands yet. But if your looking for info around Superior, let me know.

[Jim Hudson]

ReelTimes

I hope your trip went well over this way!! Next time, give me a shout when your over and we can hook up for some fishing if you would like. Check my HSOforum for e-mail and number.

Well I am off to Lake Michigan for a couple days.

[outdoor ran]

Good Luck Jim!

[Jim Hudson]

I finally got to make it out on the big pond here today after not fishing it for awhile. Headed out at about 6:00AM with a buddy, where we were in search of some salmon. Marked a ton of fish but drew a blank, so at about 8:30AM we were off to fish some laker spots. We fished until noon where we boated over a dozen lakers. Nothing very big to speak off but still a fun day out there. Hottest rig was a green prizm opti dodger in front of a chart. spin and glow. A few fish came off a blue/white glow opti in front of a glow spin and glow. And one fish off a orange/black flashback run off a dipsy.

After coming back in for a nap, Hannah and I headed back out in search of salmon before dark. We set up in 50 FOW with a defined thermocline 30 feet down where we ran a 4 rod set-up, using 2 riggers and 2 dipsies. Had four trips, where three fish came in the boat. 2 chinooks and 1 coho with the biggest chinook around 10lbs. All fish came off of fly/flasher set-ups on a dispy and a rigger. Green was the color of choice.

We would of stayed out after dark, but the NE winds were a bit too much for boat control as it got darker. Fishing for these salmonoids should really pick up here shortly.

[Jim Hudson]

All I can say is the laker fishing has been hot around these parts!! I was out on Wed and the catching of these lakers kept us busy busy busy... It seems like everywhere you get a lure wet, a laker will find it... For the most part, the 40 to 90 depths have been the most consistent for myself and the reports from the Flats have been really good... Again, dodgers in front of spin and glows have been good, along with a mix of spoons... Needlenoses and Flashbacks are always a great choice...

Also, with each passing day, there are more and more kings starting to show up... Wed evening we only boated one, but by what the graph was showing, there seemed to be a quite a few staging off of Pikes Creek...

All in all it should be a great holiday weekend for people in search of fish in this neck of the woods....