Cloquet River

[vermilionwally]

I am just starting fly fishing and wondering if anyone has ever fished the Cloquet River and had any luck. I was thinking about fishing right at the rest area on 53 next to the junction with 35. Has anyone ever fished this area or know if this area has good fishing?

[EatSleepFish]

the river holds ALOT of smallies, and ive heard that some TU (trout unlimited) chapter had stocked some browns in the river at one time or another. Ive also seen a pic of some guy that pulled a 20-inch brook out of there, i suppose they get in their from feeder creeks, etc. The river is pretty stained, so no need to use that light of a tippet, id reccomend no lighter than 4x, since youll probably run into quite a few pike and smallies. since the fish that are in their are probably big so id try to fish with a larger streamer, muddler minnows, zonkers, wooly buggers. the area you mentioned is a nice area, though ive never fished that part, it looks to be some "trouty" water. boulders faster runs, etc. if you want consistent smallie action try a clouser minnow or some pattern with a lot of white/flash in it. post on your results when you get out there

[vermilionwally]

Thanks for the advice. Ive read the Dnr stocking reports and it says they stalk about 3000 browns in there every year so I wonder where there at. I will probably try sometime early in stream trout season and i will post my results.

[big musk411]

I have caught a few trout out there. It's not easy, most of my catches were incidental. One time in early summer we got into the browns. They were in the some rapids that I was catching smallies and walleyes the week before. All were about the same sized 12-13" exept for one that was around 16". Possibly some natural reproduction? All the brookies I have seen have been pretty good sized as far as brookies go.

I have had best luck on small rapalas and limited sucess on the fly rod.

[sachem longrifle]

Many years ago, we were fishing at that spot on 53( rest area) one mid August. Later that evening, there were a huge number of mayflies taking to the air that it looked like snow in August. We caught 1 sucker, a few smallies and 2 browns. They are there but you will have to go through other fish before you get one

[EatSleepFish]

where did you find the stocking reports?

[big musk411]

You can go to the DNR websie. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html

Go to stocking reports, select spiecies and county.

[vermilionwally]

Were you fly fishing or using worms? I was thinking about going up there maybe the week after the opener if I dont have any luck on the midway.

[EatSleepFish]

you fish the midway alot? id like to try fishing it some time but wouldnt know where to start? im assuming the night bite would be pretty hot in mid summer. i usually keep it local(otter creek) on opener, but maybe ill try the midway if the runoff isnt too bad. if you dont want to post your comments on here you can email me at [email protected]

[vermilionwally]

I havent fished the midway alot as i am kind of just getting in to trout fishing. I just bought a fly rod so thats the closest trout stream to me. I have talked to friends that have caught quite a few trout on the Midway. I think where it crosses Harney road is a good spot to start. I have never fished Otter. Is it any good?

[EatSleepFish]

it can be... but like any streams around here you have to work to find them . if youve just started flyfishing id recommend fishing with worms, small spinners or rapalas for opener, since the water is usually muddy and fast. i know my first few fly fishing excursions didnt produce anything. or if you want to stick with the flies id recommend a streamer or other large fly with a lot of flash. i know that the midway recieves an annual spring run of suckers...so maybe a sucker spawn imitation might work?

[vermilionwally]

Ill probably try some worms but i will bring my fly rod just to get a few casts in. What kind of areas would you recommend starting? Like deeper pools, undercut banks etc. Probably use a small hook with 4 lb test and a regular angleworm? Do small pieces of nightcrawlers work?

[EatSleepFish]

yeah i usually tie on a size 6 red gamakatzu octupus hook with half of a crawler with a small (smaller than 1/4oz.) splitshot about a foot and a half above the hook. ive never really been a big fan of angle worms since theyre too small to stay on the hook for any amount of time. i think the suckers run up from the thompson reservoir and cannot get past a waterfall on the river. i think its called sucker falls? if the trout arent cooperating for you, id try to hook one of them suckers on a egg fly or a larger( size 12 or bigger) hares ear nymph. you can usually see the suckers in the river since theyres so many in there.

[vermilionwally]

I dont know if I have any of those flies. I just bought a starter kit at L and M and was planning on going to buy some at outdoor advantage when i buy my license. Are there many trout below Sucker Falls? I know of one friend that caught one below there but I would think most of the Browns would be above the falls. i wish the dnr posted where they stock the browns on the river so i would know where to start.

[EatSleepFish]

email the DNR and ask them theyll tell you... make sure you shoot me an email when you get a reply! if im not mistaken the L&M kit doesnt have many flies so if youre going to buy some flies from gander id recommend buying a few hares ear nymphs in sizes 12 and 14 and a couple of muddler minnows in size 6 or 8. just fish the muddler the same fashion you would a spinner except instead of a straight retrieve use a twitch-twitch-twitch-pause for 2 seconds-repeat retrieve. ive never fished the midway but would have to guess that there are trout below the falls if your friend has caught one there.

[vermilionwally]

Ill be sure to email the dnr today and ask them. Im actually going to duluth today and was planning to stop at Gander and look at flies. I will let you know what I find out from the dnr. I might ask them about a couple other rivers too.

[DEADhead]

Quote:

---

Ill be sure to email the dnr today and ask them.

---

otherwise you can call Al Anderson at Duluth Area Fisheries and he should be able to give you some good information.

[Quickstrike]

if you're going to duluth to look at flies, you should check out one of the fly shops, great lakes fly company is located downtown duluth and the superior fly angler is located in superior. lots of good stuff at those shops.

[vermilionwally]

I got an email back from the dnr and they told me that the upper part of the midway is trout waters. Above midway road is supposed to be the trout waters. He told me that the midway crosses hwy 2 and morris thomas road, I didnt know it crossed way up there. i was going to try around canosia road Ill have to find where it crosses up there.

[vermilionwally]

Hows the fishing around the mouth of Otter Creek? Might try there sometime.

[EatSleepFish]

not much fish by the mouth, ill show ya some spots that id rather not tell the whole world on here . just post something when youre thinking of trying it

[vermilionwally]

Im planning on fishing the midway on the opener so we will have to post reports to trade information, maybe by email so the rest of the world wont find our spots. Im just a begginner for trout though so we will see what happens. What kind of spinners are good to use?

[EatSleepFish]

i like the size 0 Mepps. no hair or anything on the trebles. i had some good sucess with a rainbow trout colored one last year (pulled a 17 inch rainbow out of the blackhoof river with one last year). But anything that resembles baitfish. gold blade, silver blade, copper blade. i personally dont like the firetiger patterns. remember to fish them fairly slow this time of year, the trout are real sluggish with all this runoff were getting.

[vermilionwally]

I have this one little black rooster tail, but i will try to pick up some small meps spinners with no hair on them. No bait on them right? What pound test do you use, 4 or 2? Im thinking about trying out the Hay creek since i drive by it all the time on north cloquet rd and the dnr told me its a good trout stream. It looks pretty small though.

[vermilionwally]

Bought a size 0 mepps in silver with no hair on it and a size 1 gold with hair on it. I now have 4 different spinners to try. I cant decide if i wanna go to otter or midway now on opener. Guess we wil have to see.