Fall Lake Trouting

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MrTom

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With the cabin being only ten miles inland from Lake Superior near Two Harbors, Minnesota I enjoy time on the lake fishing Lake Trout and Salmon. I fish as much from the breakwater in Two Harbors as from a boat and one of my pet baits/rigs is a tube with a weighted slip-in insert carrying a #1/0 treble hook. From the wall I just cast and let the rig free fall to the bottom with the bail open, then just do a hop/reel retrieve. From the boat I like this rig fished vertically for suspended fish that are reluctant to chase a bait.

The tubes I make in a few color patters that are proven Trout producers. Shown is an orange/chartreuse in a 4" tube made in a Do-It molds mold. The hook is attached to a simple spinner shaft wire threaded thru a spinner body [for weight, 3/8 ounce], some beds added for extra color and then the line tie eye is made using a round nosed pliers.

Simple, effective and tubes, scented and un-scented are a couple bucks a bag of ten so very affordable.

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That sounds like fun! I only live a couple hours from lake superior but have never fished it. How far up this wall do you need to hoist these fish out of the water?
 
The water level is way up again this year and is maybe 6" shy of being on top of the decking on the lower walkways. Last week I was using a net with an extendable handle making it a 6 foot handle and did not have to bend over to lake fish. Of course a little wind and wet feet will happen so wear old sneakers of rubber boots.

Fishing can be had all along the breakwater from the dogleg out to the end and on both the harbor and lake sides. On the lake side at the dogleg you'll find water at the end of a good cast about 40 feet deep but quickly drops into 70-75 feet of water for the entire run to the end [1300 feet]. At the end between the two sides you'll find about 80 feet of water. From the dogleg on the inside of the harbor water depths vary a lot mostly continually being changed by the prop wash from the ore ships. Starting at about mid-August until the end of the trout season on the last day of September is the best time for fall fishing. Once it starts in August it just gets better almost daily and if you want to try for a large trout other than thru the ice of very cold early spring fishing from a boat, now is the time.

Think in terms of 4 primary color patterns for your tackle: gold/orange stripe or dot, blue/silver, green/silver, and rainbow trout pattern. Plain Mepps spinners [no bucktail or feathers] in the colors mentioned and in sizes 3,4,5 are good. Little Cleos in 2/5 and 3/4 ounce in the colors mentioned are great. Krokodile lures in 1/2 ounce in the colors mentioned are about as good as it gets for blade baits. I use spinners as much as I do the others mentioned. Of course since I make tackle I have and use other stuff like the tubes shown that isn't available in stores but is very productive for me. The tackle I've outlined here is very good starter tackle for the lake. A GOOD quality ball bearing swivel is a must. Any rod in the 6'6" to 10 foot range that is lighter action is fine. I use 6 pound mono exclusively and my largest trout to date is 49 1/2" with a 39" girth....caught the last day of the season about 20 years ago. A 12 foot rope stringer is good for keeping the fish alive while you fish.

The fishing is simple: cast, allow to drop to the bottom with the bail open, then a steady retrieve that's not too fast or slow, maybe a jerk or hop in the line while reeling.
 

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