Cook County News Herald

Fish report


When mosquitoes bite, fish (tend to) bite.

A simple truism most fishermen/fisherwomen know but plaintively wish was only half accurate.

But the good news is that right now the mosquitos are in full swarm and biting like mad! It’s enough to make the fish jump for joy. In fact, you can see them coming to the surface of the water gob smacking those pesky mosquitos and mayflies.

So why else do fish bite?

Hunger drives fish towards your lure, but fish will also strike bait because the fish is agitated or is trying to protect its territory.

A July 6, 2019, article at tiltfishing.com goes into depth about why fish will strike a lure if it’s agitated. By picking the right lure, you can catch fish that aren’t necessarily biting by making them mad. The article goes into depth about how to trigger a “reaction strike” and come home with a limit when no one else is catching fish. It’s an interesting read and can help you attain your goal of filling your frying pan for supper.

“Locally, the fishing has been good, not great, but solid,” said Tyson Cronberg at the Beaver House.

“Some fishing guides at the end of the Gunflint Trail have been telling me they are catching walleyes on Saganaga and Seagull,” Tyson said.

“Lakes near Grand Marais have been giving up nice catches of bass, northern, and rainbows,” he said.

“Torpedo’s and other surface lures are working well to attract bass and northern. In the big lake (Lake Superior) Little Cleo’s and deep diving stick baits are attracting lake trout and some salmon. Walleye action has been a little slow but it’s picking up. Beaverflicks, crawlers, leeches and minnows work well to catch walleyes.

Some lakes to try are Devil Track, Elbow, Northern Light, Mink, Trout, Kimball, Clearwater, Greenwood and Caribou.

Brook Trout fishing has been really good on the local streams and creeks. If you don’t want to use your walleye rod and reel, try your ice fishing pole. It’s short and easy to maneuver in the brush and brambles that surround most Cook County creeks.

If your ice fishing pole doesn’t have a reel, install a spincast reel with 6-pound test monofilament or fluorocarbon line and cast spinners rigged with night crawlers or worms.

Good streams to fish are Cascade, Kimball, Devil Track, Little Devil Track, Junco, Elbow, Poplar, Temperance, Cross and Brule River. If you can’t find trout in any of these, there are 102 streams for anglers to try in Lake and Cook County. Good fishing to you!

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