Where are the fish biting?

Gary Radloff brought in what is considered the first king salmon of the season.

Radloff was fishing in about 80 feet of water a couple of miles west of town when he hooked the 6-plus-pound fish.

Gary and his wife are the hosts of the Grand Marais Recreation Area campground, so he gets out on the big lake often. He caught the king on Thursday, June 8.

Captain Kelly Shepard of North Shore Outdoors Lake Superior Charters said lake trout are being caught in about 180 feet of water. “The lake isn’t warming up. The surface temperature is 41 degrees F. We’re catching fish, but I think the bite is really going to turn on when the lake warms up.”

Kelly said he’d seen a few king salmon but added he is currently after lake trout, not kings.

Inland, said Shepard, walleye, bass and northern are starting to bite. But like anything else, there are days when the catch is better than others.

Tyson at Beaver House reports that walleyes are biting at Devil Track, Two Island, and Elbow lakes. Some nice catches of splake have been taken from Musquash and fishermen have reported limit catches of rainbow from Mink, Kimball, and Trout lakes. These feisty fish are hooked in 14- to 16- foot depths on Kimball Lake using Beaver Flicks or using Little Cleos on floats with a crawler.

Lake trout fishing on the big lake is really starting to pick up, added Tyson.

Forrest Parson said the fishing has continued to get better and better on Hungry Jack Lake, with decent size walleyes being caught off the lodge dock.

The smallmouth bass bite has also started to turn on, said Forrest, with some nice catches brought in.

Forrest said a toothless 40-inch northern pike was caught off the lodge dock. Why it had no teeth is anyone’s guess. But maybe it didn’t brush its teeth before going to bed. A lesson little minnows can ponder and learn from.

Leo Lake, added Forrest, is producing rainbow trout by fishermen who troll or still fish with a crawler.

Brook trout fishermen who ply the streams should take note; the fish are really starting to bite. It’s still hard to walk down some streams because the water is fast and high and there is a lot of brush to contend with along the rivers and streams. That said, if you can weather the abuse of bugs and brush, you should be able to take home a limit of nice brookies from most area streams with a little effort. Worms, crawlers, and spinners work best. That and patience.