I had a high school teacher who said it took him five years to catch a four-pound brown trout from Devil Track River. He would ply the waters by the upper pool below the falls a couple of times a year, often tangling with his prey only to lose the battle of wits. “Smartest fish ever,” he would say.
But how smart are fish?
According to Wikipedia, some fish have long memories, and their cognitive powers match or exceed higher vertebrates, including nonhuman primates.
As to the myth that goldfish have a three-second memory? That has been found to be untrue. With little better to do with their time, the Australian Veterinary Association tested some goldfish and found they had impressive memories and excellent problem-solving abilities.
At least that’s what their study said.
Maybe a quick-thinking brook trout, northern, smallmouth bass or walleye has outwitted you. Don’t feel bad. Freshwater salmon have purportedly been tested to have IQs as high as 130. That’s what Ronald Reagan’s I.Q. was. So when you are sitting there feeling glum, just remember that the one that “got away” actually was smarter than you, but given that most fish are in school all day long, should you be surprised?
Now for the Cook County fish report.
Tyson at the Beaver House reported that walleyes are biting real well on Two Island, Elbow and Crescent lakes on Beaver Flick spoons and Beaver Flicks and leeches.
Rainbow trout are being caught at Mink, Kimball and Trout lakes using crawlers and Beaver Flicks, Little Cleos and floats with a crawler. A 19-inch rainbow was caught on Kimball Lake.
Lake Superior lake trout can be caught while fishing about 170 feet down on Beaver Flick spoons colored blue and white or blue and silver and chartreuse.
Coaster lake trout are being caught at the mouths of the Cascade, Temperance and Poplar rivers using little Cleos and Beaver Flick spoons. Tyson caught a 5-pound lake trout casting off the Poplar River into the big lake.
Fishermen are often picking up a limit of smallmouth bass and northern on Devil Track and Two Island lakes.
If you are looking for a meal of northern pike, good bets are to ply the waters at Elbow, Cascade, or Crescent lakes.
Hungry Jack Lodge owner Forrest Parson said smallmouth bass have been active in the mid-Trail area. Smallmouth have been caught using leeches and a slip bobber. Walleye fishing slowed down once the mayfly hatch was over, noted Parson.
Leo Lake is producing rainbow trout either by trolling for them or or still fishing with a crawler and a slip sinker and no bobber.
Captain Kelly Shepard of North Shore Outdoors Lake Superior Charters reports that limits of lake trout are being caught in the 170-foot depth using flashers, flies or spoons. No salmon yet.
Walleyes are biting using Beaver Flicks, or jigs with leeches and bobber late afternoon and evening on Two Island and Crescent lakes.
“Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ~Albert Einstein
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