Where are the fish biting?

Mike and Val Littfin of Grand Marais and Brian and JoAnn Smith of Grand Marais enjoyed a June Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) trip. They had a great time, seeing lots of wildlife—moose and turtles!—and they caught a lot of fish, enjoying shore lunch throughout the week.

Tyson at the Beaver House says northerns and bass are biting good all over, but the walleye report is still slow with warm water temps.

Lake Trout are biting in 20 to 60 feet of water in Lake Superior and the water temp is in the mid 60s. Lake trout are hitting out front of the harbor using little Cleos, Diamond King, Gold Star, Sutton, Laker Takers and German Spoons.

Jon at Buck’s Hardware Hank reports: “I got word from Seagull Lake that walleyes can be had but it’s a pretty tough go. The surface temp has been around 70 degrees or so and it’s wreaking a little havoc on the bobber fishing.

“It’s tough to find the right temps for walleyes. I did hear about some laker action on Sag. In Cash Bay, between Spam Island and American Point: they were fishing 50 to 60 feet in 80 feet of water using spoons and deep running lures. Purple and silver were the choicest colors for one group.

Above: JoAnn shows off a couple of the nice walleye caught on the tripone 2½ pounds, the other 3½ pounds. One was released and the other was a delicious dinner. Left: Brian Smith shows off the 9 ½-pound, 27-inch lake trout he landed in about 50 feet of water. It took over 15 minutes to reel in the beauty.

“Tough fishing on a lot of the smaller lakes but early morning and late evening people are getting a few as they are still coming in at night to around 10 or 12 feet. Leeches or crawlers would be the bait of choice. “Smallies are still doing fine. A 21-inch smallmouth was caught on Hungry Jack a few days ago. Others are catching some fine bass as our fishing contest at Buck’s nears in a week or so. It starts on the 30th and runs until the 6th of August.

“ As far as trout, both rainbow and brookie are hitting on flies. Crawlers will work too but better action seems to be with flies. ”