Where the fish are

With the Mayfly hatch over, the walleye are starting to feed again on minnows, leeches, and nightcrawlers, just the kind of fish food found in bait shops.

“There’s been some recent nice catches of walleyes from Devils Track Lake,” reports Tyson Cronberg, who owns and operates the Beaver House bait and tackle shop in Grand Marais.

Tyson recommends using leeches on a jig, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jerk baits. Some brands to try are Lindyrigs, Rapalas, and Mepps.

Tyson said walleye are being taken in 8-10 feet of water and the best time to catch them is evening or early morning.

“A friend of mine caught a six-pound lake trout while fishing at the mouth of Cascade River, so the lake trout are starting to come in close to shore. Otherwise, if you are fishing in the big lake (Lake Superior) the trout can be found in around 140 feet of water,” he said.

“Bass are being taken on surface lures, poppers, jitterbugs, and Rebel crawdad baits. Nice catches of northern are being reported as well.

“Stream fishing is good right now. Brook trout are hitting on Beaver flicks baited with nightcrawlers or worms.” Any colored spinner will attract a brook trout, noted Tyson, but if one color doesn’t work, try another because it might cause the fish to bite.

Some streams to try include Cascade, Elbow, Temperance, and Kimball.

“Rainbows are being caught in Mink and Kimball Lakes; a nice brown trout was caught in Thompson Lake, but that’s a catch and release lake.

“Fishing is definitely picking up, but gotta get out on the water if you want to catch them,” said Tyson with a big grin.