Jarrid Houston Column: Bugs, weeds, best fishing of the season upon us – Duluth News Tribune

We run like wolves chasing prey. (see what I did there?) Go Timberwolves!

On to the fishing chatter. Lots of rain fell across Northland, helping to replenish water levels. New rainfall also improves oxygen levels, which helps boost aquatic biological life.

If you haven’t noticed, the bugs are starting to hatch. We are almost at the point where our prime fishing is going to slow down, mainly due to the annual mayfly hatch in some big walleye waters. Lake Superior will also have its own version of large insect traps of different kinds. And that means we’re about to change tactics to find some bites.

It looks like the upcoming holiday weekend will feature rain chances and fair weather chances. Just like fishing, we’ll see.

Let’s move on to this week’s fishing update:

Lake Superior had a record week of good lake trout fishing near the Twin Ports. Along the North Shore, many boats are marking good feeder-sized lakers and coho. We even hear of a few king salmon being caught here and there.

Tactics remain consistent with trolling a mix of spoons and stick baits. Some are starting to drop lead (or copper) core Disys or using downriggers. These options for going deeper will become more and more popular as we approach June and the “summer” fishing begins. Some anglers are also starting to do some flasher-fly combos. The best depths have been 80 to 130 feet, but the most important thing has been timing.

Looks like mid-morning bites are going pretty well. Winds kept fishermen on land last week, but we live on the tip of Lake Superior so we’re used to that.

In the world of river fishing, anglers continue to look for a few trout and the occasional salmon. With the recent rains, the rivers are moving at a good pace and fishing will likely slow down through the weekend.

Angling in the St. Louis River continues to be busy, with heavy boat traffic and anglers reporting good post-spawn walleye bites. Last week we focused our efforts on slow drag crankbaits and live bait rigs. The fishing was okay, not bad, but not dynamite.

With the number of anglers fishing now, the fish will definitely respond to a pressure type bite, so trying something different could make a difference. Fish have been caught in all sections of the river, but the best depths for us are around the deep cuts in water 7 to 17 feet.

Although trolling has produced some fish, don’t be afraid to try a rip jig or troll a live minnow. On our last guiding trip, we encountered some nice crappie while drifting/trolling crappie minnows. We have chosen to discard all fish due to upcoming spawning (thank you customers).

Other than that, a few good bites of perch are coming out of the flats mixed with the occasional pike. Sailing above the Fond du Lac area is very dangerous, so you may want to try and stick to the middle and lower sections unless you know what you’re doing.

Inland lake fishing has been different this year. The first ice melts this year have certainly affected the fish. I think we are about two to three weeks ahead of schedule as far as water temperature, available forage and aquatic plant growth. Believe me, this is a good thing because I think the best fishing is yet to come. Small plastics or tiny pieces of worms thrown into shallow areas of the shoreline produce good bluegills.

Just outside the shallow inshore areas we mark a few crappie with minnows or slow drift bobbers that are also working. Walleyes and pike are moving towards deeper transitions. The best tactic for success remains the jig and minnow or some sort of slippery bait. We are still waiting for the reaction type stings, but I truly believe these types of stings are fast approaching.

We’re just entering some of the best fishing of the season, so buckle up, it’s about to get very busy. Please be safe and courteous to each other, and we will see you on the water again.

Jarrid Houston of South Range is a fishing guide (houstonsguideservice.com) on the inland waters of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the St. Louis River and, in winter, Lake Superior.