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© 2002-2009 KDK
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by Captain Dave Koneczny
The Fishing Report as of June 20th 2009
The locations our charter service has been fishing in are located off the Superior, Wisconsin entry for a distance of from 2.0 nautical miles close in, to a distance of 8.0 nautical miles east and north of the Minnesota/Wisconsin state line about 1.5 nautical miles. This year because of the dredging in the Superior Bay area near the Superior Ore Docks, the waters have been subjected to unusual amount of muddy and discolored water which have caused the waters to become much warmer and difficult for the fish to stay in. Those waters have been moving around in the Lake Superior currents sending the fish either out to deeper water or into location the angler would not usually fish at this time of year. On occasion, the filthy waters have move out to distances of ten miles and have been in the center of the lake which then causes the current to send them in different directions. The key to catching the fish has been to stay in the clear water, using your temperature gauges to find the proper cooler water (mid forties) and to fish just above the 38.4 to 39.7 degrees water in the depths of 60 to 70 feet. The most ideal water temperatures has been 41.7 to 42.4 degrees at those depths. Another little tactic we have been using is to stay in the clear water but off to the side of the filthy water by a hundred to two hundred feet. The fish have been grouped up and if you find one, you find a bunch but in tight or limited areas.
I’d like to give you better information on whether the fishing is better on or near the surface, in the area of 20 to 40 feet or deeper to the colder depths but that is a bit difficult at this time because of the condition of the water. Where we have been having good success is to fish all the depths of water and depending on the water conditions we have had the fish tell us where they have located in the water depth area. In other words, you may be catching fish on the surface without touching a deeper fish but a couple of hundred yards away, all the fish biting are at 50 to 60 feet down without surface bites at all. The same has held true for the mid water fishing. You just have to pay a lot of attention to what is going on.
As for the baits that have been working best for our fishing techniques, we have been using the Number 7 and 8 Shad Rap behind the yellow birds and back about 75 to 90 feet. Those have been best colored as the Fire Tiger and Crayfish. On the other side of the boat we have been using the Bomber baits colored in pink/purple with the green belly (we call them the Blueberry) and the white/pink with the black dots known to most anglers as the Clown. We also pull them 90 to 125 feet behind the Yellow Birds and with no weight whether it is a Shad or Bomber. We are also using the directional divers on the outrigger poles at depths of 20 to 55 feet set at 1.5 on the dial. With the dial set at 1.5 on the diver, I find that the diver goes down 1 foot for every 3 foot of line you set off your line counter fishing reel. It is kind of simple to figure depth if you remember that if you want to be down 30 feet, you multiply 3 time the depth you want and allow that amount of line out of your reel. The best baits we have found for that set up is the smaller 3 inch length flutter spoon in the colors of bright pink and blue or bright pink and purple. We like to pull them about 40 to 45 inches behind the divers using the diver as an attractor as well as a way to get to the depth location. We have also stayed with the #1 orange directional divers having the yellow ring. This set up has been extremely effective for us and has made our days very interesting. As for the downrigger baits, the most effective setups have been those baits pulled without flashers or lead attractors. We tried pulling the baits with and without the attractors and found our hook ups to be at least three or four to one better without the attractors. We have been pulling the baits about 35 feet behind the weights whether we are at depths of 60 to 70 feet or as high as 40 feet. My side downriggers are always set up with the plastic winger devices. This allows the side downrigger to be pulled out away from the boat to the side. You get a bit of a rise of the weight from winger but these downrigger bait will do one heck of a good job attracting the fish that moved to the sides of the boat. I like the bright orange and gold or the bright greens and yellow spoons on those downrigger. I also set these downrigger in the mid water area or from 35 to 55 feet down or between the stacker lines depths and diver baits depths. The stacker lines are usually set at depths twenty feet above the deeper baits and we have been running those back 45 feet from the release. The baits we have had good success with at the deeper depths are the colors or gold and silver combination and generally an old timer called the Miljie Spoon. Coming up five foot on one side we play with 4 ½ spoons colored in yellow/green and orange combinations with very good success and again on the other side (10 foot up) 4 ½ spoons in pink or purple/silver and yellow combinations. The stacker lines I’d mentioned before are generally colored in purple/pinks/greens and white. They will also give you a good bit of action.
If you have followed my fishing information reports from time to time or year to year, you should remember that I measure my boat speeds in knots and not in miles per hours. With the set up that I have been using above, I am traveling at speeds of from 1.9 to 2.0 knots. That seems to give me just the right amount of action for all the baits and with wide swiping turns, I have no problems with the tangles or line twisting.
I have covered all the information I wanted to pass on about the fishing. This time I wanted to add a bit below which might also help you out so read on.
Another good source of information you might want to read or print off for your information is given on a web site the Western Lake Superior Trolling Association has and it is located at www.wlsta.org . There you can find the information which is dedicated to the Lake Superior fishing and it is located on the “How to” page. The information directs you to ideas and locations for the various seasons. The folks who have spent time putting the information into those articles have decades of fishing knowledge and are willing to share it with you. You might just find it a bit helpful and informative. We all hear the fishing stories, some fact and some fiction but maybe it is time to generate your own positive experiences fishing. I’d also like to encourage you to take the kids and family fishing.
Fishing is our business and fish you will.
Captain Dave Koneczny www.kdkcharter.com KDK Charter Service 888-724-1264 Toll Free 4894 Drake Road 218-724-1264 Local Duluth, Minnesota 55803 218-343-3851 Boat
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