[Eric Haataja]

Fished out in the lake and here's the big hint.......go south south out in the lake a few miles and set up and troll until you find the fish up shallow. Same bite is happening to the north. There's not as much bait in the lake and more active fish. Unless of course you want to sit at the wall which is hit and miss.

Highlight of weekend fishing with Father daughter and catching a grand slam! lakers, browns, steelhead, coho's, and a king! Very cool too see this does not happen to often in my boat. Lakers were released, coho's, king and 2 browns made there way to the grill and the the fryer! Landed close to 30 fish 20+ browns, 1 king, 4 coho's, lakers, and a steelhead in a 5 hour charter. All on flicker shads trolling and casting which was fun! Great bite now out in the lake and up in the rivers for steelhead!!! All our fish were caught out in the lake up in shallow water (less than 30 feet

Here's a few other pics as well from recent trips.

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[Rempump]

Fished the mil river and harbor on Saturday. Hit the wall, rip rap, walls and any structure we could pitch baits at. Caught one fish in the docks. Tried trolling the river and around the gaps. Nothing happening for us. Did see a few fish caught by guys trolling. Talked with several boats and no one had much luck. The bait is still thick, with dead and dying bait every where. Bait was so thick in spots that we were snagging them when jigging. Water was pretty clear and temp was 38-40 degrees every where we went. The fish we did get came on a crank bait.

[TJPike]

yatch, on 01 April 2011 - 07:12 AM, said:

I wonder why these shad type baits work so good in the harbor???!!!

They dont look alike at all nor do they swim like a fish,so why do they work?Its the vibration(noise)and flash.

[yatch]

I wonder why these shad type baits work so good in the harbor???!!!

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[Big_D]

Hit the Harbor again this morning. Lovely day to be on the water but still tough fishing. Managed to wrangle up 3 small browns and also foul-hooked what I think was a whitefish. All caught trolling near the mouth of the river. Downriggers set right on the bottom w/Stinger Nuclear Veggies and Craigs Cristmas doing the damage.

The water in the harbor has cleared up significantly compared to this time last week. Water temps have been holding in the 35-37F range.

Take Care!

D.

[Eric Haataja]

Out today in the boat and we caught some big fish one really nice one a 12 year old kid caught on a sour grape rouge trolling. Trolling rouges and flicker shads have been the ticket for me.

Eric

[luv2fish]

Big_D, on 29 March 2011 - 12:07 PM, said:

Gave it another go in the harbor on Monday morning. Still tough going out there. Managed to jig up a shad (or maybe it was an alewife), and that was it. JIgged for an hour or two and trolled for a few hours. Could not get anything going. Guess I shoulda took a picture of that shad before I released it. First fish of 2011. Yay!

Don't feel too bad "D"...Ive been out a handfull of times as well (in the harbor and up river) 0 fish to show. It does seem as if the massive amounts of shad are starting to go down a bit tho. Should only be gettin better...hopefully.

[Big_D]

Gave it another go in the harbor on Monday morning. Still tough going out there. Managed to jig up a shad (or maybe it was an alewife), and that was it. JIgged for an hour or two and trolled for a few hours. Could not get anything going. Guess I shoulda took a picture of that shad before I released it. First fish of 2011. Yay!

[Big_D]

Late Report from Friday (3/25).

Got out and got the boat wet for the first time this year... but that was about all that happened. Tried some jigging in the gaps for a couple hours and then set up a trolled the harbor and the main gap for a few more hours. Nothing doing for me. Sure did feel good to get out though!

FYI... the Launch Piers are now in at McKinley, if it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Take Care!

D.

[Hunter5]

The yearly pass is on sale now so that means that they can charge for the boat launchs.

[honda2w]

Does any body know if they started charging to launch at national yet? Saw that they have the pier out now.

[Walleye1]

Was out on Friday and Saturday and no lake trout! Tough bite out there right now. Mike

[honda2w]

Has any body been catching any lake trout in or around the harbor yet? Last year they were in there weeks ago.

[Walleye1]

TJPike--I was out there on Friday and nada! Marked a few pods of baitfish out there but no fish. Fished the South and main gaps and rock piles. Did not mark anything. Talked to a few other guys who said same thing. A little late this year I guess? Will be out there again on Friday and will let you know how things go. Maslow

[TJPike]

ChiDC,your post is pretty funny i liked that one .Needless to say i dont keep any of those spring rainbows to eat out the rivers.When you see dead trout along the river bank it could be from something they ate .Changing the subject to Lake Trout,has there been any action outside the break walls ?

[dub]

Monday pm, launched at National Ave, fished along the harbor wall from 5-7pm 28 fow. 2 guys, jigging with gulp and soaking spawn sacs, no action. Lots of bait on locator, couple other boats out, didn't see any action there either. Upon leaving at sunset, saw lots of marks in the river. surface temp 32 degrees.

[ChiDC]

Considering the number of empty tampon applicators I saw floating in the harbor last time I was out, it looks like there's abundant supply of "forage".

[TJPike]

Rainbows(steelhead)are garbage eaters.Over the year i have seen many unusual things inside them or come out of them after landing.Here are some stuff i have seen,marbles,.22cal empty cartridge,little burnt pieces of wood,stones,small bird,plastic and a tampon ,not kidding!!!

[Reel Addiction]

Eric,

What size flicker shads do you like using? Colors? I see you mentioning them a lot.

Thanks!

[Eric Haataja]

Probably from fisherman throwing them away after use, guy do it all the time ice fishing I would have to imagine, we saw that in some fish while ice fishing.