Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure with your Lake Superior Duluth fishing report, coming to you from the cold side of the big lake.
We’re locked into mid‑winter mode now. According to the National Weather Service marine forecast for the western arm, air temps are hovering in the teens and low 20s, with light northwest winds 5 to 10 knots and waves a foot or less. That’s classic near‑shore winter steelhead and lake trout weather: cold, stable, and calm enough to work small baits slow.
Sunrise is right around 8 a.m. with sunset near 4:30 p.m., so you’ve got short windows. The prime bite has been that first hour of gray light and again from about 2:30 to dusk. Local charter skippers and pier regulars are all saying the same thing: if you’re not set up before first light, you’re late.
There’s no real tide on Superior, just a little seiche slosh, so depth and structure matter more than any “high tide” time. Focus on breaks, river mouths, and current edges where warmer inflow meets the lake.
Recent reports from Duluth and up the shore toward Two Harbors have been solid for mixed bags. Shore and small‑boat anglers have been picking up lake trout in the 3–8 pound range, a few bonus coho, and the odd brown trout. Folks working the St. Louis River harbor and the shipping canal have also iced some eater walleyes and burbot after dark.
Best producers right now:
- For trout and salmon: small silver or gold spoons, 1/4 to 3/8 ounce, worked slow with long pauses. Think Little Cleo, Kastmaster, and slender jigging spoons. Tipping with a minnow head has outfished bare metal most days.
- For harbor walleyes: glow jigging raps, rattle spoons, and plain glow jigs tipped with fatheads. Dead‑sticked live minnows are still putting the bigger fish topside.
- For burbot: big glow spoons or plain hooks with a chunk of cut sucker pounded into the bottom after dark.
Bait choice has been pretty straightforward. Local shops report emerald shiners and fathead minnows moving steady. Waxies and spikes will pick up incidental perch and coho when things get tough, but if you’re trout‑or‑nothing, stick with minnows.
A couple of hot spots to circle:
- The Minnesota Point side of the ship canal and along the pier heads, casting spoons into that deeper shipping lane. Work them slow and let them sink; most hits are coming halfway back.
- Up the shore around McQuade small craft harbor and the breakwalls toward Brighton Beach. Guys jigging off the rocks in 15–40 feet are seeing steady trout action when the wind lays down.
Ice conditions change fast on Superior, especially around river mouths and the harbor, so check with local bait shops and never trust any sheet without a spud bar and a set of picks. Out on main‑lake ice, travel light and stay on known paths.
If you’re heading out today, think slow presentations, light fluorocarbon leaders, and subtle colors: silvers, natural baitfish, and a touch of glow in the low light. Give each spot more time than you would in summer; these fish aren’t chasing far.
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