Welcome to my fishing website. This is my thirty-first year logging my Lake Superior fishing adventures.  I synopsize most trips, generally describing my adventures, successes and other details out on the Big Pond.  My boat is appropriately named "Cooler By The Lake". I am just a plain fisherman who loves to fish Lake Superior, mostly for Lake Trout. I do not run a charter. I try to update my reports after each trip. Thank you for following us on our Lake Superior fishing journeys.

Click here to see last year's log or click here choose prior year fishing reports

19 July 2026 Yup, 10 days of smoke and wind but finally a break with fairly calm winds and slightly less Canadian smoke. Ron and I headed on a short run that usually produces a few nice Lakers. Here we go again, lakerless (my new word) for an hour. Ron then said we’d catch the first fish when we hit 200’ Well, just my luck when we hit exactly that depth, a Laker in the box. Of course I heard about that for a while. 🙂 Then a lakerless drought set in for a couple of hours. We probably marked 6 fish the whole time so we’re still confused where the fish went. Finally, a little after 3 hours I said let’s wrap it up and had my rigger half way up when the Johnson produced our second and final Laker. Conditions remained fairly good with a SE 6 mph breeze. Water was 61° and air 71°. Visibility in the smoky air was about a mile but we couldn’t see shore the whole time. Still, a fun time. Watched the Sykes ore boat on radar headed to the ore dock.

10 July 2026 Addendum: I was waiting to launch in order to fix a broken part on my trailer. While waiting for the vehicle and boat where I wanted to launch to move, the owner moved his boat to the opposite side to permit me to launch my boat. He then proceeded to help me launch and then then untie my lines to push me away from the dock. I thanked him several times and told him how refreshing it was to see docking courtesies that are rarely seen these days. BTW, I got my trailer fixed.

9 July 2026 Another beautifully calm but foggy morning as Ron and I headed out. With radar spinning we could pickup the incoming ore boat which wouldn’t be a problem. We set lines at 170’ and slowly worked to mostly over 200’. Struggle best describes the trip as we ended with two nice Lakers and a miss. Can’t complain when it was that nice, even before the fog lifted. Surface water was 62.5° and air 65.7°, wonderful!

6 July 2026 The fantastic weather continued as my guest were Brent Mackowiak and sons Carson (17) and Asher (14). We set lines at 168’ but ended mostly over 200’. An hour and 15 minutes passed without a hit or mark. Finally, we picked up a Laker on the Johnson rod. With several hundred feet of line out, the boys took turns reeling. I had just commented how often we catch a Laker on a turn and voila, our second Laker on the turn. Our return leg was more productive than the first. After 2½ hours with 4 Lakers in the box, I suggested we wrap it up at 3 hours trolling or 5 Lakers,whichever came first. Just then, the Johnson rod hit so Asher worked that while we started to pull gear. Meanwhile, a Coast Guard boat swung around us with lights a-blaze, apparently planning to inspect us. The waves their boat made caused us to rock so severely, it was difficult to stand up. My autopilot got confused and quickly changed our direction, all this while we were fighting a fish. It was a little chaotic but then the CG boat, about 50’ along side of us suddenly left without checking us. Maybe they were embarrassed (I doubt it) by the big waves they caused, perhaps saw the difficulty in inspecting us with down-riggers sticking out both sides, or likely they recognized my boat as one they checked and passed twice last year. After they left and we were pulling gear, what should appear but the biggest Laker of the day on the port rigger. So we capped our trip with 6 Lakers in under 3 hours. But best of all, great guest and a beautiful time on Lake Superior. Surface water was 60° and air 63° To see pictures, click on the links below then hit your back button to return here..

Carson, Asher, Brent, Crew with Catch

3 July 2026 It was a beautiful, cool 65°with no wind. It was a real pleasure after the hot spell we’ve been having. The surface water temperature was a surprising 53°, probably because of the south winds blowing the warm water out. Ron and I set lines at 145’ with a goal of 3 hours or 5 Lakers, whichever came first. After a hour and a half of nothingness, there were the usual mumblings about where the fish were. As we plied deeper waters, finally our first Laker. We turned 180°and ran the same route back, against our better judgment. However, that leg produced 4 Lakers, as the clock struck 3 hours. Noteworthy was the last Laker when Ron said there was a fish mark on the graph and jokingly said he’d get it. Well,he worked the downrigger up and down and caught the fish. I asked how long I would hear about this, he replied about 3 weeks. Surface water temperature was 60° when we left, due mostly to sunshine. Beautiful day on the Big Pond!

26 Jun 26 Conditions could not have been better as Ron Mattson and I set out with plans for a short run. As we passed the breakwater, the glass-like seas caused us to think of fishing a long run away, where Ron hadn’t fished before. Besides, I love a boat ride. We set lines at 178’ and within 5 minutes, Ron boxed our first Lake Trout. Of course we had the “Ah Ha, today’s the day!” feeling that slowly faded as nothing happened for the next hour or so. But fear not, action soon started and we slowly picked up 5 more Lakers, all in the 4#-5# size. We wrapped it up in just under 3 hours with 6 nice Lakers. It was a great ride to port on one of he nicest days so far this season.

17 Jun 26 In near calm seas and winds, Ron and I set lines at 125’, and generally stuck around that depth for an hour before before venturing much deeper, hoping for a first hit. Finally, one in the box and then a miss right behind the boat. Just before wrapping it up in under 3 hours, a second and final Laker. The breeze had picked up enough to make the 56 degrees feel chilly and it wasn’t about to heat up with the water at 44 degrees. The slow fishing continues but it doesn’t dampen our enjoyment of time on the water.

.11 Jun 26 Following our over-analyzed forecast, Ron and I headed out to absolutely beautiful conditions.  We set lines at 140’ and occasionally hit 240’ . We marked a fair number of fish and caught 3 nice-sized Lakers. Finally, the hot sun and lack of even a breeze, helped us decide to bunch it after 3 hours. Needless to say, we felt vindicated after our last trip.

7 June 2026 There was lots of heavy fog as Ron and I pulled into the marina parking lot. Surprisingly, there were several smaller trailers for boats that usually don’t have radar and would hold off until the fog cleared. But out we went with our radar spinning, navigating a considerable distance through the fog, ever watchful for other boats. Finally, we set lines at 140’ and slowly worked deeper. Suddenly the graph screen lit up with what appeared to be a net (we’re still gun-shy after our first trip) but proved to be a mix of fish and bait fish. A dot on the radar caused us to think it might be a net, but surprisingly proved to be another fishing boat. We marked quite a few fish and bait piles but no takers. As the fog lifted, voila, we now found there were 5 other boats around us. OK, here’s the bad news, despite plying various depths and marking lots of fish and bait fish, we had two hits and neither stuck. Yup, a skunk!

Conditions were decent but with a cool, NE breezy 48 degrees. The water somehow was a warmer 52 degrees. A nice day on the water that could have been a little better with a few fish.

1 June 2026 My guest today was Randy Johnson, who has fished with me before. Considering it was a calm, sunny day, there was only one other boat trailer in the lot when we arrived. We plied an area I’ve fished many times over the years but not recently. We started in 140’ FOW and worked to 240’. In was as slow as it gets, marking only a couple of fish and catching two we never marked. The seas remained calm and with no wind, it was a good time to kick back and enjoy some time on he water. Sometimes you just have to get philosophical when the fishing is slow.

28 May 26 With an excellent forecast, Ron and I tried some shallow water fishing, 30-40’ FOW. for a change. Seas were excellent with some 1’ rollers and very little wind. We plied the waters for about an hour when the paddle line released. Ron fought the fish for at least 10 minutes as it peeled out line once in a while. He finally got it right behind the boat and we can honestly say it was at least 10# when it rolled and swam away 15’ from my net. But neither of us were disappointed as we would have released it anyway. Not long after, an 8# Laker went in the box. We hung in there a while longer before we headed out to one of my favorite spots. Rats, all kinds of net flags right where I usually fish. But no complaints as they were very well marked and we worked around them just fine. We managed 2 more Lakers before we bunched it. Not a lot of fish (3) but the smallest was nearly 6#. Beautiful day on the Big Pond.

21 May 26 With all the gear lost on the last trip replaced, it was time to hit the high seas in search of Lakers. The forecast was decent so Ron and I made plans to head out. I awoke to 29 degrees and frost on the pumpkin. Damn the torpedoes, we were going. As I was about to leave the house, I heard the words that we were having hot dogs for supper unless we caught fish. No pressure there! There was only one vehicle and trailer at the launch (a red truck that some of you will know who that was). We decided to travel to a spot that has been fairly productive over the years. Seas were pretty calm and we set lines in 180’ water and worked depths up and down. We didn’t even mark a fish the first hour. Then we started to see some nice marks and bait fish piles. But you can’t eat marks as nothing happened the second hour. Mumbling and maybe a little whining could have been heard. Finally, we landed two nice Lakers the last 45 minutes. The breeze had picked up and an occasional white cap was popping up so we decided to quit. The air hit a high of 42 degrees, winds were at 10 mph, and the surface water temperature was 39 degrees. But no hot dogs tonight! Even though I like hot dogs, I’ll commit to fish frequently to postpone having them for a while.

14 May 26 Finally, a calm, sunny, and reasonably warm day for a shakedown fishing trip. Ron Mattson joined me as everything went smoothly, the launch, both motors starting right up, and setting up gear when we got to our fishing location. Seas were calm and we got all our gear down without a hiccup. For half an hour not much showed on the graph when Ron said there are a couple nice marks. Just then my downrigger slowly bent over and I knew it wasn’t a fish. Seconds later, Ron’s downrigger was bent over. Not much guessing but that we hit what I’m confident was an unmarked tribal fishing net. After many years out there I’ve learned to always be watchful for net flags. I don’t recall ever seeing nets where we fished today but just in case we looked before and after and never saw a flag. We ended up losing all our gear - weights, releases, lures, and line – everything. Not a good way to start the season. There was no possibility of re-rigging so after 30 minutes trolling, we packed up and went home. Disappointed to be sure, but we’ll be back, wondering where will it be safe to fish? Update: I contacted three agencies (two tribal) and got positive responses, including searching for the illegal net. As of 26 May, no responses yet.

12 May 26 Boat ready, I’m not. Waiting for warmer, less windy weather.

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