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

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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