October

10/9/06 – Well we tried to hang on for another week with limited success due entirely on the weather. The weather has continued to be nice, a little chilly in the morning but warming up quickly. However, the strong winds are relentless and that keeps us on shore. With safety in mind and archery deer and grouse season already underway, the boat has been put away for the year. Thank you to all my Guests this year, you have made it another very successful season. Here´s to my old friends, new friends and the big fish that got away ... see you next spring.

10/2/06 – We had an excellent end to the 2006 lake trout season. Perfect weather conditions and the lake trout were snapping. Lots of nice sized fish in the 5–9lb range and a few from 11–13.5lbs. Even though the trout season is closed, we will still be getting out on the water until it gets too cold. There are a few salmon to chase and right now the fall colors along the lake shore are peaking.

September

9/27/06 – Lake trout fishing continues to be excellent. Lots of nice size fish! Big fish of the week a 14lb King Salmon.

9/22/06 – The winds subsided the past few days and we have been on the lake with great success. So it goes in September ... excellent fishing if you can get on the lake. The big males are here right on time, lots of fish in the 5–9lb range, with a big female every once in a while. Best day this week for big fish was a 12.5 & 15.5lb lakers in the same morning trip. The potential this time of year for a real trophy is high.

A few interesting things to pass along. For anyone who likes the fall colors the maples are nearing their peak. Top picture is downtown Tofte and the Sawbill Trail. The yellows are the aspen & birches that will peak in another week or so, the reds and oranges on the ridge line are the maples. The bottom picture of the Taconite harbor boat landing. Not very interesting unless you know what to look for. Tuesday we had very strong NW winds along with a high pressure system. This creates what is called a seiche. Basically the water is pushed to the other side of the lake and it gets shallower on this side. For another description of how this works click HERE. You will notice the crack in the cement that goes under the truck. Just below the crack is the normal water level. The water is down 1 – 1.5', which is a lot of water movement. Usually when we get a seiche it is a matter of inches. Click on photos to enlarge.

Reporting back on the tagged Steelhead we caught earlier this summer. In an email from the MN DNR

"It was a male steelhead tagged at the Knife River adult trap on May 1, 2004. At that time, it weighed 6.03 pounds and was 665 mm or 26.18 inches. It was 6 years old at the time, having spent 2 years in the stream and 4 years in the lake".

Here is what they had to say about lampreys as well ...

"Lamprey wounding was also up in our spring lake trout assessment this year (and last year). Shorewide, the wounding rate was the highest we've seen since the early 1990s".

This is with the threat of lowering the funding for lamprey control. Please let the DNR know this is not acceptable.

9/11/06 – We seem to be in a weather pattern of strong easterly winds. Made it out on Saturday and the lakers were still biting very well. Now all we need are the winds to go down.

9/8/06 – Yesterday was a day to remember, unfortunately it wasn´t for the fishing. We started the day with a great morning of fishing, back at the dock fish cleaned and putting equipment away. We had started the day with 1–3' rollers which had turned into a 3–5' blow from the SW. Another fishing boat (not Tofte Charters second boat) had been fishing near us and was still out. I was just reaching to turn off the marine radio when I heard the US Coast Guard trying to raise a vessel in distress. Now we hear a lot of these calls but they are usually from the Apostle Islands right across the lake. It turns out this other boat was in trouble. So I responded by myself with a report of 4 people in the water. I found them riding the overturned boat. Luckily I was able to maneuver my boat close enough to get them on board. Then I took them to shore and the waiting EMS. No one was hurt. Surprising for Lake Superior, they were in the water for at least a 1/2 hour with no hypothermia, thanks in part to the 65F water temps. 30 knot blow predicted for today so we will stay on shore.

9/6/06 – What happened to the forecast for 5mph winds. Hit the lake just to turn around with rollers bigger than the boat. On shore today so the big fish will get a short reprieve. Fall colors are starting to show. The maple ridge is turning red and a sight to see from the lake.

9/5/06 – Well that didn't take long. Only fished this morning but the big fish were 15.3lb & 18.3lb lakers. The first fish of the day was a 24" laker that was tagged again from the Bayfield WI DNR. Now I will have two fish to report back on.

9/4/06 – The fish continue to bite very well. Numbers of lakers and average size are up and just before the full moon should be a good time for a lunker. Check back to see if we make good on the prediction.

August

8/29/06 – Another fish breaks the 20lb mark. Yesterday we landed a 40" 22lb lake trout. We also lost another fish the day before that was pulling just as hard. It always leaves you wondering just how big ... The NorEaster that blew in last week turned the fish on again big time. Although today we were blown off the lake early and resigned to dreaming about the big fish we would have caught if we could have weathered the big waves.

8/22/06 – Big fish continue to be a daily occurrence. Big fish of the day was a 14.5lb 36" lake trout, yesterday it was a 15.7lb laker. A couple interesting tidbits. The 14.5lb lake trout we caught today did not have a dorsal fin. A bump where the fin should be, but no fin. Didn´t look like a scarred area, looked more like a birth defect. Yesterday we landed about a 5–6lb steelhead that was tagged by the Duluth DNR. I will let you know the specifics of the fish when I get the information back after sending in the tag number.

8/20/06 – Fishing continues to be excellent with some real nice fish being caught. Big lakers for the week were 13lbs, 15.5lbs & 18lbs 38". Quite a few more in the 8-11lb range. Salmon are off and on like usual and steelhead are biting again.

8/14/06 – Last Thursday was the first big blow this summer. No one ventured on the lake as the big NE waves crashed on shore. The family and I seized the opportunity to head to the big city (Duluth) for errands, a trip to the zoo and a movie. Back on the water the next day and the fish were snapping. It seems the wind pushed the fish into our area and turned them on to bite. I had picked up a new net while we were in Duluth and it works great.

8/8/06 – Another big fish for this area of the lake was caught today. A 9.5lb 29" King salmon was played excellently and as it reached the back of the boat ... my net handle snapped in two pieces. We still got the fish in the net despite the broken handle. The spot where the handle broke had been bent that way for at least 15 years. When I think back of the thousands of fish it has scooped up, it was probably time for a new one.

8/6/06 – Big fish in the boat today. 41" 23lb lake trout. Betty fished with me last year and landed a 16.5lb laker. This year it was 23lbs, I can´t wait until next year. A couple days of really good fishing, cooled a little today, most likely because of the strong off shore winds. What we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality. Still a few days until the full moon, there should be a few more big ones to be caught.

8/2/06 – If you have ever wanted to swim in Lake Superior, but haven´t because it was too cold. Now is the time to take advantage of the warm water. For most of July the water temperature has been in the mid to high 60´s, reaching the 70´s several times. Fish remained scattered and with a different weather front going through almost every day, a consistent pattern has yet to emerge. We set a new boat record for the most steelhead caught on one trip with 5 silver beauties making it to the net. Unfortunately wild steelhead are protected fish so they all were returned to the lake. Fisherman´s picnic in Grand Marais this weekend which is usually a fun time for all ages.

July

7/24/06 – The lake has warmed up to a consistent mid 60´s F, which is making it hard to find a pattern to the fish. They are scattered throughout the water column and the best you can do is try to cover all depths and let your fish finder help you along the way. The smoke is clearing up as they make progress on the BWCA fire. I predict that more big fish will be showing up soon.

7/19/06 – The weather has turned hot and the big fish are starting to show up. Yesterday the big fish were 18.5lbs and 13lbs, today 11lbs topped the chart. Still catching steelhead and a few more cohos. The smoke from the BWCA fires has made for a hazy sky, but the lake is still the coolest spot around.

7/11/06 – The fishing has been spotty lately, real good some days and okay others. We have been picking up a mixed bag most days. Quite a few more steelhead than normal and still a scattering of salmon. Schools of herring are also showing up on the graph more each day, which means the big lake trout won´t be far behind.

7/2/06 – The last two days have been 3 person fishing days because of all the wind. That means one to reel the fish in, one to net the fish and the third to drive the boat. We should feel lucky that the wind was off shore which still allowed us time on the water. The fish are still there and willing to bite, but boat control and speed become so much more difficult and challenging. Friday was flat calm and the water warmed into the 60´s, yes you read that right 60F water in June. How quickly things change, when we came off of the water today the water had dropped to a chilly 38.8F ... ouch! Fishing was still good with a couple more salmon caught on Saturday.

Don't forget the Tofte 4th of July parade starts at 1pm on Tuesday. We will be there with our assorted group of kids with treats. There are also plenty of activities for the entire family going on before and after the parade. Hope to see you there.

June

6/29/06 – The fish are still scattered, but willing to bite readily. We are also starting to catch a nice mixture of fish. A few steelhead and cohos have made it to the boat. I have never seen 50F+ water before in June, nor have I caught cohos in June. It looks like it is going to be a great summer of fishing.

6/26/06 – Well the fish organization that I hoped would happen, didn´t materialize. They are still scattered throughout the water column. The winds took the water from 55F back down to 37F. The fish are still there and biting, but it takes a little more work each day to figure out the pattern they are in. As the weather stabilizes the fish will to.

6/18/06 – Fish On! A great week of catching lake trout. The water has warmed up well of ahead of schedule this year and the fish are snapping. The one difficulty we are facing is the water is at the perfect temperature everywhere. So the fish are also scattered everywhere. Yesterday we just got into a good school of fish when the lightning chased us off of the lake. Today the wind was whipping up something fierce. Although the high wind was bad for today, it may organize the fish into a more predictable pattern for tomorrow. The first couple king salmon showed up in this weeks bag as well. The word from Duluth is the Coho salmon are more abundant and bigger than recent years. The Cohos migrate up the shore during the summer and with the warm water they may show up early as well.

6/8/06 – Back to the shore after a week of vacation visiting my parents in SW Minnesota. For those of you down that way, the crappies are biting about as fast as you can reel them in, and boy do they taste good deep fried in the Peck family secret beer batter recipe. I came back in time to take out a family from Louisiana. They had driven 22 hours to reach the north shore to go fishing on Lake Superior. My hat is off to them and their dedication to fishing. The fish were biting and it was a gorgeous day so I think it was well worth the trip.

Today another great day and no one wanted to go out, so I did the next best thing, I went out by myself. A couple hours trolling in some new water and a rod popped. Being by myself I had to get the boat into neutral, reel up my second rod, raise both downriggers and fight the fish. Eventually the fish came to my net, a 22lb 38" lake trout. The captain got to reel the big fish in for a change.

May

5/30/06 – Well the weather didn´t quite cooperate like I hoped it would. Saturday was nice but it went downhill on Sunday. NE winds made it a little chilly and rough. Luckily the fish cooperated despite the weather and we landed a bunch of nice fish. The ladies showed us how to catch big fish, landing 8lb & 10.3lb lake trout (why is it always the women that catch the big fish? ... but I digress).

5/24/06 – The lakers are in their normal spring pattern – predictably unpredictable. Which means they have a tendency to move around on us from day to day, not really settling into any pattern. That just means my job is a little harder this time of year but we can still catch a boat full none the less. The last few days have been gorgeous. Blue skies and light breezes, it looks like it is shaping up to be a great Memorial Weekend.

5/16/06 – The boat is on the water and the 2006 fishing season is officially under way. The strong NE winds, rain and cool temps have given way to warm westerly breezes and bright blue sky. It seems that spring is finally here as the trees leaf out and everything is turning green.

New for 2006!! I would like to welcome to Tofte Charters a new Captain, Kelly Shepard.