An amazing fishery continues to thrive
DULUTH, Minn. - I suggested the other day that the good burghers of Duluth adopt the motto, "The City with an Abundance of Toothy Critters."
With that phrase implanted in my mind, I hereby declare this city an outdoorsman's dream come true.
I don't mean to sound like a promotional billboard for Duluth, but the reality of something this fantastic is beyond my meager descriptions. Of course, I am referring to big muskies.
I jumped at the prospect of coming face-to-face with 50-plus inch muskies when I got a call from Gene Shaw.
Gene is with "Visit Duluth," a tourism outfit that has done a wonderful job of bringing people to this beautiful city.
Instead of grinding out the miles by car, I opted to take a United Express jet from O'Hare directly to Duluth, and it only took 55-minutes, runway to runway. The air fare is inexpensive considering the price of gas for my vehicle, the food stops as well as the wear and tear. I didn't even have to bring any heavy-duty tackle.
My target was the St. Louis River, mere yards away from our hotel. Mike Seeling came along with his trusty Nikon. We met guide Pete Brzezinski shortly after sunrise and launched at the river's edge.
The St. Louis River has become a trophy muskie hotspot thanks to the biological research and stocking efforts of the Minnesota and Wisconsin DNR agencies.
Pete is part of a group that calls itself Northland Muskie Adventures-Guide Service, (northlandmuskieadventures.com).
And when I say Pete and his comrades are true believers loaded with high energy when fishing the St. Louis River and other nearby muskie hotspots, it is not an exaggeration. These guys are fanatics on the water.
One has to be in good physical shape to partake in the "hunt," and I confess that both of my forearms suffered from tendinitis two hours after we started casting the jumbo lures to patches of weeds. Tears came to my eyes when I made the decision to sit and watch Seeling and Pete go through a nonstop casting routine.
The river itself has its origins near Virginia and Eveleth, Minn., deep in the state's iron range. It flows with bends and turns until it gets to Duluth, and then out into Lake Superior. An uninformed soul would be hard pressed to imagine that this stretch of river through Duluth could be a 10-star muskie fishery.
While we didn't boat any of the brutes. Seeling had a beast come up and slash his leader and line before making off with a jumbo bucktail spinner.
Pete and his cohorts look for "invisible" weed growth in depths from 10-20 feet. Sometimes the bigger fish hold on the edges of the weeds, and other times Pete has found them buried in the salad.
The Northland Guides, like many other muskie hunters, like to create their own lures, especially the big bucktail spinners. Some of them weigh close to 8 ounces and cut through through the water like a scythe. The old reliable Suick glide baits are used as well, and one of their topwater favorites is the Globe.
You might wonder if the muskie fishing is so good on the Fox Chain and Shabbona Lake, why would I go to Duluth to chase the mighty esox? The answer is simple. I have been hearing about this unreal Duluth fishery for three years and it was time to investigate. Lke many of the secret smallmouth hotspots around the Metro Chicago area, the Duluth muskie story isn't that well known back home, and hasn't been exploited much.
When you go to the 2011 America's Outdoor Show in January, you can meet some of the Northland guides, and I recommend investigating some fishing days with them here.
If you go
What: Muskie fishing trip
Where: St. Louis River at Duluth, Minn.
Guide Service: Northland Muskie Adventures at northlandmuskieadventures.com
Getting there: 8-10 hour drive from suburban Chicago or a 1-hour flght via United Express from O'Hare Airport to Duluth.