If you like to catch big fish with a minimum of fuss and effort, then early fall on the Great Lakes is truly heaven on earth. That’s when you can catch really big trout and salmon from shore – no boat or fancy equipment is required.
Great Lakes trout and salmon spend most of their lives far offshore where you need a decent boat and some specialized gear to catch them. Come late summer though, these fish move inshore and stack up at the mouths of tributary streams before making their upstream spawning runs. This is when you can connect with big fish in prime condition by fishing rivermouth areas from piers, breakwalls or shorelines.
Most of the fish you catch will be Chinook salmon, ranging in size from 10 to 30-pounds. You’ll also catch the occasional brown trout that average about 5 to 6-pounds, but fish up to 30-pounds are possible. The current Canadian record brown trout was caught by casting from shore, as were the two previous records. Steelhead are also common shoreline catches. These fish will commonly run between 5 and 10-pounds but much bigger fish are always possible.
Although you can catch these fish at any time of the day, the peak action typically takes place from about an hour before dusk to an hour after dark and again in the morning, from just before first light until an hour or two after sunrise.
The fishing itself is dead simple – choose a pier at the mouth of a tributary stream, walk out and start casting. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Salmon and trout wander all around these rivermouth areas so you can expect to connect with fish anywhere. Having said that, there are a few patterns that will affect fish movements and you should watch for them.
The first relates to sunlight. Salmon and trout tend to avoid bright light, so don’t expect to catch many fish until the sun begins to sink on the horizon. The opposite is true in the morning. Prior to sunrise you’ll hear or hear salmon splashing around all over the place. A the sun rises you’ll notice that the surface activity slows considerably. For the most consistent action, plan your fishing for the early hours of the morning or for late afternoon and evening.
The second predictable pattern is related to the wind. The general rule is that you will catch more fish on the side of the pier that’s facing the wind than you will on the lee side. This is especially important if you’re targeting steelhead or brown trout, as these fish will be actively feeding on baitfish. While fishing into the wind may rob you of some casting distance, the wind will also push the fish closer to shore.
The third factor to be aware of is rain. After a heavy rain, the salmon will go into “migration mode” and begin moving upstream in earnest. When this happens you should concentrate on the edge where the dirty river water mixes with the clearer lake water. Fish moving into the river will follow this edge, so that’s where you should be fishing.
When you’re fishing from shore you need to cover a lot of water so lures that you can cast a long distance are preferred. Heavy spoons are favoured by most anglers, but weighted crankbaits, especially lipless ones, are also effective. The key isn’t so much what bait you throw as it is the colour of it. Early or late in the day, plain silver or gold finishes work the best. For fishing in the dark at dawn or at dusk, glow-in-the-dark finishes perform best.
You don’t need a ton of tackle for this type of fishing. A small pocket tackle tray with a few spoons and crankbaits should do the trick. Other than that you’ll need a pair of needlenose pliers for unhooking fish, a flashlight to help you see and, of course, a long-handled net to land your catch. Keep it simple and enjoy some easy fishing this fall. |
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