After a journal was posted about bobbing for lake trout in Lake Superior, I had to find out more. I have never tried this unique sport, but this last weekend will not be my last. Once you get a taste of a 10 pound lake trout getting pulled through a 10 inch hole in the ice, you'll be hooked!
I made the call to my brother and Darren Miller (who posted the original bobbing journal) and they agreed to coordinate a trip. Nic Dittbrenner and I left Minneapolis on Friday to make the trip up to Ashland Wisconsin for a chance to try our luck at bobbing. After getting our gear together picking up some Mellow Yellows at the local Wal-Mart, we were confident that we had all the necessities for a day of big fish, sun, ice, and apostle islands.
The plan was to leave from Red Cliff Wisconsin (check your map, it's a long ways up there!) and snowmobile deep into the Apostle Islands.
Saturday morning came early. After turning in around midnight, I woke every half hour sure I had missed my alarm. My brother describes this feeling like it's Christmas morning when we get to try something new or plan to wake early for their favorite outdoor sport. This was no exception. The alarm rang 5:30 and I popped up no problem. Nic is always excited, so I wasn’t surprised to see that he was already up when I walked down the hall to sound the bugle. Pa Johnson had promised a hearty meal to get us going that morning and he didn’t disappoint. We woke to a plate of biscuits smothered in gravy with two fried eggs on top. A cup of coffee and a small glass of juice was provided to top it off. I was surprised at how quickly Nic put his down. He wanted to get out there! My dad told us to eat up as the gravy would stick to our ribs and we would need it. It wasn’t long and we were ready. I grabbed the handle of the door and as I opened it, my face was stung with the cold that reminds you that you are an idiot for living in Wisconsin in the winter. I was taken aback and turned to look at the thermometer. -16. Why do we always schedule our outdoor adventures for the coldest day of the year? Nic and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and pushed into the arctic air. We had a date with some lake trout and the cold wasn’t going to ruin our fun.
Our first stop on the way to Washburn to meet my brother was at Outdoor Allure. You may have seen their ad on CrazyOutdoorsmen. They are a very well respected outfitter in northern Wisconsin (located on highway 13 between Ashland and Wasburn WI), so it’s nice to stop when you need something around Chequamegon Bay. This particular trip called for whole herring. Bobbing requires that a large piece of the herring is secured to a large (upwards of 2oz.) jig that is suspended horizontally in 200 or more feet of water. We grabbed a few herring, gave the cashier a CrazyOutdoorsmen.com t-shirt and we were on our way. We met my brother at his house. He already had the snowmobiles loaded for us, so the turn around to Red Clift didn’t take long. We discussed the possibly of not catching any fish, as a storm has moved through the area on Thursday and there wasn’t any forecasted pressure changes in the near future.
On the way to Red Cliff to launch, the thermometer in Kenny’s truck had consistently read -16, but there was nothing we could do now, we were committed. We met Darren Miller (a CrazyOutdoorsmen.com member and our quasi-guide for the day) and Rick (a future member and great friend of my brother). The snowmobiles were unloaded, the sleds were tied tight, and we were on our way as the sun was just gaining strength in the sky. The drive from Red Cliff to Darren’s secret island spot is about 7 miles, so we bundled up, threw on the goggles, and hit it.
It didn’t seem like long and we were at our spot. Surrounded by the Apostle Islands, it was almost surreal to think about where we were on a map of the United States. It is like no other experience to know that you are navigating among some of the most untouched land in the Midwest. These preserved islands represent the pristine land that was once explored by settlers, not that long ago. They still look undiscovered. The five of us quickly set up the 5 teepees, got the heaters going, and then asked Darren for his knowledge on how to bait the jig. A concerted effort led to all of us dropping our lines in no time.
A beetle jig consists of a very heavy bait with the eye in the center of the back. The leader is attached the eye, with heavy braided line on the reel. This particular jig looks like an oversized jig that has been cut in half. It has a very large hook with an additional stinger hook attached. The straight side is where the line attaches and has two metal clasps that hold the herring down. A 4 inch piece of herring is threaded onto the wires and then is attached to the stinger hook. The piece of herring is cut smooth and straight and a notch it made towards the end on the stinger hook.
I was amazed at how long the line let out. We were set in over 200 feet of water and a steady current was asking for a lot of line to put our bait on the sandy bottom. A few minutes into our fishing and Kenny yelled “fish on!” We all reeled our lines up (which took the good part of 2 minutes) and ran to his teepee. He pulled in a very nice sized lake trout and the skunk was out of the bag. It wasn’t long before he yelled again. “Fish on! And it broke my pole!” I had to see this. We were using pretty heavy poles, but when that laker grabbed the bait, the pole didn’t have a chance to absorb the strike and it snapped at the grip. I grabbed the pole and held it in place so my brother could continue to reel him in. As I looked down the hole I could see the silver shine as he pulled him to the surface. Another great lake trout and this one was bigger, (about 6 pounds) and obviously more aggressive.
A short time had passed and I swear I heard the lunch bell had ring We were ready to fire up the grill. Nic had brought his small grill and a cooler of goose and duck brats for everyone. We fired it up, cooked the brats with some onions and had a feast. Rick was really excited as he spends a lot of time on the ice and has not used the grill. Necessities Rick!
The big one came after Darren yelled for us to come to his teepee. He had something that was stripping out line and he knew it was a big one. After 5 or 6 runs, Darren was able to wrestle a 10 pounder to the surface. He thought that it might be bigger than it turned out to be, but it was a monster. Not a personal best for Darren, but a sight to see!! We were all immediately excited to get back in the water so after a few pictures, we were back at it.
Nic was next to yell, and we all ran over. Turned out, he had already pulled it up and celebrated his first lake trout through the ice. (I’ll let him tell you his own story with his own photos) The day was coming to a close, so we started to pack up. The wind had picked up considerably so it was a cold pack up. The temperature had risen from -16 that morning to about 20 degrees, so luckily it wasn’t miserable.
After the 7 mile snowmobile drive back to the trucks, we packed up and headed to the fish hatchery. We were given a tour of the facility. The tanks of browns were a sight to see. A lot of work goes into preserving certain species, and we were able to see the splake that is created for sportsmen only.
This was a great trip. If you are ever looking for a new ice fishing trip, try bobbing in Lake Superior. According to past journals on CrazyOutdoorsmen, bobbing was given its name because you are usually so far out in the big lake that there is little ice and you are bobbing around in 200+ feet of water. A scary thought, so always go with someone that already knows the area and what type of ice you can expect. We were lucky that a colder than average winter had blessed us with 18 inches of ice. I feel comfortable at that amount. A big thanks to Darren Miller, Rick, and Kenny for setting up this trip and taking us out. We couldn’t have done it without them. We all had a great time in great company in the outdoors.
Let me know you questions or comments. Many of the people that read these journals have a lot of experience in bobbing and other Lake Superior fishing trips and will respond with comments. To comment on this journal, select the number of stars for a rating and a comment box will drop down. Enter your comments and submit them. Thanks.
Join up to view similar journals!
icon whenever you have a question about certain
functionality on a page. Who knows, it may actually help.