Lake Superior Outdoor Fishing Report – Nov. 24, 2025

Apostle Islands

With water temperatures in the 30s or low 40s, nearshore fishing for trout and salmon has been excellent. Most anglers are targeting water depths of less than 60 feet along the mainland, ranging from Port Wing to Saxon and around the Apostle Islands, while trolling with spoons and crankbaits. As the water drops into the 30s, fish can also be caught near the surface over deeper water. Some nice catches of trout and salmon have been reported recently. Brown trout from 15 inches up to trophy-sized fish over 30 inches have been reported, with many browns in the 18-22 inch range. Splake generally range from 15 to 20 inches, and coho salmon are generally reported to be 11 to 14 inches. A few large mature cohos can sometimes still be caught near river mouths, but most mature fish have already made their way up into tributaries to spawn. Brook trout, lake trout and steelhead (rainbow trout) are occasionally caught nearshore as well, so please be aware of minimum size limits and bag limits. The current daily bag limit for trout is five total fish, including up to one brook trout with a 20-inch minimum size, up to one steelhead with a minimum of 26 inches, and a 15-inch minimum size for brown trout and splake. The daily bag limit for salmon is five fish, with no minimum size limit. The lake trout season opens Dec. 1, with a daily bag limit of two fish. The minimum size limit for lake trout is 15 inches, and only one may be over 25 inches. Fishing should remain good all the way until ice up.

Chequamegon Bay

Smallmouth bass fishing in the Chequamegon Bay can be very good throughout the fall. Most smallmouth anglers primarily target rock piles and structure in 15-30 feet, as well as structure along the Ashland shoreline. Bass can be taken with a variety of baits, but jigging swimbaits and minnows, or soaking sucker minnows, are often productive techniques. The Chequamegon Bay is primarily utilized as a catch-and-release trophy fishery for smallmouth, with many fish exceeding the 20-inch mark and a daily bag limit of 1 fish over 22 inches. Walleye fishing is also excellent in the bay throughout the fall. Anglers targeting walleye have had success jigging or casting swimbaits, crankbaits or live bait over weed beds along the Ashland and Washburn shorelines and out from Second Landing in 15-30 feet. Walleye have a daily bag limit of 5 fish, and a minimum size of 15 inches, with only 1 fish over 20 inches. Northern pike can also be caught throughout the bay, especially over weeds, with some trophy pike exceeding 40 inches and 20 pounds. The daily bag limit for northern pike is 2 fish over 26 inches. Whitefish are heavily targeted by anglers in the summer and winter, but fair numbers of 17-20 inch fish can be caught in the fall as well. Most whitefish anglers target 30-65 feet of water near the green can, Ashland lighthouse, Houghton Point or Long Island. Yellow perch are also abundant in the Chequamegon Bay. A good number of 9-12 inch perch can be caught fishing in and around weed beds throughout the bay.

REMINDER – Anglers must carry a paper copy of their license/stamps while fishing on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and the Wisconsin/Michigan, Wisconsin/Minnesota and Wisconsin/Iowa boundary waters.

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