Fall on the North Shore

     Although it is supposed to be nearly 90 degrees today and humid as a sauna, fall is on my mind.  The Sate Fair is here and cooler nights are in the forecast.  Soon the leaves will change colors and there are few better places to witness a sea of fall colors than the North Shore of Minnesota's Lake Superior.  The combination of rocky rivers and blaze orange maples always tempts me into a picture or 500.   There are a number of places to stay on the North Shore.  My favorite is Easy Bay Suites in Grand Marais.  The staff is friendly and rooms are freshly renovated.  Plus, the view is amazing.  The place sits right on the water.   Grand Marais is a great town too.  There are at least three restaurants that are great and one in every price range from the Crooked Spoon on the high end to My Sisters Place on the dive/but great food and beer end.  The Gunflint Tavern sits as a nice middle ground with a great beer selection and a fresh modern menu. 

Cascade River

Cascade River

Beautiful North Shore veiw

Cascade River State Park

Oberg Mountain

    I would not recommend the Beaver Bay Inn in Beaver Bay.  Unless you want unwashed sheets and/or to stay in a renovated trailer.   I would stay away unless it is the last place on the North Shore.  Unfortunately, it happened to be the only place available for us one year. 
    The other great attraction to the north shore in fall is the pink salmon run.  Even if you are not a fisherman/fisherperson the site of migrating salmon up a river right in front of your eyes offers a real connection to a species' fight for survival.  No one apparently knows how the pink salmon were introduced to the North Shore but it appears they are here to stay.  All pink salmon are naturally produced; the DNR does not stock these fish.  The salmon come into the rivers along Lake Superior in mid September and spawn through early October.  They lay their eggs in the gravely river bottom where they develop until March or April.  Then they leave the river and live in the lake for usually 2 years before they return to spawn.  Spawning is a one time event for salmon.  The males drastically change their appearance.  They grow a mean looking hook jaw and form a huge humped back giving the pink salmon their nick name, humpies.   The females generally look as they do in the lake.   Once they enter the river their stomachs collapse to make room for eggs and their bodies start to decay.  Since pink salmon do not eat while spawning in the rivers, it is best to target fish that have just entered the river and attempt to illicit an instinct strike.  This can be done by drifting either a large fly that imitates something that may be a risk to the eggs like a minnow or, as a different tactic, an egg pattern that is literally drifted inches from the fishes mouth. 
    Pink salmon are not known for being great eating fish.  When caught in the lake the flesh is firmer and better but once they enter the river they start to get a little mushy. The best bet for good eating fish is to release fish that look a little decayed and keep ones that look fresh from the lake. 
    On another note, there may be people present who are snagging or otherwise illegally "catching" fish.  This is poaching and should be reported to the DNR.  A few years back I saw a person reeling a 3/0 treble hook through a group of over a hundred salmon.  He dragged them in by their backs and tossed them in a trash bag on shore, alive.  It is possible that you will snag a fish by accident since there are so many fish but try to bring it in quickly and release it immediately.   Taking a few legally caught fish home is perfectly okay. There are so many fish in such a small spawning ground I think all possible sites for fish to develop are saturated.

Pink salmon spawning.  Notice the big one in the middle?  Yeah, that's a King salmon.  There are a few of those around but not many.

Call to report poachers:
1-800-652-9093
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/enforcement/tip.html

    The sheer number of salmon in the rivers is amazing.  Hundreds of fish school together and spawn in the pools of north shore streams.  The two places I have seen huge numbers of fish and have actually caught fish were at Cascade State Park and Temperance State Park.  At Cascade, walk up river from the highway 61 crossing to the first slow spot in the river.  There should be fish stacked up along this run for about 50 yards.  At Temperance, walk towards the lake and to a small beach on the south side of the river. There should be fish right at the river outlet to the lake. 

Temperance River State Park

    Even without fishing the North Shore is a beautiful place to visit that time of year.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have over the last few years.