Fishing East End of Isle Royale

[The Coggster]

I am going to be going to Isle Royale this summer 7-18 through the 24th and want to go fishing a lot. I am going with Upper Peninsula Bible Camp so our route is already in stone. We are going from Rock Harbor, to Lake Richie, to Chippewa harbor, to Chickenbone, to Hatchet lake, to Todd Harbor to, McCargo Cove, to Rock Harbor. I just wondered what the best days for fishing will be. I have heard that Chikenbone has some good pike and walleye and perch fishing has anybody been fishing there? I also heard that Richie has some nice pike and perch fishing.

I also wondered what would be better a 4 piece rod or a telescopic, I am planning on bring a 6 foot 4 piece ugly stick medium light with 8 lb line. I wanted something that could catch a 4 inch perch and a 44 inch pike so I figured this would be a good compromise. Also are there any creeks in this part of the island that have brookies? I would like to catch a couple non coaster variant brookies as I really enjoy catching them for their beauty, I will be releasing all brookies caught but I will keep the other three species.

Has anyone ever fished Chippewa harbor and McCargo Cove, I watched this youtube video where some dude caught a 43 inch pike.

Thanks everybody for helping out a newbie like me.

[Isle Royale Rob]

Lots of good fishing at Chickenbone and Lake Ritchie, You can expect to catch Perch, Pike and in Chickenbone, maybe even a Walleye. Not sure about Hatchett Lake.
The video of the 43 inch pike on youtube was mine. I caught that beast in Chippewa Harbor.We caught all of our Pike by either casting or trolling, so i wouldn't expect much from fishing from shore, but you can try from the dock and along the shoreline, if available. I have caught brook trout from the Daisy Farm dock!
As far as McCargoe cove, you can cast from shore and expect to catch some pike and perch. I catch alot of nice Northerns back in Brady Cove, but in july there will probably not be a ton of fish back there. Plus you ned a boat to get back there.
I would bring a fairly stout rod for those northern pike. Bring lures like Mepps, Rapalas, Spoons, for those Pikers.

Not to sure about the trout action, but there aren't too many big streams on the island, and the one or two that do have some trout are real tuff to fish for from shore.

Good luck to you! Take pictures and be sure topost your trip report!

[The Coggster]

Also, are there many pike of any size in Chikenbone and Richie, I really would like to catch a 30-40 inch pike as my largest is 26 inches. Obviously any lake superior waters are going to have some pretty large fish, but I know of a lot of small inland lakes in the UP that have huge numbers of small pike, are Richie and Chikenbone like this?

[Isle Royale Rob]

I am not sure what the average pike is in these inland lakes. We have caught a few from the shores of Lake Ritchie and Chickenbone, but nothing of much size, maybe 24 inches or so. We did run into a couple who had caught what they said was a giant pike in Chickenbone, but who knows what they think is a big pike. The girlfriend said to us that she didn't want to keep it as it was mean, ugly and nasty looking. She made him put it back!

[Ingo]

From experience and other's reports, I think most pike in Richie are in the 20" to maybe 30" range. Most I've caught are right around the legal size of 24". That said, I once had a large one that got away. Never saw it, but broke the 12 lb test--could have wrapped a rock or tree, of course. That was across the lake south of the canoe campground (in a canoe).

[rxgac]

i think if you go to the national park service web site there is a table of what fish are in which lakes. might be part of the Greenstone newsletter.

[The Coggster]

Thanks for the info, so apparently not much chance a a nice pike in either lake but lots of medium sized fish.

I still think it'll be alot of fun catching the fish.

[Backpacker534]

The best fishing experience my buddy and I ever had was at Feldtmann Lake. We caught 13 nice-sized pike within two hours. The next morning I threw my lure in so my buddy could take a silhouette photo of me against the rising sun with the fog rolling over the lake as my lure splashed in the water and I caught a pike on that first cast. It was amazing. We also caught a pike and walleye on Lake Richie, he caught a 34 inch Lake Trout in Siskiwit Bay, and he caught a fish or two from the dock in Chippewa Harbor. I usually just take along a small plastic box with a handful of my favorite lures and spoons and a cheap ($10-15 at Meijer) collapsible fishing pole.

[The Coggster]

Also what do you guys think the water temp will be 3rd week of July in indland lakes, I was thinking high 60s low 70s. Is that about right, I would really like to do some swimming but don't want to regret it when I jump into 60 degree water.

The Lake will probably be low to mid 50s correct, I have been to Pukaskwa National Park in August and it was about 50 on the main lake and about 65 in Hattie cave, Will It be warmer in say........ Chippewa Harbor than something like Moskey basin? thanks for replies!

Also I am betting that the terrain will be quite similar to Pukaskwa's has anybody here been to both, which trails are more rugged?

[Ingo]

Chippewa Harbor will be cold. Inland lakes not too bad, but probably not "warm". Don't know what that translates into temps.

[loreeh]

If you get to lake Desor, south campground there's a beautiful sandy beach you can go out pretty far. Swam there early august to late august, it's chilly but you get used to it and very nice after hot day of hiking on the ridge. It's my favorite place to swim on the island. Happy fishing. Todd Harbor and Moskey were nice too.

[The Coggster]

well unfortunately the fishing was not great this time, I only caught 1 about 5 lb. northern out of Chickenbone the whole trip.

I didn't catch a single pike at Richie or Mccargo or todd or Daisy farm

I think it was mostly because I didn't have a boat and could not really fish the weed edged on the inland lakes. and I didn't know what I was doing in lake superior, oh well better luck next time