Spring steelhead run continues on many upper North Shore rivers

In the last month, anglers have ventured to many of the North Shore rivers to try their luck catching a Lake Superior steelhead during the spring steelhead run. 

With the early arrival of warm spring temperatures and precipitation, conditions aligned at the beginning of April for the official start to the North Shore spring steelhead run. 

“This spring has gone weather-wise much better than the previous two years,” said Cory Goldsworthy, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Lake Superior area fisheries supervisor. “The last two years have been kind of a month late.” 

In 2022, water temperatures remained in the mid-30s on many upper shore rivers during the first week of May, delaying the spring steelhead run. 

Goldsworthy said the spring run is strictly dependent on water temperatures. “Temperatures need to hit about 40 degrees to get those fish to really start moving in.” 

Steelhead will stage at the mouth of the river, eagerly waiting for the 40-degree mark, and then begin their journey up the river system to spawn. Goldsworthy said that on April 1, many lower shore rivers closer to Duluth and Two Harbors reached the 40-degree “magic number,” triggering the official start to the season.

Farther up the North Shore, however, it took a few additional weeks.

Typically, the spring steelhead run farther up the North Shore is two weeks behind due to varied water temperatures. Rivers closer to Beaver Bay, Grand Marais, and Grand Portage didn’t see temperatures reach 40 degrees until mid-to-late April. In recent weeks, water temperatures have fluctuated between the upper 30s and low 50s, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

In a recent May 3 report, the DNR said, “Anglers reported fair luck for steelhead in most upper shore rivers with some larger fish reported up to 29 inches.”

While many anglers are finding success catching steelhead, Goldsworthy said the DNR has observed that steelhead populations have declined in recent years due to variable cycles of drought and flooding in the past five years. 

“Unfortunately, this year seems to be a low steelhead abundance here, and it seems to be a lake-wide phenomenon,” Goldsworthy said. 

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins met Cory Goldsworthy, the Minnesota DNR Lake Superior area fisheries supervisor, at an upper shore river for a fishing excursion and to talk about the spring steelhead run, management practices, and ongoing steelhead research. The full audio from the interview is below. 

Kalli Hawkins May 5, 2024