Artificial Lure here with your Duluth and Lake Superior fishing report for October 31, 2025. We’re deep into the fall transition, and the bite around Duluth is prime if you’re willing to bundle up and put in a little legwork. As we slide toward ice-up, prime species like lake trout, walleye, and the odd salmon are still accessible—and if you know where to look, you can even rustle up some monster smallmouth and northern pike.

Let’s start with the **weather**: Early this morning, we’re seeing a classic North Shore Halloween—temp in the upper 30s with overcast skies and a stiff breeze out of the northwest. High today’s going to top out in the mid-40s. Expect on-and-off spits of rain through midday with winds 10 to 20 mph. Lake Superior is choppy, and the big water will be rough, so shoreline and harbor fishing are the sensible bet.

Sunrise this morning came at 7:50, and sunset tonight is at 6:01. That leaves us with a snug window of daylight as we work around these shorter fall days.

Now, let’s talk **fish activity**. It’s been a strong couple of weeks for both numbers and quality in the Duluth area. Minnesota DNR’s latest update notes that recent trawls and creel checks are pulling in healthy counts of **lake trout**, many 5 to 10 pounds, with a few bruisers north of 18. Bonus: The post-spawn brown trout bite is still humming, especially in the river mouths and along the breaks near Lester and Knife Rivers. Local anglers with heavy jigs tipped with white twister tails or emerald shiners have been icing fish throughout the early morning and last hour of daylight.

**Walleye** are staging deeper along the breaks—Arrowhead Outdoors reports they’re being picked up in 15 to 30 feet of water, relating tight to structure and at the base of sharp drops near Park Point and off the mouth of the St. Louis River. Jigs tipped with big minnows—especially rainbows and fatheads—are the ticket, and the jig colors making the difference lately are gold, orange, and chartreuse. On the calm days, a simple Lindy rig or slip bobber with a lively minnow can’t be beat.

For **smallmouth and northern pike**, the harbor and lower sections of the St. Louis River are still producing. Hit the rocky points and eddies using Z MAN GrubZ or TRD CrawZ on light spinning gear—Discount Tackle’s reviews praise the GrubZ’s floating tail in cold water, and that “magic” TRD CrawZ presentation is deadly when fish are hugging bottom. Larger pike are coming on big sucker minnows under a bobber, especially near river mouths and adjacent flats.

If you’re set on panfish, the crappie game is tougher in these waters, but you can get into a few thicker ones in the harbor and the sloughs by drifting small jigs tipped with crappie minnows or waxies over deeper holes.

**Best bait** is live emerald shiners or big fatheads for trout and walleye. If you’re a fan of artificials, paddle-tail swimbaits, tube jigs, and classic spoons are still catching plenty when the bite slows.

Now, for this week’s **hot spots**:
- The **mouth of the Lester River**: Close to town, accessible, with reliable trout action on cooler mornings and evenings—especially if you put in the time just after sunrise.
- **Boy Scout Landing** on the St. Louis River: Reliable for walleye and pike, especially trolling or vertical jigging the channel edges and deep holes.

Tide reports aren’t a factor here since Lake Superior isn’t tidal, but do watch for wind-driven seiche effects, which can raise or lower water rapidly along shore and sometimes move the fish abruptly.

To wrap it up: The bite is good, the weather is brisk, and the lakeshore is alive. Bundle up, keep it safe near the cold water, and remember to respect the fall weather. Catch reports are solid, and the next week’s cooler push should keep the fall action alive so long as you pick your windows and work the structure.

Thanks...