Smallmouth Bass · Lake Superior
Lake Superior has one great smallmouth fishery, Chequamegon Bay, and it ranks among the best trophy bass water in the Midwest. Away from the bay and the St. Louis River estuary, Superior is too cold to hold bass worth a trip.
Prime time
Late May through June for shallow pre-spawn and spawning fish; September and October for the biggest fish of the year
Depths
2–8 ft on spring sand and wood; 8–18 ft on rock and weed edges in summer and fall
Typical size
2–4 lb
Lake max depth
1,332 ft
Where
The shallow basins on the east side of the bay toward Oak Point, 4 to 6 feet deep over sand and wood. This is where the Wisconsin DNR has run its spring hook-and-line bass surveys since 1990, and where most of the spring bass fishing on the bay happens.
The south shore of the bay in front of the city. In some survey years Wisconsin DNR electrofishing has turned up more spawning smallmouth per mile here than anywhere else on the bay. You can launch from Kreher Park in Ashland, a short run from the fish.
Rockier and deeper, with fewer spring fish than the east side. It's still worth fishing in late summer and fall, when bass move out to rock and the outside edges. You can launch at the Washburn Marina and West End Park.
A real smallmouth fishery, though it comes second to walleye and muskie here. Bass hold on rock, riprap and channel edges throughout the harbor, and the catch climbs through late summer into September. You can launch at Barkers Island in Superior.
How
Late May and June, once bass move into 2 to 8 feet on the east side of the bay. A 3-inch Ned rig on a 1/10 oz head, or a 3.5-inch tube on a 1/8 oz head, dragged and paused across sand and around wood. Long casts and light fluorocarbon matter. The water is clear and these fish have seen boats before.
Superior's bays stay cold well into June. In water in the low 50s, twitch a suspending jerkbait twice and let it sit for 5 to 10 seconds. The pause catches more fish than the twitch does.
September and October, on rock and the outside weed edges in 8 to 18 feet. Heavier tubes on a 1/4 oz head, or a drop-shot with a 3-inch minnow. Local anglers consider October the trophy month on Chequamegon Bay.
In the St. Louis River estuary, fish riprap, bridge footings and the rock along channel edges with a tube or a small swimbait. Late summer is the best time. Watch for ship traffic in the main channels.
Lake Superior is not bass water. It is cold, deep and clear, and most of its shoreline is rock dropping into water that never warms up enough for smallmouth to do well.
Chequamegon Bay is the exception. It covers 34,000 acres of shallow water behind the Apostle Islands, with an average depth of 28 feet. It is protected, productive, and it warms faster than anything around it. It also holds one of the best trophy smallmouth fisheries in the upper Midwest. If you’re coming to Superior for bass, come here.
The bay didn’t always look like this. In the 1970s and 1980s, smallmouth there were managed like bass anywhere else in Wisconsin. In the early 1990s the Wisconsin DNR moved to much more conservative rules, with strong support from anglers, to protect the bigger fish and build a trophy fishery.
It worked. DNR survey data from 1990 onward show the size and age structure climbing and then holding steady. Mortality dropped. Before the change, the DNR’s long-running summer gill-net station off Washburn caught no smallmouth at all. Afterward it did. Today the bay’s proportion of preferred and memorable fish ranks above the 90th percentile of 105 inland Wisconsin lakes the DNR compared it against. In the 2024 fall survey, most bass sampled were 15 to 19 inches.
These are old fish in cold water, and they grow slowly. Most of them have been caught and released before. Treat them that way. Land them quickly, keep them wet, and let them go where you caught them.
Bass fishing on the bay begins soon after the ice goes out, and it’s best from late May through June. Fish move into shallow water under 8 feet to spawn, mostly on the east side of the bay at Sand Cut and the shallows toward Oak Point. That’s where the Wisconsin DNR has run its spring hook-and-line survey since 1990. The Ashland shoreline also holds a lot of fish. In 2018 it had the highest electrofishing catch on the bay.
Fish it slowly. A Ned rig or a small tube, dragged and paused across sand and around wood, catches more than anything fast. The water is clear and cold, and a suspending jerkbait with a long pause is a strong second choice. Run your boat quietly over the flats.
The Kakagon Sloughs themselves are on the Bad River Reservation, and the Band regulates fishing there, including a spawning-season closure. Fish the open bay unless you’ve checked the Band’s rules.
After spawning, the bass spread out onto rock, weed edges and deeper flats in 8 to 18 feet. The Wisconsin DNR’s fishing calendar lists the bay as productive for smallmouth through June and again in September. The fall bite is the one people plan trips around. Local guides call October the trophy month, when the heaviest fish of the year feed on rock before winter. Fish tubes on 1/4 oz heads and drop-shots, and follow the bass as they slide deeper.
Superior’s bays cool quickly in fall, and the bay can turn rough in a hurry when the wind gets up. Watch the forecast with reading a Great Lakes marine forecast and dress for water in the 40s, not for the air temperature. See cold-water layering for open boats.
At the western tip of the lake, the St. Louis River estuary between Duluth and Superior has a smaller smallmouth fishery. It’s a walleye and muskie estuary first, and the 2015 creel survey showed bass as a minor share of the catch. That catch climbed through the summer and peaked in September. Fish riprap, bridge footings and rocky channel edges with tubes and small swimbaits. You can launch at Barkers Island in Superior. Remember that this is a working port. Stay out of the way of ship traffic in the main channels.
The Wisconsin DNR manages Chequamegon Bay. Its smallmouth rules there have been more restrictive than the rest of the state for decades and are revised from time to time. The St. Louis River estuary is a Minnesota-Wisconsin border water with its own rules, so check both the Minnesota DNR and the Wisconsin DNR. The Bad River Band regulates fishing in the Kakagon Sloughs. Read the current regulations for the exact water before you fish.
Where to put in
Dark marks are launches named in this guide. Generalized shoreline, not for navigation.
Kit
A short buoyant stick bait that stands up off bottom on a light jighead — the highest-percentage smallmouth bait on the lakes.
The tube is still the St. Clair smallmouth bait, and a 3.5-inch green pumpkin on an internal head is the whole answer most days.
A suspending jerkbait that hangs motionless between twitches — the cold-water bait for walleye, smallmouth and browns.
The leader material that makes braid usable over mussel-covered rock, and the whole line when smallmouth get selective in gin-clear water.
The all-purpose graphite spinning rod that covers smallmouth, walleye and perch without being the best at any one of them.
A sealed, cold-forged spinning reel that keeps its smoothness through years of spray, sand and freezing spray.
Questions
Same fish, other water
Size limits, bag limits, and open seasons for smallmouth bass on Lake Superior are set by Michigan DNR, Wisconsin DNR and Minnesota DNR and change from year to year. Check the current rulebook before you keep a fish.
Sources
Last updated 2026-10-08
