Trailer ramp · Lake Superior · Wisconsin

Barkers Island Marina

Name: Barkers Island Marina
Address: Superior, WI, US
Telephone: (715) 395-7270

A public trailer ramp on Superior Bay in Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin. Managed by Superior Park & Rec. Dept..

Directions Call (715) 395-7270 All Superior launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — concrete ramp
Water: Superior Bay
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: Superior Park & Rec. Dept.
Owner: City
Location: Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 46.7184° N, 92.0573° W

Before you launch

Lake Superior is big water

Pick the launch for the harbor you can get back into, not for the fish. Long stretches of Superior shore have no shelter, the water stays cold enough all season to make a capsize a survival problem, and fog and wind come up fast. File a float plan and watch the nearshore forecast for the whole day, not the morning.

Water temperature. The open lake sits in the high 30s to mid 40s most of the year. Cold-water immersion takes usable strength from your hands and arms in minutes — long before hypothermia is the issue.
Distance from help. On the north shore of the Keweenaw or east of Grand Marais you can be 30-plus miles from a Coast Guard station and out of cell coverage. A handheld VHF is not optional gear on this lake.
Sea state that builds faster than the forecast. A northeast blow across 200 miles of open water stacks steep, short-period waves in under two hours. The run home is always into it.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Superior

Our Superior fishing guides name spots at or near Barkers Island:

Muskellunge · September and October, with October the peak; an early-season window in late spring

Lake Superior Muskie: The St. Louis River Estuary at Duluth-Superior

The Duluth-Superior harbor: The lower estuary: dredged shipping channels, slips, riprap and the bays behind Park Point and Wisconsin Point. Muskie spread down here in summer and fall. It's a working port, and the ore boats don't stop for you. You can launch at Barkers Island in Superior.

Smallmouth Bass · Late May through June for shallow pre-spawn and spawning fish; September and October for the biggest fish of the year

Lake Superior Smallmouth Bass: Chequamegon Bay & the St. Louis River

The St. Louis River estuary, Superior and Duluth: 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.

Yellow Perch · January through March on the ice; June for open water

Yellow Perch on Lake Superior: Chequamegon Bay and the St. Louis River

The St. Louis River estuary at Superior and Duluth: The other half of Superior's perch water. Wisconsin DNR names the estuary and Chequamegon Bay as the two most productive areas for perch on the lake. Fish the protected side bays off the main channel, such as Pokegama Bay. Launch from Barkers Island in Superior.

Brown Trout · April through early June, with a fall window in October and November near river mouths

Brown Trout Fishing on Lake Superior

Brown trout are a niche fish on Lake Superior, concentrated in the few places warm enough to suit them: Chequamegon Bay, the Duluth and Superior harbor entries, and the water off a handful of tributaries. Where they do exist they are catchable from shore and from a small boat in shallow water.

Chinook Salmon · Late June through August, with the best shot in July off the Minnesota North Shore

Chinook Salmon Fishing on Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the least productive chinook water on the chain and a king here is a bonus fish, not a plan. The Minnesota North Shore and the Apostle Islands produce them most reliably, usually as a by-catch of a coho and lake trout program run in the top 60 feet.

Coho Salmon · May through July, with a second shot at maturing fish near the river mouths in September

Lake Superior Coho Salmon Fishing: North Shore & Spring Trolling

Lake Superior grows fewer and smaller coho than Lake Michigan, but almost all of them are wild fish and they are catchable in the top 20 feet of water within sight of the North Shore highway. Spring and early summer off Duluth, Knife River and the Apostles is the most consistent coho water on the lake.

Lake Trout Lake Whitefish Northern Pike Steelhead Walleye

Superior by season

SpringShallow water is the only warm water there is SummerThe thermocline sets up and the lake gets vertical FallLake trout come up on the reefs to spawn WinterIce where the bays let it form, and nowhere else

Next ramp over

Nearest Superior launches

Loons Foot Landing1.7 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Brighton Beach8.7 mi · hand / carry-in launch · MN
McQuade Safe Harbor13 mi · trailer ramp · 4 ramps · MN
French River15 mi · hand / carry-in launch · MN
Knife River Marina and Harbor20 mi · trailer ramp · 2 ramps · MN
Knife River Beach20 mi · hand / carry-in launch · 1 ramp · MN

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses nearby

Minnesota Point Light1.6 mi · deactivated
Wisconsin Point Light2.5 mi
Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light4.5 mi

For the crew ashore

Beaches nearby

Barker's Island Inner Beach0.2 mi
Park Point Sky Harbor Parking Lot Beac0.8 mi
Park Point Beach House0.9 mi

On shore nearby

Worth the stop

North Shore Scenic Drive — Highway 6128 mi · drive

Source

Launch facts are from the Wisconsin DNR, Public Boat Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with Superior Park & Rec. Dept. before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theWisconsin DNR.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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