Coho Salmon Hot Near Duluth as Inland Walleye Settle into Summer Patterns

What's Biting

What's Next

With the Mississippi River still running elevated at 11,900 cfs (USGS gauge 05331000) and a second central Minnesota gauge at 5,460 cfs (USGS gauge 05288500), the immediate priority for Twin Cities-area river anglers is finding the slack-water seams where fish stack to avoid heavy current. Backwater bays, inside bends, and the downstream edges of tributary mouths are the spots to target. As river levels gradually recede through late June — barring additional rainfall — walleye will spread back onto main-channel structure and points, opening up a wider range of productive presentations.

The New Moon tonight sets up low-light feeding windows that walleye exploit especially well. Dawn and dusk over the next two to three days are the best windows for active bites. Focus on transitional depths — 10 to 18 feet — where walleye follow baitfish keying on emerging weedlines and rock structure. AnglingBuzz has been covering forward-facing sonar with big plastics for suspended fish, a useful pairing alongside a traditional jig-and-crawler setup when fish are scattered at multiple depths.

On Lake Superior's North Shore, conditions should improve if the fog and rain that limited activity in the MN DNR Lake Superior Summer Fishing June 11 report lifts in coming days. Coho salmon action was outstanding the week of June 4 and that fishery tends to hold as thermal structure consolidates through mid-June. Trolling stick baits in the top 10 feet over 80-140 feet of water is the pattern to stay with. Note that Knife River Marina's boat ramp was under repair as of the June 11 report — confirm access before making the trip to that area.

Inland across the North Woods, lakes are transitioning into early summer mode. Weedlines are filling in, and Fishing the Midwest notes that working the weedline edge is the go-to move as the 2026 open water season hits its stride. Bass are in post-spawn recovery, shifting back toward shallow structure and weedline edges as water temperatures stabilize into the mid-June range.

Context

Mid-June in Minnesota typically marks the full transition from spring into summer fishing, and 2026 is tracking on schedule for most species. Walleye opener is well behind us, and fish that spent post-spawn time in recovery mode have generally begun staging on summer structure — main-lake humps, rock piles, and weedline edges in the 10-20 foot range across the North Woods lake district.

River flows on the Mississippi River at St. Paul (11,900 cfs, USGS gauge 05331000) are elevated for mid-June, consistent with lingering snowmelt drainage or late spring rain events working through the upper basin. High flows this time of year are not unusual — the Mississippi frequently runs full into June — but they concentrate walleye in slack-water refuge zones and make river presentations more technical. The second central Minnesota gauge (USGS 05288500, at 5,460 cfs) shows the same dynamic on tributary systems.

On the North Shore, the spring steelhead run that the MN DNR North Shore Fishing Report tracked through April and May has concluded, with angling pressure on streams having dropped off by late May as rivers approached low-flow conditions and fish returned to the lake. Wired 2 Fish noted a record 30-inch, 10-pound rainbow trout caught on the Stewart River on May 10, a marker of the run's peak productivity before the seasonal close-out. Coho salmon activity near Duluth and Superior — "very hot" per the MN DNR Lake Superior Summer Fishing report for June 4 — is consistent with typical early summer patterns as Lake Superior's thermal breaks develop and surface temps climb into the 46-55°F range where coho prefer to stage.

AnglingBuzz's coverage of Leech Lake as "one of the best fisheries in the country" is a seasonal reminder that North Woods destination lakes historically deliver strong walleye through June. No comparative data is available this report cycle for inland lake temperature or bite quality specifically, so anglers targeting destination lakes should check local sources or MN DNR updates for current lake-specific conditions before making the trip.