Steelhead
Good
The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Lake Superior Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Lake Superior’s Ontario shore: lake trout, salmon and big brook trout in the largest and coldest of the Great Lakes.
2/5
Slow. The wind owns today.39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
Water temp
~8 °C est.
Air / High
4 °C / 7 °C
Wind
N 13 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Superior is a cold-water proposition today: small baits, slow presentations and a long soak. Today brings cloud cover, wind N around 13 km/h, rising pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 7 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Chinook (spring) salmon
Slow
Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:30 PM-1:30 AM, 11:48 AM-1:48 PM, 8:07 AM-9:07 AM. Similar at 7 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Ontario requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$12.21. Ontario fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing chinook (spring) salmon here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Chinook (spring) salmon page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Superior today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:44), sunset (17:16), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM; minor 8:07 AM-9:07 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp4 °C
High / Low7 °C / 4 °C
WindN 13 km/h, gusts 15 km/h
Pressure101.56 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain98% cloud, 18%
Sunrise / Sunset07:44 / 17:16
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
The level of the whole lake, live at both ends: Lake Huron water level today.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Superior
The best day on Lake Superior this week looks like Tuesday Nov 10, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Tuesday, Nov 10 — fair at 3/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Tough
39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
- Solunar majors
- 11:30 PM-1:30 AM and 11:48 AM-1:48 PM
- Minor period
- 8:07 AM-9:07 AM
- Sun
- 07:44 to 17:16
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 39 km/h
- Rain chance
- 18%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Superior: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Chinook (spring) salmon
BC coast: spring to late summer; Great Lakes tributaries: September and October
Open all year Pacific salmon and rainbow trout are open all year in Zone 9; only one rainbow trout may be kept (sport licence). Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The biggest Pacific salmon, called spring or king on the BC coast. Feeds along the kelp lines, points and tide rips of the BC coast before running rivers in late summer; introduced to the Great Lakes, where it runs the tributaries in fall. Retention on the BC coast changes by area and by DFO fishery notice. Winter feeders on the BC coast, deep and slow, on the calm days only. In the Great Lakes, the run is over until next fall.
Steelhead
BC: winter run December to April, summer run into fall; Great Lakes: fall and spring
Open all year Pacific salmon and rainbow trout are open all year in Zone 9; only one rainbow trout may be kept (sport licence). Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Sea-run rainbow trout, the fish of the Vedder, the Skeena system and the Island rivers in winter, and of the Great Lakes tributaries in fall and spring. In BC wild steelhead are released; a steelhead conservation surcharge applies on top of the licence. The winter run. Slow and deep: float gear right on the bottom, swing slower, and fish the days after a small rise in water.
Lake trout
Ice season, and spring after ice-off
Closed now Reopens Jan 1, 2027. Lake trout are open 1 January to 30 September in Zone 9. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The big char of cold, deep lakes: Lake Simcoe, the Kootenay and Shuswap systems, the northern lakes. A winter favourite through the ice, where the season allows.
When to come: the Lake Superior calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Chinook (spring) salmon
Steelhead
Lake trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Superior today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 45 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 8 °C, wind to 45 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 7 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 47 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 2 °C, wind to 47 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence, from C$12.21 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy → Except on a one-day licence you also need the Outdoors Card.
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Ontario MNR and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Ontario licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on Ontario fishing seasons.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed, and two lines may be used when trolling from a boat in open water in Zone 9.
About this water
Lake Superior is a lake in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Lake Superior: the full guide
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the deepest and coldest, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, with Thunder Bay, Nipigon, Rossport, Marathon and Sault Ste. Marie on its rugged Canadian shore. Its fishing is cold-water fishing: lake trout, salmon, rainbow trout and the lake-run brook trout known as coasters. The coordinates on this page are out in the lake; Great Lakes levels are the Canadian Hydrographic Service’s and are not used here.
Species and seasons
The Ontario waters are in Fisheries Management Zone 9. Lake trout are open from 1 January to 30 September, Pacific salmon and rainbow trout are open all year, and walleye and sauger close from 15 April to the Friday before the third Saturday in May. Rainbow trout limits are higher east of the Pic River than to the west, and Black Bay has new walleye and pike rules in this year’s summary.
Brook trout rules
Brook trout in Zone 9 are open from the fourth Saturday in April to Labour Day, and a sport licence holder may keep only one, which must be longer than 56 centimetres; conservation licence holders may keep none. The Nipigon River, in Zone 6, has the same one-fish rule for brook trout, closes walleye all year with Nipigon Bay, and has three named pools that are closed from 1 January to the Friday before the fourth Saturday in May and again after Labour Day.
Where to fish it
Boats troll and jig off Thunder Bay, Rossport and Sault Ste. Marie, and the river mouths are fished in spring and fall; the Nipigon River and Nipigon Bay are known for big brook trout. Thunder Bay’s harbour and the Kaministiquia River mouth are fished close to the city.
Parks and safety
Pukaskwa National Park and Lake Superior Provincial Park protect long stretches of the shore, and Ontario Parks lists trout fishing among the provincial park’s attractions. The lake is cold enough to be dangerous in any month, storms build quickly, and the drives between north-shore towns on the Trans-Canada Highway are long.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, stays low all year on this lake. Wind, pressure and cloud cover go into the score. Ontario’s stocking record shows only small releases of adult lake trout in Lake Superior since 2016, so the fishery here rests mostly on wild fish.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed, and two lines may be used when trolling from a boat in open water in Zone 9. The Zone 9 and Zone 6 summaries are linked below, and our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What can I catch in Lake Superior?
Lake trout, salmon, rainbow trout and, along the north shore, brook trout.
What is a coaster brook trout?
A brook trout that lives in Lake Superior and runs into its rivers. In Zone 9, a sport licence holder may keep only one, longer than 56 cm.
Can I fish for walleye in the Nipigon River?
No. Walleye and sauger are closed all year in the Nipigon River and Nipigon Bay.
Is fishing good at Lake Superior right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. The wind owns today. 39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Ontario fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.