Lake-run brown trout Run in Minnesota

Salmo trutta, coaster brown, on Superior — 19 Minnesota rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Superior. 19 of them are inside a window as of 1 October 2026.

Where these rivers are

19 run rivers on Lake Superior — the Minnesota shore, each in the colour of its own run stage today.

Lake Superior — the Minnesota shore19 run rivers on this shore, 19 inside a window today Peak run

Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.

Where it runs, and when

Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.

River	Lake	Window	Peak	Miles	Stage
Poplar River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	25.7	First runners
Cross River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	22.9	First runners
Knife River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	22.4	First runners
Sucker River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	17.9	First runners
St. Louis River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	16.5	First runners
French River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	12.6	First runners
Flute Reed River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	10.4	First runners
Stewart River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	2.4	First runners
Devil Track River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	2.3	First runners
Brule River (Minnesota)	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	1.3	First runners
Baptism River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.9	First runners
Gooseberry River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.8	First runners
Split Rock River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.8	First runners
Kadunce River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.7	First runners
Lester River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.6	First runners
Beaver River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.2	First runners
Temperance River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.2	First runners
Cascade River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.1	First runners
Manitou River	Superior	Sept–Nov	Oct	0.0	First runners

Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.

Identification

Buttery flanks with black and red spots, and no spotting on the tail worth the name — the mark that separates it from everything else in the run at the net.

Size

Three to fifteen pounds.

Behaviour in the river

Runs with the autumn steelhead and behind the salmon, and is the most nocturnal fish in the corridor. Many hold over into February and March.

Tackle and tactics

Spinning: a medium 7'–8' rod, 8–12 lb line, minnow plugs and spoons fished at dusk and after dark, which is when these fish move.
Fly: 7–8 weight, large articulated streamers on a sink tip, 10–12 lb tippet.

Regulations

Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Minnesota's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.

The rest of the run

Open the lake-run map →Every run river, with where the fish are holding today.Or get BirdTrout on the App Store