Boundry waters

[joestenger]

I am going to canoe the boundary waters in Mid July.

Dose any one have a suggestion on what tackle to bring for walleye.
I need to pack very light. My best guess was leaches. Any suggestions on a good way to transport leaches in a canoe?

Joe

[Reels]

You can hang one of these off the side. Nice and light and travels well.

http://www.driftbag.com/freshwater/leech_tamer.shtml


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[Fish For Fun]

Leeches will die in a few days unless they are kept in cold water. I would suggest Gulp Leeches or Crawlers in a styro pack. I have also used the good old Mr. Twisters with good success in the BWCA.

[Mr. Sauger]

We have brought live bait on a couple of BWCAW trips and found it was never worth the trouble. A jig with plastic (or GULP) produced just fine. Crankbaits are also very productive (either the original rapala stickbait type or a shad rap shape). Silver/black, gold/black, firetiger and perch colors worked the best.
Good luck.

[Joe Stenger]

Thanks for the tip on the "Gulp" minnows--- That sounds great!

joe

[Joe Stenger]

This is the second sugestion for the Gulp plastics-- is must be a winner.---Thanks Joe

[joestenger]

Thanks for the sugestion--- Gulp it is.

[LundAngler]

I've been there a few times, and Rapalas, and great. Small curly tails too. A few spoons and I can smell the pike....Look for any mid lake humps. There's where you can't go wrong. Don't mess with the hassle of bait. What lake are you going to?. I fished Crooked, and the Basswood river. Awesome.

[Footdoc1]

I have been to the boundry waters twice with my boy scout troop and have never regretted getting the kids to bring in a pound of leeches per two scouts. I found the leeches were the most reliable and hardy of all live baits. They really made the difference for the walleyes with our biggest being right at 30" at the north end of Disappointment Lake on a red hook and split shot. We also caught northerns on spoons, little cleos, ko wobblers, daredevil in firetiger and of course rapalas are always good in the crawdad color. Enjoy yourself and be safe!

[Box]

30" walleye at "Disappointment Lake"... now that is priceless :)

I agree that leeches are worth the extra weight. Last time I went the smallies just inhaled them, each and every one of the leeches caught at least one fish, usually several.

-Box

http://www.walleyecentral.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=103808

[mockchub]

I've made about ten trips to the Quetico (Boundry Waters area)- all with live bait. When the fishing is really slow, and sometimes it can be, live bait (crawlers/ leaches) may well be your savior. When the fishing is good, Gulp and the like can be fine. I figure why go through all the trouble to get up there to fish, and bring dozens of pounds of other camping and fishing stuff, and not bring what might be the only thing that will get you supper for a night or two.

With a few proper containers distributed amongst the party it's really no big hassle. Leeches are easier to keep than crawlers when it's hot, but with a small thick Styrofoam crawler container we have had the crawlers make it for an entire week most of the time. Be sure to keep them as cool as possible and "air them out" once a day- seems to keep them healthier... We cary leeches in Nalgene bottles and this works well. Split up the live bait between several members of your party, and canoes. Having the bait "spread around" gives you much better odds of not loosing all your bait at once in a mass die-off. It doesn't take much in hot weather for alot of bait to die off fast- especially if it is held by a careless individual. Be sure to keep all bait in the shade, take the crawlers to a cool spot in the woods at your camp, and change out the water of the leeches daily.

As for catching walleyes, Crawlers on a 2 or 3 hook x 24"- 36" crawler harness with a Colorado blade and about 1/4 oz. (3/8 oz. work fine but seem to snag more often)walking sinker has done well. Hook on the crawler so it is long and snakey- do not ball up the bait. An alternate sinker method that works good is to pinch on a couple of small split-shot sinkers on their own 10"- 16" line drop at the lead swivel, or use a three way swivel- this way if your sinker gets caught in the cracks in the rocks (this happens all the time) it will just strip the off one or two of the split-shot and you're not stuck with a snag. In a canoe, with some wind, snags become a major hassle. Also note the most snags are just your tackel getting caught in the little cracks and fissures in the rocky bottom. Backing up the canoe to the other side of where you're snagged and pulling your tackel out the way it went in gets most snags freed.

I love using one of my small portable fish-finders. On the last trip I tried the ultimate small portable fish finder- the Humminbird Smartcast. Just tie a short piece of fishing line to the floating transducer and trail it along side the canoe. I have the rod mount version, but I usually end up with the little screen just in my lap. It is all you need if you really want to travel light.

I'll stop here. Now I want to go to the Quetico/ Boundry Waters- and soon! I should never start writing about this stuff...