I was wondering if it was legal to use minnow traps in the bwca. I am going to be up there for 10 days and dont want to carry minnows around, but have had more luck with minnows over leeches on some days in wisconsin. Is it worth it? (collapsable traps only 7.00) what does everyone think??

eric

I would think that perfectly legal and probably a good idea if there is an abundance of minnies in the area.

Hex

I copied this out of the 2006 DNR fishing regs:

For traps, width and length may not exceed 30 inches, height may not exceed 15 inches, the diameter or width of the opening may not exceed 11⁄2 inches, and mesh size may not exceed 1⁄2 inch bar measure. Traps must have a waterproof tag bearing the name and address of the owner.

It also says you can only use the minnows in the lake you caught them. It also talks about infested waters, but I don't think that applies to any BWCA lakes.

It says as long as you have a license it is legal to trap minnows, so have at it. I just wish the same were true in Quetico.

I've never had much luck catching minnows with a minnow trap, just small rock bass and smallies (illegal to fish with!). HOWEVER, I've done very well catching crayfish with them. I use the usual tube or conical type trap and put dog food inside it (Alpo is all I've used). I throw it out when we make camp and in the morning I usually have plenty of them to fish with all day. Smallies just love them to death. Also try catching frogs!! I caught a dozen tree frogs last year in 20 min. at camp on Disappiontment lake and caught a fish on all but one of them! That's a pretty good percentage.

Good luck and tight lines!

I've had luck seining minnows in the bwca. i have even been able to seine shiners. i noticed that gander mountain is selling seines. i agree that minnows are tough to trap.

k2beeck
How did you find 20 tree frogs? I have never seen one up there. And were you just catching bass with them? How did you fish them?

I believe they were Boreal Chorus Frogs. They were brownish with some striping and were found sitting all over the rocks under overhanging bushes on the edge of shore by our campsite. I just walked along the edge of shore in the water and scared them into the water with a stick I swished through the bushes. When they jumped in the water I pinned them against the bottom and threw them in a nightcrawler container we had left over. I have only seen leopard frogs in the BWCA before and they are almost impossible to catch so I guess this was just dumb luck. It was the second week in September last year and we were camped about halfway up Disappointment Lake on the west side where I found the mother load of Frogdom. I caught both Smallmouth bass and a Northern with them. I ran out before we got to our walleye hole so I am unsure if they would work on Wally. I used the same 3/8 wide-gap, stand-up jig I was using for nightcrawlers and just hooked them through the lips (a bit disturbing as they are kind of cute and don’t like to be poked in the kisser). Then I would just chuck the jig towards shore and bottom bounce it back to the canoe. It worked awesome.

Sweet. I am only up there early in the season usually. maybe thats why i never found them.