One thing that I find interesting about our trips to the Quetico and 1 trip to the BWCA is that I've seen or heard very very few fish jumping or even for that matter just surfacing to eat something off the surface. At times there can be lots of bugs on the waters surface and nothing happening.

Was curious what others have noticed? All our trips have been in late may to the end of June. Does this activity increase in July and August when the water is warmer?

Dave

A few years ago my son and I were on Disappoint and watched for half an hour or so as schools of minnows were leaping out of the water in a small bay. We figured a school of walleyes had moved in to feed. Entertainment :)

Largemouth bass are the main jumpers. They are not the dominant fish up there. Pike don't jump too much and smallies will surface for bug hatches but usually not jump (unless you hook them!).

quote jeroldharter: "Largemouth bass are the main jumpers. They are not the dominant fish up there. Pike don't jump too much and smallies will surface for bug hatches but usually not jump (unless you hook them!)."

Yeah, I was considering the main species up there and figured well, walleyes certainly don't jump if at all, pike not much, thought sometimes smallies might be in the mood, lake trout probably not. Around home(Illinois) we have lots of carp and although you don't think of them as jumpers they sure do love to jump...thankfully their not up in the Quetico or BW.

Dave

When the waters cold in may,lakers will jump . Its a good time to flyfish for them. I've seen many lakes on the gunflint with lakers explode when the conditions are right, its great.

I have seen this only once on a small pond off a larger lake. The bass were jumping out if the water to get at the bugs. Every five seconds one would jump, very funny to watch.

Our first trip on Alton lake there was a major mayfly hatch and some kind of fish was jumping out of the water but no idea what they were.

I have not seen fish jump in the first half of June. However, my group and I saw fish jumping regularly on Crooked Lake, in July. That same trip, while retrieving a Heddon Spook much too aggressively, I was treated to the sight of pike leaping completely out of the water as they reacted to the surface lure. I don't know if they were targeting the lure or not.

I have observed/heard baitfish jumping to escape larger predators.

Couple years ago small trout hit the surface all night but couldn't trigger a strike on anything I had in the tackle box. We love to fish surface lures for pike and smallies and have had some great leaps, but the one I remember most was a northern on a lake that no longer has a portage in. It was 1976 and we had a northern jump after a bait being retrieved and he/she (not sure of the sex) landed in the bottom of our canoe it was some of the craziest fishing I can remember.