My annual trip to BWCA begins July 10th. I am seeing mixed reviews and a good deal of info about strange conditions up there right now. What is the bottomline on smallies for those returning from the BWCA? Are they biting? Where were they bitting? What baits might we need to improve our chances of success?

Thanks for any info and I'll be sure and post results for those who follow!

Checkout the Sawbill area. Portage to smoke lake, burnt and flame because they are great Smallies and pike fishing. Go top water in Kelso lake for some crazy pike fishing or wake up early to check out moose munching breakfast. I spend 7 days and just got back on the July 4th weekend and I say the average size smallies caught at Smoke was 18 inches. Smallies and Walleye are feeding at the same depth of 9-10 ft with the walleye averaging 20 inches. Burnt is similar to Kelso with the pike fishing, except they are bigger in size. When i was up there i had two poles, one with top water banjo frogs and another using a small jig head with 3-4 inch, natural color powerbait shads.

Hopefully this will help.