My son and I will be in Polly/Malberg next week (Mid July) and I am wondering what bait to choose. Minnows/leeches/crawlers? We are after Walleyes for eating. Anything else will be released.

Weight is a concern so I am leaning towards crawlers. I didn't have any luck with leaches on Perent in late June so I am not confident in them. Minnows seem heavy, but I think they will perform better. We prefer the slip bobber technique, but aren't averse to jigging or using rapalas. Any thoughts?

Thanks all for the advice.

Forget the live bait and pack Gulp & Powerbait. Swimbaits are also effective.

Thanks,
Any color preference?

Malberg is stained, so I would start out trying the brighter colors if the sky is bright. When it rains or is heavy overcast, I would start with more natural colors.

Great information, Thank you! I picked up some Gulp and some jigs and a few rapalas. I am venturing into some different fishing techniques as I have never used Gulp so I am excited to see the results.

Be sure to pick up Storm's Rainbow Trout & Firetiger Swimbait, along with a couple of other choices. They can be cast & retrieve or slow trolled or wind drifted.

I use lures about 95 percent of the time, but unless you really know this lake, bring some leeches for backup .

We did OK up there last year (mid-August) on half a crawler and a slip bobber. ALL of our walleyes came on the edge of Lily pads (!) in about five or six feet of water. Look for hard bottom adjacent to pads and you'll be in business. Firetiger rattlin'rap was hot for a while as well. Don't forget to bring some bluegill stuff.

Make sure you post back after your trip. I'm heading up to Malberg the first weekend in August. I plan to mostly fish with jigs, lindys, and Rapalas. I'm figuring on a pound of leeches for four days.

When in doubt regarding bait, contact TGO, he is an expert in the boundary waters.

quote wcummin1: "Make sure you post back after your trip. I'm heading up to Malberg the first weekend in August. I plan to mostly fish with jigs, lindys, and Rapalas. I'm figuring on a pound of leeches for four days. "

Just got back from our trip and had an awesome time. However, the walleyes didn't contribute to the awesomeness. We had various gulp baits with jigs, different color spinners, and crawlers. The only thing that caught fish was the crawlers. Those fish were smallies, northern, and one bluegill. We fished the hardest on Koma. We tried the weeds, the pads, the middle, the edges, the bottom, the structure, different colors, different set-ups, etc... but could only catch bass.

I kind of feel that the weather and time of day contributed as much to our sorrows as anything. A storm system just left the area followed by beautiful blue skies. We also didn't fish very hard during 'primetime.'

Take the above advice from a self-proclaimed average fisherman. Good luck, I hope you do better than we did.

We were craving fish, so we kept a couple to eat. They weren't bad, but we could tell it wasn't "Sir Walter of the Fryin Pan."

Thanks for the report!

I'm curious...how were the water levels?

quote wcummin1: "Thanks for the report!


I'm curious...how were the water levels?"

I forgot to add I had tried rapalas too and wasn't successful, but maybe I didn't try them enough.

I entered from Kawishiwi, entry point 36. The water levels seemed high to me as the "silver" on the rocks were always below water. The portage between Square Lake and the creek had DEEP mud on the creek side. My son stepped in and went up to his high ankle. I am sure I would have gone in up to my knee! The 5 rod portage after that we were able to float through. There was a beaver damn after that of which I wet-footed. The rest of the landings were fairly easy. The bugs weren't bad. A few black flies, but nothing horrible. The Forest service gang was improving the trail on the 189 rod portage. The 90 rod between Townline and Koma needed it more, but maybe that is were they were heading next. They camped on Kawasachong (sp?). They were a nice group of kids.

Whew....I was worried about low water on the river.

One last question.....how long did it take to get to Malberg from the EP?

I'm headed up there in just over a week. Great info here about baits and water levels. Thanks guys. It'll be my first time to the BWCA. I'll post a report when we get back even though we won't exclusively be on Malberg. Probably fish Alice and Adams on our trip as well. Can't wait!

When you leaving, Nater?

Leaving from the entry point on the 12th for a 6 day trip.

I will be back on the ninth...I'll make sure to post a report.

quote wcummin1: "Whew....I was worried about low water on the river.


One last question.....how long did it take to get to Malberg from the EP?"

I am not exactly sure of the time of travel. We left our vehicle around 2:30 and arrived at a campsite on Polly about 6:30ish. It could have even been 7:00pm. We left for Malberg the next day. I want to say that was about a 2 hour trip. It seemed the wind was in our face on the way out and at our back for the way home. Don't trust my times if you are cutting it close. I don't carry a watch, I would just ask my son or look at the sun. Hope you have a great trip. Good Luck.

wcummin - thanks for the trip report, good info

We're leaving today so I'll post a report when we get back.

No problem

this is from wcummin1's trip report:
In the day and a half we fished, we caught around 20 eater Walleyes, couple nice pike, two FAT sunnies, and 1,523,294 smallies. All the Walleyes were caught on spinners.
Spinners!