Help for a newbie! We're doing our first Quetico trip in mid-July, father/daughter for five days. We're highly focused on fishing and are avid, experienced anglers from Florida, but basically clueless on northwoods fishing. We hope to eat a few fish, but mostly just want to catch and release as many fish as we can manage, and want to notch as many species as possible, and try as many fishing techniques as practical.

Dad (that's me) is in charge of putting together the fishing gear and is agonizing over the battle of overpacking versus finding ourselves short on equipment out in the woods. Here's my current thinking for the two of us:

Two ultralight spinning rods/reels, four pound
Two medium spinning rods/reels, eight pound
One medium-heavy spinning rod/reel, twelve pound
One fly rod, probably an eight or nine weight, with one floating line and one sink-tip

I figure the eight pound rigs will get the most usage, but we like light tackle fishing when possible and will go down to the four pound rigs when we can. The heavy spinner is for deep trolling and deep jigging, and the fly rod is because I prefer taking fish on fly when possible.

Can some of you veteran Quetico/BWCA canoe anglers chip in with opinions? Is this too much gear to tote around? Is something missing? Sorry for the length of this post, but we're excited about this trip!

Based on your goals, I'd recommend two rods and reels per person plus a single fly rod. Personally, I bring two rigs, a medium bait caster spooled with 20 lb braid, a medium spinning rig spooled with 15 lb braid, and a backup medium spinning reel with 8 lb mono. The mono is for when I need to go deep. For the braided lines I use 15 and 10 lb fluorocarbon leaders. There are some big Pike up there with razor sharp gill plates that can cut mono in a NY City second. Increase your chances for landing Pike by using Fluoro leaders or braid tied direct. Just my 2 cents.

Welcome to the site cptrea, and Good Fishing. You and your daughter will enjoy the trip. There is So Much more to these journeys than fishing.

AndySG:

Thanks for your input. Sounds like I'm not too far off the mark in my thinking as far as how many rods to carry. We'll probably stick with mono just because I prefer it. I'm interested that you think flouro leaders offer more bite-off resistance than mono leaders. I wouldn't have guessed that flouro would be any tougher than similar sized mono. Do you ever use wire?

And by the way, we will doubtless be the typical wide-eyed tourists looking at scenery, wildlife, etc., at least when not hooked up. Heck, we're flatlanders from Florida where the biggest hills are highway overpasses! (Daughter really hopes to see a moose!)

When we go on canoe trips, we're up there to fish... and we fish hard. So, with that said, I suggest that you each bring two rods and reel setups. Use one for jigging (a 6' rod works great) with 8# test and use one for trolling, cranking or slip bobbering (6'6" or 7'). Put 12# line on that one. That's all you need. And make sure they have a firm action. Not so firm that the rod won't bend, but medium fast will be fine.

Keep in mind that you might be fishing for walleyes with 8# test and a lighter rod and end up fighting a 15# northern pike. Your rod and line have to be able to handle that.

With more than two rods each, I think you'll find that you'll be fighting a mess in the boat. And unless you're REALLY, REALLY sensitive to the bite, wimpy ultralight equipment won't catch you any more fish.

If you want to bring one extra rod as a backup, that's fine, but two rods as suggested above will work great for you.

just my opinion but......4 rods total. 3 spinning, 1 med-heavy casting (for trolling, you feel the fish immediately when using braid!). Rig two of the spinning rods with mono (for topwater action in July, mono floats!), one with flourocarbon (for the sensitivity of jigging etc...), and the baitcaster with braid. Bring extra spool of mono because it is versatile. This way you have all your bases covered and have an extra backup spool just-in-case. Welcome and good luck!!

If you like to fish and try different styles, bring as many rods as you like. I bring three spinning outfits and a fly fishing set-up (sometimes also a baitcaster). We bring a large rod case so if it fits bring whatever you want. When we are out fishing we usually only have 2 rigs per person set up (sometimes 3 but that can get crowded).

Cptrea, among other advantages flouro is more cut/abrasion resistant than mono. If you are targeting big pike, a wire leader is best. If you are losing fish from cut lines, tie on some kind of heavier leader. The braid + flouro leader was a tip I picked up ocean charter fishing in Florida. Good enough for charter captains.....good enough for me.

Lots of good input here. Sounds like the idea of two rods apiece with one spare isn't too off base, and I've got to have the fly rod (it's an addiction), so six rigs on board and we'll try not to break anything.

Jackfish: I'm considering the ultralight four pound rigs not because they'll catch more fish (though sometimes they might) but because an ultralight rig can turn the fight of an average fish into an epic battle, which can be more fun. However, if most of the fishing in July will involve heavier lures in deeper water, then the four pound stuff might not be practical. What do you think?

marc24: I'll probably avoid braid. It might be because I'm old school, but for most fishing I prefer monofilament. While the sensitivity of braid is wonderful, I know that I lose more fish to pulled hooks while fishing braid, especially when fishing barbless. I think there are two reasons: first, low-stretch braid results in more jerks and tugs on the mouth of the fish (the same way you feel more on your end) and tends to tear mouth tissue open. Second, the stretch factor of mono tends to help you keep from slack-lining hooked fish and having hooks fall out. Of course, these are observations from down here and things might work differently on fish up there. (Many of the guides down here absolutely refuse to fish anything other than braid, so I may be alone in some of my opinions)

AndySG: Thanks for the thoughts on Flouro. We use it extensively because we usually get more bites with flouro than with mono leaders. Some of our fish see a lot of hooks in a year. Might not be an issue in less heavily fished areas.