Alright Ladies and Gentlemen,

In preparation for my trip in late May, I'm ready to hear every piece of advice you can give to a small group of fishing novices going to Iron/Crooked in late May. Some helpful categories might be:

1. Gear and useful accessories
2. Tackle
3. Technique
4. Locations
5. General/other advice

Thanks!

Keep it simple.
Live bait with bobbers. Trolling and/or casting crankbaits.
Don't forget a fillet knife and stringer.
You can clean fish on a canoe bottom or paddle.
Review fillet methods.
Fish points, below rapids and falls, troll 20-40' off shore.

Make sure to have some topwater lures in your arsenal. They work and are a blast.
~JOE~

If you would like to read my article on Grand Slam Lures for the Boundary Waters, send me an email at - queticomike@yahoo.com

No disrespect here but for a beginner wanting to know basics it would be much simpler I would think to do some research on your own before reaching out for posts/opinions. Once you read a little bit and have some specific questions, that may help us guide you to a successful fishing trip.

Oh and by the way - huge props for wanting to get into fishing, especially in the BWCA. You'll love it.

Go simple. That early in the season I'd probably focus on two presentations, 1) slip bobbers with split shot and plain or red hooks (small) and 2) jigs (1/8 oz, chartruese for sure, but try other colors/combos. ) do a search here for methods to bring in and keep alive minnows and leeches. Live bait will be your best bet for walleye and smallies. I'd get depth maps from dnrlakefinder.com and identify and fish structure- points, reefs and holes- near current. (i.e. incoming water from rivers/streams or in/around narrows). start looking for walleye in 6-12 feet of water, but be willing to try deeper (18-24 FOW).

Do your best to set your slip bobber 12-18" off the bottom. For jigs, be on the bottom up to 12" off the bottom.

You can always cast spinner baits for pike in the emerging weeds in smaller, shallow bays.

I usually go up fishing in mid june.i fished before memorial day once and the fish were not in all my honey holes. Buddy went up one time early in late May and and got skunked because he strictly fished my mid June spots. Water is colder. Fish will be in different areas. Usually deeper.

Simply..........hooks. sinkers. bobbers. Crawlers. Leeches. Try below falls and edges of current.

I could spend a lot of time on the where but I will just focus on the what to use. If were talking novice anglers than I like to suggest lures that are really easy to use. A jig head with a twister tail is really easy just throw it out and reel it back in, over time you can experiment with different retrieves but for beginnings this is a simple lure to use. other easy lures would be mepps spinners, spinnerbaits,swimbaits, and other lures like this that can help you locate fish faster because they cover a lot of water quickly. Once you find the fish you can slow down and fish the area with a bobber and leech, or if the fish are in a neutral to negative mood then live bait would be the ticket also. p.s. Since you said your going in late may then stick to bays and shallow water to start fish can be extremely shallow this time of year.

Fish the north side of lakes, they heat up quicker. Fish points. Fish any moving water you see that is deep enough to hold fish. Fish around those small rock piles\ islands out in the middle of the lake. Fish around downed timber. Fish channels between two islands. Fish channels between mainland and islands. Fish any structure that looks irregular.

If you're a real, REAL beginner, I think the slip bobber set up would work just fine. I didn't go that route. I dropped several hundred dollars and bought a bunch of stuff that "didn't work"!
True fishing takes commitment, something I have not given it yet being as busy as we all tend to be at various times in our lives. Start slow and work your way into it.