I'd like to bring my 8 wt up to the Quetico in Mid June for some bronzeback and Northern action but I'm not sure if the northern will still be shallow enough to consistent action. Going to be spending some time on Argo, Darky and few others in that area. I'd rather avoid the extra weight not to mention the joy of casting heavy flies while seated in a canoe...

Any input?

A flyrod would be very effective in June, but for me I don't like to flyfish out of a canoe.The potential is great, if you don't mind doing it from a canoe.

Perfect time!! And real low light with a Clouser might get you Walleyes!

quote GetNorth: "I'd like to bring my 8 wt up to the Quetico in Mid June for some bronzeback and Northern action but I'm not sure if the northern will still be shallow enough to consistent action. Going to be spending some time on Argo, Darky and few others in that area. I'd rather avoid the extra weight not to mention the joy of casting heavy flies while seated in a canoe...

Any input?"

I always bring my 8wt along just for top water action, we typically go out in the evening and the action is always amazing. We alternate who casts and who controls the canoe since two fly rods in one canoe is challenging ;) Check out some fly rod action in this video...fly rod is around the 12:30 mark in the video, nothing huge that evening but such a blast.
SmallJaw Heaven

Definitely bring an 8 wt. Probably want a floating line and a spare spool with a either a full sinking line, or a sink tip line on it if you want to try for some walleyes. Go 9 to 10 foot, no shorter as you want the tip of the rod as far from the water as you can. Big Northerns will be post spawn locations but probably not in their deeper summer haunts yet so you should have a chance at a big one!

Great video Jonas! Gotta love the smallies nailing the surface.

Good call on the alternative casting. Hooked my dad on the inside of the nose once while fishing from a canoe but I blame the tree that I was tangled in... it was a barbless hook thankfully.

Any go-to flies you like to throw? Were those just standard poppers?

Nice fly action in the video, although the popper technique was not something to emulate. Definitely bring a fly rod. I use an 8-wt in Quetico.

For poppers, anything will work from small skaters to large divers. My favorite for smallmouth are size 6 Whitlock Swimming Frogs or similar deer hair poppers. They can be skated, fished softly, or fished loudly. My ideal popper has a large gape and a stainless steel hook so that a pike will not bend it straight.

In early June, the Siobhan River between Darky and Argo is better is fast action. If you are in the neighborhood, the north end of Roland, the area right off the portage from Darky is a good fast action smallmouth area.

Good Intel Jerold, thanks. We're actually going to spend a night on Argo so we'll give that a shot. I'll tie some of those swimming frogs up before we head out. Have you found specific colors to be better than others?

No specific colors - almost anything but black. Black is the only color that consistently does not work well for me up there for topwater bass. I like something that is easy to see when retrieving so if I were tying I would put something bright on top. My favorite color for deer hair is tan/cream/vanilla color. I like a little red flashabou in the tail along with some of the crystal color which is stiffer. I buy them now and they only come in a few colors that I could find: fringier, frog, black. I get the frog ones.

Also, I think you have to be really skilled to tie a dense deer hair fly. I could never get it. Might be worth buying a couple of the good ones:

swimming frog

Black is a good color at night.

Thanks Jerold. I'm no expert but I have tried my hand at tying a few of the poppers with varying success. Buying is probably the better way to go. Thanks for the good source.

quote GetNorth: "Thanks Jerold. I'm no expert but I have tried my hand at tying a few of the poppers with varying success. Buying is probably the better way to go. Thanks for the good source."

Pike on the fly is just my favorite. Random thought from my experience. For big pike you do not need to tie as big of flies as some people like to think. I find 6 inches long to be the sweet spot. Yes bigger stuff equals bigger fish but a If you tie a fly correctly they will slim down big time out of the water and be easy to cast, then when they hit the water they fill out and look like a big tasty meal. Big fly fiber, combined with flash, rooster and peacock hurl, with a sparkle brush head make for a killer fly. It sinks nicely, has amazing action, bulks in the water, and is easy to cast. Can send pics if interested.

Does anyone have any specific pike advice for the lakes GetNorth mentioned? (darky, brent, wicksteed, Argo others in the area)

Of those options I think Wicksteed would be considered the best pike lake.

Good stuff Northwoods. Any examples you can share?

quote GetNorth: "Good stuff Northwoods. Any examples you can share?"

Heres a couple photos of some flies i have tied. Im by no means an expert fly tier, but pike seem to love these. (Granted, pike also seem to love just about anything)

Nice flies! I gave up tying flies awhile back. I appreciate the work. You might like these hooks:

Pike Hooks

quote jeroldharter: "Nice flies! I gave up tying flies awhile back. I appreciate the work. You might like these hooks:


Pike Hooks


"

I do like those hooks. I generally just use 5/0 saltwater hooks, but i like the long shank on these guys.

Looking good northwoods. Here is one of my recent attempts.

The long shank is key. I find that I get short strikes on short hooks and the bulky head material on the pike fly interferes with the gape of the hook.

I should have added that those hooks are stout, much stronger than a wire bass hook for example, and appropriate for pike.

Hi Jerold, right you are on the importance of beefy hooks for pike and even large smallmouth. I moved to California a few years ago and use salt water hooks as well, which are much easier to find than pike/Muskie specific ones. Saltwater hooks are incredibly hefty being designed to take on barracuda, tuna, etc. if anything they might be too big.

Side question, any experience with walleye on the fly?

Just a little. Managed to snag a couple topwater a few years ago - they are less graceful than crappies on topwater - but that was just lucky.

If we are in a likely spot and bored, we will put on heavy sink tip line (I have some T8 that sinks like a stone) along with a heavy beed head leach (heavy wally bugger type fly would suffice) and heave it out there. If it is pretty windy, one guy back paddles to slow the drift. Rod tip down, little strips seem to do it. The bite is pretty subtle and takes some getting used to. I missed several I think not knowing. I found that strip setting while lifting the rod work better than my usual rip-its-head-off pike set. If you are used to fishing walleyes (I am not) and know where to find them you could do pretty good. Also have had luck with a black deceiver on sinking line.