I've never used many spinner baits up north, though I do use them on local lakes for largemouths. I've seen a few references to the boo yah dbl blade spinner bait. Seems a natural for northern but I seldom have issues catching them. Do you also throw them for smallies?

myceliaman: "I've never used many spinner baits up north, though I do use them on local lakes for largemouths. I've seen a few references to the boo yah dbl blade spinner bait. Seems a natural for northern but I seldom have issues catching them. Do you also throw them for smallies?"

The first four pictures are from the river in my backyard. The rest are from Quetico and the Boundary Waters. I have caught plenty of smallmouth with this lure, but most of these pictures actually show the lure.

i knew Mikey would chime in on this thread ;) double willow blades has always been my favorite , but yes a very unutilized lure in the BW/Q area , cast away !

I was always a spinnerbait fan but i never was much on the larger spinnerbaits. Have you ever tried the War Eagle finesse spinnerbaits? Couple them with a small culprit rubber worm as a trailer and it is a primo combo. Lighter wire means a different vibration, smaller profile, check them out.

War Eagle finesse spinnerbait

Notice how many of the colors are backordered........excellent spinnerbait. Hard to beat the Culprit rubber worm as a trailer as well. Get the 6" size worm and cut and inch or two off the head and thread it on straight. Try not to over tackle it with real heavy line......it is a finesse bait. I like to throw it on 8lb Green trilene XT but I suppose braid and a 10' leader of 10lb fluorocarbon might even be better.

shock: "i knew Mikey would chime in on this thread ;) double willow blades has always been my favorite , but yes a very unutilized lure in the BW/Q area , cast away !"

I was watching Jimmy Houston one cold, winter, Saturday morning. He was out smallmouth fishing and using a chartreuse double willow blade. The smallmouth were crushing this lure. Not sure if it was a BooYah brand or not, but I think it was. So I decided to pick up a couple for the next trip to Quetico. I took a rookie with me on that trip, about half way up Agnes he told me he was too tired to paddle any further. I told him fine, pull your paddle in the canoe then and I will paddle us and all of the gear by myself for the next 7 miles. So for the next few miles it was just me paddling. Then I decided to start " dangling the carrot " out in front of the canoe. I would tell him the next island up ahead was the campsite. He then decided to paddle again. Once we got there I would tell him "my mistake" it's the next island up ahead. When he realized the next island wasn't camp either he pulled his paddle back in and didn't paddle again. So I paddled the rest of the way to the top of Agnes lake myself. Once we got there we setup camp, ate dinner and I got my rods together. He said he was too tired to go fishing. So I started a fire for him and left him on an island out in the middle of nowhere by himself while I went fishing. I checked every now and then to make sure I could still see smoke coming from camp. So back to the chartreuse double willow blade ( aka Disco Lemonade ) spinner bait. I decided this was the first lure I'm going to try. I head for the shoreline at the top of the lake. I make my first cast, crank it a few times and then it just stops. I can't believe I waited all winter and most of the spring to fish this lure and paddle 25 miles and portage countless other miles that day and now I make my first cast with this brand new lure and I'm snagged. Then all of sudden my snag came flying out of the water. A beautiful 3.5 pound smallmouth was on the end of line. I ended up catching 10 more like that one as I worked the top of Agnes. I went back to camp happy and the rookie was still there next to the fire. He went to bed early that night.

Ha! Another great story Mike. How did your rookie do the rest of the trip? Did he shape up or was it "Waaaa! I want to go home" ;-(

Disco Lemonade...love it...I'm officially using the moniker on that lure. You recommended it to me last year, QMike; however, I did not fish it much and was unsuccessful. This year, I will throw it with much greater confidence now that it is dubbed with a slick name!

mastertangler: "Ha! Another great story Mike. How did your rookie do the rest of the trip? Did he shape up or was it "Waaaa! I want to go home" ;-("

He did OK. Some people just aren't in shape for that kind of a trip.

Bumstead: "Disco Lemonade...love it...I'm officially using the moniker on that lure. You recommended it to me last year, QMike; however, I did not fish it much and was unsuccessful. This year, I will throw it with much greater confidence now that it is dubbed with a slick name!"

That big chartreuse spinnerbait is a big fish lure IMO..........You might not get a lot of action on it but stay with it. Eventually it will whack a nice one. I probably wouldn't fish it a long time........but I would fish it often. Does that make sense? In other words I would have it handy and make the occasional several casts every hour or two. Nice to have a couple of outfits for that strategy.

BTW........make absolutely certain that the lure comes through the water perfectly straight. If it doesn't your wasting your time. Dig around on the web for tuning spinnerbaits.

QueticoMike: "

mastertangler: "Ha! Another great story Mike. How did your rookie do the rest of the trip? Did he shape up or was it "Waaaa! I want to go home" ;-("

He did OK. Some people just aren't in shape for that kind of a trip."

Um, like me...........once again I have to change my plans and do something easier (Quetico instead of WCPP) because I have extra weight and am not in tripping shape. I still have time to get it together but work is going full blast and i am slap dab wore out. Hard to hit the weights and do cardio after working 12 hours........(what a weeny ;-)

Bumstead: "Disco Lemonade...love it...I'm officially using the moniker on that lure. You recommended it to me last year, QMike; however, I did not fish it much and was unsuccessful. This year, I will throw it with much greater confidence now that it is dubbed with a slick name!"

The song "Sex and Candy" was big at the time when I first started using the lure and one of the lines in the song was "Yeah there she was Like disco lemonade"....... so that is the story behind that name. I just thought the lure looked like Disco Lemonade, hence the name.

I always enjoyed people on message boards looking at all of the big smallmouth I catch on the lure and asking me where they can get a Disco Lemonade :)

It makes a good search lure....

mastertangler: "

QueticoMike: "

mastertangler: "Ha! Another great story Mike. How did your rookie do the rest of the trip? Did he shape up or was it "Waaaa! I want to go home" ;-("

He did OK. Some people just aren't in shape for that kind of a trip."

Um, like me...........once again I have to change my plans and do something easier (Quetico instead of WCPP) because I have extra weight and am not in tripping shape. I still have time to get it together but work is going full blast and i am slap dab wore out. Hard to hit the weights and do cardio after working 12 hours........(what a weeny ;-) "

I always push hard to get to at least the top Agnes or bottom of Kawnipi on the first day after going through Prairie Portage. This can be beyond some people's abilities. It is a long day, especially if the wind isn't in your favor. It's even harder if you are the only person paddling with two people in a canoe and all of the gear as well. :)

A bit hasty.......passing a few good spots which are worth a day or two.

Those rivers in the North end of Agnes are they coming in or going out? Have you tried them? I think about your smallie action in late summer / early fall fishing in current where it dumps in.

QueticoMike: "

Bumstead: "Disco Lemonade...love it...I'm officially using the moniker on that lure. You recommended it to me last year, QMike; however, I did not fish it much and was unsuccessful. This year, I will throw it with much greater confidence now that it is dubbed with a slick name!"

The song "Sex and Candy" was big at the time when I first started using the lure and one of the lines in the song was "Yeah there she was Like disco lemonade"....... so that is the story behind that name. I just thought the lure looked like Disco Lemonade, hence the name.


I always enjoyed people on message boards looking at all of the big smallmouth I catch on the lure and asking me where they can get a Disco Lemonade :)

It makes a good search lure...."

Yeah, Marcy's Playground was running through my head right after reading it LOL.

mastertangler: "A bit hasty.......passing a few good spots which are worth a day or two.


Those rivers in the North end of Agnes are they coming in or going out? Have you tried them? I think about your smallie action in late summer / early fall fishing in current where it dumps in. "

Not in my book, I have found better spots elsewhere. After going that way about 50 times you figure a few things out.

Water is flowing out of Agnes heading north. I haven't spent much time fishing the rivers on the Agnes end. I have in the past, been awhile since the last time.

I can say that over the last 10+ years of fishing, anytime I am near shoreline structure or casting into a weedbed, BW or not, a double-willow spinnerbait is always my first choice. I bring along several different colors- chartreuese, white, and black for sure and often combos like red/black, white/chart and white/blue/chart. I have caught everything on them,smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, pike, muskie, and even a stray walleye here and there as a nice accidental catch. My go to size appears very similar to the one already pictured, and have never felt like it was limiting the amount of action I was getting or only attracting "big" fish. To me, its a great quick-search lure as it doesn't get hung up often, can be fished fairly quickly, and produces again and again. It's an easy lure to fish, but does have some learning curve to overcome on retrieve speed, hook setting, and line choice. I feel like anytime I have one on (proper conditions of course) I will catch fish, and I won't fish on a bass/pike lake without them.

QueticoMike: "

mastertangler: "A bit hasty.......passing a few good spots which are worth a day or two.



Those rivers in the North end of Agnes are they coming in or going out? Have you tried them? I think about your smallie action in late summer / early fall fishing in current where it dumps in. "

Not in my book, I have found better spots elsewhere. After going that way about 50 times you figure a few things out.

Ahem.......just goes to show the wisdom in the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" with all due respect. I'm not exactly a newbie to the Quetico and know a wee few things myself, your just going to have to just trust me on this.

Naturally if we ever go together you will need to be blindfolded at least 1 mile away from the SPOT ;-)

Hey Mike,
How heavy a rod do you throw your spinner baits on? I was thinking of taking my Loomis medium 6'6" crankbait rod this year but wonder if the tip will be too soft and if instead I'll need a medium heavy rod? Any opinions?

dbpmw3: "Hey Mike,
How heavy a rod do you throw your spinner baits on? I was thinking of taking my Loomis medium 6'6" crankbait rod this year but wonder if the tip will be too soft and if instead I'll need a medium heavy rod? Any opinions?"

You should be fine. You could always make some test casts at a local lake, river or pond before you head up there. I don't throw anything over 3/8 oz.

naturboy12: "I can say that over the last 10+ years of fishing, anytime I am near shoreline structure or casting into a weedbed, BW or not, a double-willow spinnerbait is always my first choice. I have caught everything on them,smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, pike, muskie, and even a stray walleye here and there as a nice accidental catch."

You mention you can catch anything on these lures. I once caught the grand slam with the disco lemonade ( aka chartreuse spinner bait ) one day on Basswood. Not every day do you catch 5 pound walleye and a 5 pound lake trout on a chartreuse spinner bait.

mastertangler: "

QueticoMike: "

mastertangler: "A bit hasty.......passing a few good spots which are worth a day or two.



Those rivers in the North end of Agnes are they coming in or going out? Have you tried them? I think about your smallie action in late summer / early fall fishing in current where it dumps in. "

Not in my book, I have found better spots elsewhere. After going that way about 50 times you figure a few things out.

Ahem.......just goes to show the wisdom in the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" with all due respect. I'm not exactly a newbie to the Quetico and know a wee few things myself, your just going to have to just trust me on this.

Naturally if we ever go together you will need to be blindfolded at least 1 mile away from the SPOT ;-) "

Not sure I know what you mean by you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I dunno......do I really want to have a pissing contest? And with someone I like and respect? And do it publicly? Seems like only bad things happen.

You state with complete confidence that your not blowing by anything good. And I am suggesting otherwise.

mastertangler: "I dunno......do I really want to have a pissing contest? And with someone I like and respect? And do it publicly? Seems like only bad things happen.


You state with complete confidence that your not blowing by anything good. And I am suggesting otherwise. "

No pissing contest. I have fished Agnes many times. Been on the lake probably 75 times back and forth, mostly traveling now. I used to fish it back in my early days. I just have found better fishing elsewhere in lakes north of Agnes. As you know I mostly fish for smallmouth bass and I have found much better smallmouth fishing in lakes north of Agnes. If I was fishing for lake trout it might be worth taking my time and fishing Agnes. Agnes is a very deep, cold lake and smallmouth fishing does not come easy on this lake early in the year. So in my experiences I have found it better to spend my precious Quetico time on lakes that produce more and better smallmouth. I do have confidence that I can catch better smallmouth in lakes other than Agnes. I am always willing to learn new areas. Agnes is an old area for me and has been marked off the list for now. I'm sure there are good areas that I paddle by, I just don't think they are as good as the areas I'm traveling towards for smallmouth.

How have your fishing experiences been on Agnes lake?

War eagle and Nichols also make some nice spinnerbaits. I like 3/4 ounce for longer casts and being able to crank it in faster.

QueticoMike: "

mastertangler: "I dunno......do I really want to have a pissing contest? And with someone I like and respect? And do it publicly? Seems like only bad things happen.



You state with complete confidence that your not blowing by anything good. And I am suggesting otherwise. "

How have your fishing experiences been on Agnes lake?
"

I have never caught a fish on Agnes and only been on the lake for an hour or two. Came off East lake and into Agnes and barely got off that lake and into Silence with my boat upright. One of the meanest blows I have ever been in and it didn't really crank up until after I had set up on the first site I came to on Silence. Later in the day I watched as a group tried tried to paddle by (what were they thinking) and they could barely inch along.

So now the plot thickens. Take me fishing and over dinner I will let the cat out of the bag provided of course that you are willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

I know what you mean by mean blows on Agnes. One time it took us 9 hours to get from the top of the lake to Louisa falls. We stopped for a break at one island and I took my jacket off and threw at this tree. It wrapped around the tree and never let go until I peeled it back off the tree and put it back on. You would hug the shore the whole way, you would look to the shore and see a tree, paddle three hard strokes and the same tree would still be right there. We could barely move. Had to empty the canoe 3 times from all of the water coming over the bow. When we crossed from the west side to the east side stretch I thought for sure we were going to flip. It was close a few times. We were happy to be safe and dry when we arrived at camp.

I have turned onto Silence Lake before during a mean wind storm and it was blowing so hard we got stranded at the first campsite on the left heading south for hours until we couldn't take it any longer sitting there and made a break for it across to the west side and then eventually made it to the next portage.

On the flip side we made it from the bottom to the top in Agnes one time in 2.5 hours with a SW wind behind us. We didn't stop for a break the whole way trying to take advantage of the wind. It typically takes about 4.5 to 5 hours. Depending on how many breaks you take and how the wind is blowing.

I have seen Agnes when she was ugly and I have seen her mirror smooth. I will take mirror smooth every time.

We both stayed at the same site on Silence.......flat and sort of nice if I remember correctly. Agnes is not my favorite sort of lake with the steep sides. Of course I haven't seen much of the lake. I intend on paddling and trolling around a good portion of it. We will see what happens. I have some time to poke around a bit.

A buddy of mine hooked a huge pike in the shallows between Silence and Agnes very early in the spring. It hit a soft magic swimmer and much like me he didn't stick it. At least that was the story.

Has to be some big fish around in Agnes.

Also planning on spending some time on another marginal lake.......Joyce. Haven't heard to much about guys doing good there, usually a travel through lake. Big lake, off color water which isn't particularly attractive to me. Gotta be there though.

Due to this thread I think I am going to bring a spinnerbait.......I always like fishing them but it's been a long time, to long.

Any suggestions fishing the Booyah spinnerbait for Smallmouth bass pre-spawn in Cool Water?

drrick: "Any suggestions fishing the Booyah spinnerbait for Smallmouth bass pre-spawn in Cool Water?"

Yup, don't fish the big, bad, brightly colored spinnerbait in cool water situations...........fish the lighter, smaller, finesse War Eagle i linked to earlier and fish the Pond Scum color. I would like a clear sort of a grub as a trailer, maybe with a bit of flake in it.

Oh wait, that question wasn't even for me. (slight character flaw > I give you my opinion wether you want to hear it or not........fortunately I have your best interests at heart) BTW, I'm not always right and miss fire once in a while. But not on this.......fish those two head to head pre spawn and I know where my money would be.

drrick: "Any suggestions fishing the Booyah spinnerbait for Smallmouth bass pre-spawn in Cool Water?"

I would think it would depend on water temps. If you get up there soon after ice out I would consider a slower approach. A curly tailed jig or tube might be your best option depending on when your entry date is and the water temps you are dealt. A Zulu is a good choice as well depending where and how you fish it.

The Booyah spinnerbait works well in my river here in Ohio in early spring conditions. But the water might be closer to 50 degrees at the time.

If water temps are close to 50 degrees or higher there is one way to find out if it will work or not.......

Cast adjacent to and on top of spawning flats and banks. Usually 15 feet and under for depth. Staging fish will be on the outside of the break so don’t forget to cast a full cast of the deep edge. I found at times it’s necessary to reel the lure before it hits the water. This way it’s not falling straight down in the water at all. For me 95% of the fish are in the first 2 cranks. Hold onto your rod firmly. Has worked for me better on years with later ice out and colder spring weather. It’s rarely the best lure to use but it’s a good search lure.

That's interesting information. How deep of water do the small mouth bass spawn in? And do they look for Sandy Gravely bottoms?

drrick: "That's interesting information. How deep of water do the small mouth bass spawn in? And do they look for Sandy Gravely bottoms?"

3 to 15 feet of water. Small diameter gravel bottoms are best. Look for areas of the lake that warm up first.

Mnpat: "I found at times it’s necessary to reel the lure before it hits the water. This way it’s not falling straight down in the water at all. For me 95% of the fish are in the first 2 cranks. "

This was one of the most important lessons I had to learn about using spinnerbaits. It is solid advice that often times is the difference maker.