Sorry in advance for the long post...

So...I just got back from five days on Pipestone bay on Basswood, and I want to check in on what my fishing expectations should have been.

I've gone up three years in a row and not been really impressed with my fishing success. The last two years we didn't fish a ton, but we caught a few here and there to eat.

This year we really wanted to concentrate on fishing and spend a lot of time really focusing to find fish. We had three guys in two canoes both with depth finders doing all we could to find fish.... and we feel like the results were pretty lackluster. Don't get me wrong. We caught some nice size fish, but not great numbers (one each 16", 17", 18", 19" smallie and one 30"+ northern and one 40"+ northern - all great fish). The "problem" is that that's pretty much all we caught all week. We caught several hammer handle snot rockets. Our best day probably had six smallies between the three of us and another day we may have had six small walleyes between the three of us.

Was I way off base thinking we could be finding a couple fish per hour each? Maybe even each catch a limit at least one day? Do we need to learn to fish better?

We were looking for ridges and drop offs between 10 and 16 feet to fish. Casting shorelines with topwaters. Fishing leeches on slip bobber, jig leeches, ned rigs (never caught one fish with that), whopper poppers (also no fish), wake bait (no fish), I ran a zulu a few different times and caught one or two. Trolling we had a bit of success with northern but no walleye. I think our best lure was a skitter-pop.

Any advice is welcome.

Idk man, that seems like really tough luck. Sorry to hear that. Seems like a fluke.

July can be a tough month to fish with warm weather and warm water. Fish have moved off shorelines and are more on the mid-lake reefs. Surface baits may get you some bass, but not walleyes. Leeches are becoming less effective. You mentioned lots of bass baits I don't pack... whopper plopper, zulu, ned rig, wake bait, skitter-pop.

I assume you want more walleyes? Move to an early June trip.

In the summer heat, early morning and late evening are the best times to fish. I try to always fish the shadowed side of the bank. At noon, unless it's cloudy, I'm taking a nap. My group usually rolls out of bed and hits the water by 6:30am. We fish pretty late in the evening as well. My most effective summer lure for smallmouth has been a simple jig with 3" grub along rocky cliffs in about 15' of water. Summer is finesse time.

I have very limited (and not good) experience in the BWCA, so I'm talking Quetico in the above paragraph. My sole experience in the BW, was on Angleworm and I had a horrible week fishing there.

Big lakes like that can be tough, so many places for them to hide. What time of day were you fishing? The last 2-3 hours of daylight always seems to save us when we can’t find them during the day.

Hammertime: "Big lakes like that can be tough, so many places for them to hide. What time of day were you fishing? The last 2-3 hours of daylight always seems to save us when we can’t find them during the day. "

The old saying, something along the lines of, “80% of the fish live in 20% of the water.” 20% is a much smaller area on Basswood compared to nearby Indiana Lake.

I’ve had good success fishing Basswood, but it took a few trips to figure out. Still had bad fishing trips there even after I thought I had the lake figured out.

We were trying for both bass and walleye. I know we weren't always out at prime times, mostly late morning/mid day. But went out a few evenings with little luck targeting walleye. One morning we went out pretty early and had better luck with bass.

ZaSquatch: "I know we weren't always out at prime times, mostly late morning/mid day."

^There's^ the rub, as others noted. Fishing is often amazing in the gray hours. I have caught so many fish on the first cast at 4:00 a.m. Rise at 3:50 a.m., fish until 11:00, and then sleep, explore, and swim. Begin again at 7:00 p.m.

If you fish live bait, low-light conditions, and, this time of year, mid-lake structure, your success rate will go way up.

I fished the Basswood/Pipestone area in 2021 during June. I didn’t find the fishing to be very good either. I don’t use live bait. No interest in live bait or bobbers.

Simply put, I think the fishing is way more attractive in the Quetico.

If you rule out the Quetico, then I would recommend Basswood near US Point.

missmolly: "
^There's^ the rub, as others noted. Fishing is often amazing in the gray hours. I have caught so many fish on the first cast at 4:00 a.m. Rise at 3:50 a.m., fish until 11:00, and then sleep, explore, and swim. Begin again at 7:00 p.m."

This is spot on.

You’ve gotten some good advice. The middle of the summer can be tough on Pipestone. Pipestone’s structure is generally fairly shallow. Combine that with steady angler pressure and the fish can’t consistently be found on the obvious locations. I’ve had my best luck moving around a lot. If I don’t graph fish after 15 minutes or so move on. Mid lake structure is key this time of year.

If you want to catch walleye don’t fish with bass baits.

One more tip for what it’s worth: Try an in-line spinner . . . Mepps or Vibrax size 4 or 5 in silver or gold color.

A lot depends on what lake you’re fishing. Also time of day. A very clear lake may dictate early morning or late or dusk to catch fish. I was out fishing today with less than ideal conditions, and I was catching walleye and big northerns all day. It took me awhile to figure out what technique would work best and I finally started to catch fish. Then again, some days the fish don’t bite.

Finnboy: "If you want to catch walleye don’t fish with bass baits. "

+1. They are two different animals.

RunningFox: "I fished the Basswood/Pipestone area in 2021 during June. I didn’t find the fishing to be very good either. I don’t use live bait. No interest in live bait or bobbers.


Simply put, I think the fishing is way more attractive in the Quetico.


If you rule out the Quetico, then I would recommend Basswood near US Point.
"

I know the live bait versus no live bait is a commonly discussed subject… And certainly no disrespect to RunningFox… I’m sure RF is a successful, experienced fisherman… I would advise to bring live bait to 100% of BWCA trippers who are looking to catch fish… Bringing live bait does require a small amount of extra money, planning and care… I’ve never once regretted bringing live bait, though. It’s always been an excellent Plan B (for me) in times of slow fishing. No need for a bobber (although the slip bobber method can be fun).

My go time is during blueberry season if possible, not the best time for fishing! We get up at the first light and head to a hump, anchor and fish with slip bobbers, jigs, or use the TGO method with leaches or minnows as bait. I have found that later in the summer minnows work better than leaches in most cases. We have really increased our success using this technique.
Don't ask me about fishing in June however both times I went in June I didn't catch diddly!

Alot of good advice, but i'll give my 2 cents as well.

Time of year, time of day, possible technique issues all likely lead to the lack of success.

Fishing isn't easy - no matter the lake, no matter the species. Over the years i've found certain times with certain techniques that work for certain species and if i'm looking to catch a meal, i'll replicate one of those techniques.

July and August is not a great time of year for fishing at least for me. There may be others that have it dialed in, but I do better for walleye in the spring, trout in the spring and fall and northerns of any size in the spring. The trout and larger northerns are all generally deeper this time of year. This time of year I'll often explore some of the smaller rivers and just be content finding out whatever fish are holding up in some hole. The fish are smaller, but you catch a really mixed bag. It's fun.

I think try a trip another time of year, try a river, try a new technique

You need to fish a wider range of depths and focus on deeper water if you want walleye. I would start my search in 16-25 ft and then expand my search after a few hours if I cant find them there. Usually I start in 15-18 ft of water and slowly drift out to 25-30 ft and then reel up, go back shallow and repeat. Do this along a break or reef a few times and if you don't get a bite move on to a different spot.

Often times fish are a little shallower during low light periods, so don't be afraid to adjust your depth as the day progresses. Often times I will start off in the morning targeting 15-25, and then as it gets closer to mid day I will slip out to 20-33 ft. Don't be afraid to venture outside of those depth ranges if you aren't finding success. Sometimes you will find them in the weeds in 5-8 ft of water, or other locations you don't expect to find them.

For me 2 things come to mind. Time of day with the time of year. Others have said this so I wont go on.

the 2nd is, lures used. I always have the issue of bringing too much bait. Some laugh when they see it. Here's the thing, some trips just require certain lures. This year my normal go-tos of Waky Worms, mepps, Tube jigs and white jigs just wasnt really working. I guess spinners were average/good. This year, on my 1 trip, was almost all white swimbaits, on the smaller side. I almost NEVER use these or catch much when I do tie them on just to see what happens. It was my MVP whereas in the past few trips my MVPs have been:
2023- swimbait (out of the blue)
2022- white jigs and spinners
2021- spinners
2020- Waky Worms
2019- Tube Jigs (out of the blue but fish were deeper)
2018- Waky Worms
2017- Waky Worms

I also NEVER go later than early July.

Just my 2 cents

missmolly: "

ZaSquatch: "I know we weren't always out at prime times, mostly late morning/mid day."

^There's^ the rub, as others noted. Fishing is often amazing in the gray hours. I have caught so many fish on the first cast at 4:00 a.m. Rise at 3:50 a.m., fish until 11:00, and then sleep, explore, and swim. Begin again at 7:00 p.m."

I normally just fish from sunrise to sunset, I don’t want to take any chances on missing anything. I can eat and sleep when I get back home :)

QueticoMike: "

missmolly: "

ZaSquatch: "I know we weren't always out at prime times, mostly late morning/mid day."

^There's^ the rub, as others noted. Fishing is often amazing in the gray hours. I have caught so many fish on the first cast at 4:00 a.m. Rise at 3:50 a.m., fish until 11:00, and then sleep, explore, and swim. Begin again at 7:00 p.m."

I normally just fish from sunrise to sunset, I don’t want to take any chances on missing anything. I can eat and sleep when I get back home :)"

You're wise, Mike. Drain the mug while you still can, for the day is coming when you won't be able to fish from sunrise to sunset.

QueticoMike: "

missmolly: "

ZaSquatch: "I know we weren't always out at prime times, mostly late morning/mid day."

^There's^ the rub, as others noted. Fishing is often amazing in the gray hours. I have caught so many fish on the first cast at 4:00 a.m. Rise at 3:50 a.m., fish until 11:00, and then sleep, explore, and swim. Begin again at 7:00 p.m."

I normally just fish from sunrise to sunset, I don’t want to take any chances on missing anything. I can eat and sleep when I get back home :)"

Same for our crew, which is made up of 2 sons, myself and 5 grandsons ranging in age 8-18. They've learned through the years that if you want to catch fish you need to be up at sunrise fishing and definitely fishing until sunset. They love catching fish!