Hello Paddlers!

I don't know if this post belongs here or the fishing forum. Sorry if I've got it in the wrong place.

I'm planning a 9 day solo trip from Beaverhouse to Stanton Bay via Cirrus and Kasakokwag from Aug 5 to Aug 13. I've never been in this Northern part of the Q and I'm not much of a fisherman, I just have a light casting rig with some spinners and spoons. I'm an experienced tripper with many summers in Quetico, Algonquin, Woodland Caribou and Atikaki, but never solo, and not since 2001. I'm north of 60 and in good shape, so this short, easy trip should provide lots of time for fishing, something that I've wanted to do more of.

I've read a lot on the net about fishing recently and frankly it hasn't helped that much. So perhaps I can get a bit of advice here. I want to take the minimum amount of tackle. I love to fish for Walleye and SMB. What should I take that's light and fits in a small(ish) tackle box? The idea is to enjoy and catch a few fish.

Would anyone like to suggest locations and fishing strategies, including the best environment and time of day? Consider me a novice.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Dave

Do a search on this site for "Zulu rigging". Bring a few top water lures,spinners and some crankbaits and you should be good to go. And one of my favorites the prerigged plastic worm.

I like the first and last light times of day. In your travels if you can locate any reefs then fish them. Give trolling a try as well,it is a good way to keep your lure in the water and you can cover a lot of it.

I hope this helps some. Good luck and God bless. ~JOE~

Hello Joe,

Thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated. I found Zulu rigging at Z-Man store. There is a bewildering variety to choose from, like Scented Jerk ShadZ, MinnowZ, etc., in a wide variety of colors. I'll take a few and see how they work.

Dave

hi. standard starting lure for us have been deep rapala shad raps (sr9), both floating and suspending, but this year berkley flicker shads were more productive. email for more.

If you would like to read any of my articles on Zulu fishing or Grand Slam Lures for Quetico, send me an email at - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request these articles.

Soft plastic lures like the ShadZ in any combo of a pearl pattern should work for the smallies. Make sure you use a leader and a size 3 swivel or bigger. If you want to fish them for walleye, use a bullet weight in front of the swivel.

Curly tailed twister jigs are light and can be used for walleye. ZMAN scented leechZs worked well with 1/8oz jig heads on the last trip.

I would take at least a couple of pop-rs for top-water fishing. A chartreuse double willow blade 3/8oz spinner bait for searching for smallies. Green pumpkin tube baits are light and can be used with 1/8oz tube jig heads for smallies and wallies.

Throw in a couple of floating Rapalas. A jointed gold one and a plain black and silver one for all fish in general.

Your in line spinners and spoons will be good for pike.

I was up there last week and had my best luck trolling a good old fashioned floating rapalla.

Thanks again, everyone. I now have a reasonable collection of tackle that I think will get it done. I'll let you know what works the best.

-- Dave

I am no expert but I had success trolling rattle traps last month in a lake that I knew nothing about. It gave me some idea of where the fish were.