Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Shell - Little Shell - Lynx
by WalleyeHunter24

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 05/27/2015
Entry & Exit Point: Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Number of Days: 2
Group Size: 4
Trip Introduction:
Day 1 was great weather (almost hot). Set up base camp on the Southern tip on Con Island on Shell. Fishing was bit slow with the cold front that started moving in. Day 2 weather was SSE winds with sporadic rain. Walleye were concentrated on the 3-6 ft. shoreline breaks with a few fish caught in the deeper edges of the basin. No Walleye larger than 18", most in the 12-14" range. Lots of Northern Pike (20-23") on the shoreline breaks as well. The Smallmouth starting to move up to the shallows and we were able to catch them on jigs, spinner baits, top water, and basically most baits thrown at them. They got more aggressive with the water warming up in the shallows. Day 3 weather stabilized a bit and fishing for all species improved. We caught similar numbers of fish on Little Shell and Lynx with similar size. Big fish was a 35 1/4" Northern Pike caught on Little Shell (released). Highlight was a Moose that walked 3 feet from our tent as we were waking up in the morning. Great trip overall… looking forward to going back there again!
Report
Day 1 was great weather (almost hot). Set up base camp on the Southern tip on Con Island on Shell. Fishing was bit slow with the cold front that started moving in. Day 2 weather was SSE winds with sporadic rain. Walleye were concentrated on the 3-6 ft. shoreline breaks with a few fish caught in the deeper edges of the basin. No Walleye larger than 18", most in the 12-14" range. Lots of Northern Pike (20-23") on the shoreline breaks as well. The Smallmouth starting to move up to the shallows and we were able to catch them on jigs, spinner baits, top water, and basically most baits thrown at them. They got more aggressive with the water warming up in the shallows. Day 3 weather stabilized a bit and fishing for all species improved. We caught similar numbers of fish on Little Shell and Lynx with similar size. Big fish was a 35 1/4" Northern Pike caught on Little Shell (released). Highlight was a Moose that walked 3 feet from our tent as we were waking up in the morning. Great trip overall… looking forward to going back there again!