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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Fishing Forum :: Stormy Weather Fishing
 
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allfish
06/26/2019 11:23AM
 
I would go out and fish with just my poly-pro long johns under my rain gear, and keep my clothes dry? Also, when it was rainy out, we would just paddle around and not do as much casting, we would just drag some rapalas around the shoreline, a deeper-runner away from shore, and a shallow runner towards shore, and we would do really well at times. The fire and flask are WAY more rewarding after a day out fishing in the rain!!!
 
zski
05/24/2018 09:15PM
 
QueticoMike: "zski: "What of a scenario like this:
thunderstorms every night after dark.
during the day, either calm and cloudy with no rain or blue skies calm and sunny.
what would be your approach?"

I would be throwing a lot of topwater. If that didn't work I would go to subsurface with a soft plastic jerk bait ( ZMAN ShadZ ). Third option would be green pumpkin tube."
thanks mike. ran into this scenario couple years ago. we were in prime water but really had to work. mornings and mid-day were tough and things improved toward the end of day. this was every day. didn't throw any topwater and didn't have shadz's. learning.
 
analyzer
05/25/2018 07:23PM
 
I recall one year, circling a medium lake, fishing topwater along shore, right before a thunderstorm. I caught probably 6 or 7 dozen smallies. Got hit about every 20 yds of shoreline.


Huge thunder and lightning show overnight. Shallow lake.


The next day, I used the same presentation, and circled the lake again. 3 fish. I'm not sure if they were well fed, or it's the barometric pressure thing, which I suspect is probably the biggest influence, but they shut off.
 
Tyler W
05/25/2018 08:05AM
 
Those "blue bird" days after a storm are the worst. I try to avoid fishing any day the air temp drops over 10F. Of course if you are in the BWCA you don't have much choice. A well stocked tackle box and persistence is your best bet.


Or, save your fishing effort for the evening and spend the day looking at waterfalls.



 
trailcheif
05/25/2018 07:30PM
 
I’m no expert, but I would assume the unstable weather sent them deeper. And the water gets stirred up , and that doesn’t help matters.
 
missmolly
05/23/2018 10:00PM
 
QueticoMike: "missmolly: "QueticoMike: "





Some fishing in the rain jacket pictures........"





Mike, that middle smallie, just, WOW!"




Wish I had a better picture of that fish. It is just a still shot from a video. The auto focus on the camera during the trip was leaving most of the pictures blurry so I just turned on video and took a frame from the video. It was raining that morning and I was on a solo trip fishing from the shore. I was fishing a river flowing into the lake. The water wasn’t more than 2 feet deep. It crushed a magnum torpedo right where the river met the lake. This was in Sept of 2014. That made the whole trip worthwhile."



What you have works. It looks like it just ate a three-pound smallmouth.
 
zski
05/23/2018 11:35PM
 
What of a scenario like this:
thunderstorms every night after dark.
during the day, either calm and cloudy with no rain or blue skies calm and sunny.
what would be your approach?
 
QueticoMike
05/24/2018 06:16AM
 
zski: "What of a scenario like this:
thunderstorms every night after dark.
during the day, either calm and cloudy with no rain or blue skies calm and sunny.
what would be your approach?"



I would be throwing a lot of topwater. If that didn't work I would go to subsurface with a soft plastic jerk bait ( ZMAN ShadZ ). Third option would be green pumpkin tube.
 
yogi59weedr
05/24/2018 01:49PM
 
Geez..im getting tired of hearing about stormy
 
Tyler W
05/24/2018 02:43PM
 
analyzer: "Tyler W: "I try to camp on the fish so that I can fish ALL THE TIME. My perfect BWCA day is a little drizzly with lake trout right off of camp. I can poke a smokey campfire and I only have to get wet when the bait clicker starts to buzz.




If you have a supply of firewood and a good sized tarp you can be comfortable all the time. And if you can catch fish from camp you won't miss getting soaked in a cold rain. "




When you are fishing Lakers off shore, what sort of depth are you fishing?"



Totally depends on the lake and the year. I've caught lake trout from shore in 8 fow and 50 fow. This year we could reach 50 - 60 fow (measured with a depth finder) just a cast off of shore.


I figure we can cast around 50 yards. Sometimes we catch fish as far as we can reach, and sometimes we plop the bait right off the bank. We make a point of spreading the baits out until we get a pattern established.
 
barehook
06/26/2019 10:28AM
 
trailcheif: "I’m no expert, but I would assume the unstable weather sent them deeper. And the water gets stirred up , and that doesn’t help matters." Opposite. Generally shallower, as noted above, less light penetration. Water stirred up is good, gets whole food chain active. But, as noted above, once front blows through and blue skies appear, deeper and less active. My experience, FWIW
 
nofish
06/26/2019 10:38AM
 
barehook: "trailcheif: "I’m no expert, but I would assume the unstable weather sent them deeper. And the water gets stirred up , and that doesn’t help matters." Opposite. Generally shallower, as noted above, less light penetration. Water stirred up is good, gets whole food chain active. But, as noted above, once front blows through and blue skies appear, deeper and less active. My experience, FWIW"


I would tend to agree with shallower right before, during, and slightly after the storms. Once the front moves through then I would start looking deeper.


Regardless of the weather I usually start my searching shallow and then work my way deeper until I find fish.
 
foxfireniner
06/26/2019 08:36AM
 
trailcheif: "I’m no expert, but I would assume the unstable weather sent them deeper. And the water gets stirred up , and that doesn’t help matters."


I am no expert either. I have always assumed that when people say "the fishing turned off because of a cold front" they just meant "I can't find them."


I can't imagine the fish refuse to eat during a cold front.
 
MeatGun
05/22/2018 08:13PM
 
If you’re in more river areas, look for the smallest water - creeks and coves. In lakes, the wind blown shores. Around islands, the quiet side. Maybe it’s simple, but it seems like fish in the rain like to be mostly where the weather would take your boat or where you would to get out of it. Good luck.
 
analyzer
05/22/2018 09:16PM
 



We caught 8 walleyes between 3 and 5 lbs in 2 hours in a steady rain first evening. It was tempting to just crawl in bed, but we knew the bite would be on.











The wife caught this nice smallie, in inclement weather at 5 pm. We just saw a young bull moose, in a heavy drizzle, and 15 minutes later she caught big mama. Again, it was tempting to stay in camp. One storm after another was moving through, but the bit was excellent.





Son's 31" walleye, 1 or 2 O'clock in the afternoon, drizzling off and on, full cloud cover. If it hadn't been cloudy, we wouldn't have been out there fishing that time of day.


I can't quite remember, it was either QueticoMike, or WalleyeDave I think, a couple years ago, they had a Quetico trip in June, and got rained on most of the trip, but I recall they did very well. I think it was QueticoMike. As memory serves they hammered the smallies. Nice ones too. I'll have to see if I can find the thread.

Note, both my Son's walleye, and my wife's smallie were released.
 
analyzer
05/22/2018 09:05PM
 
I don't want to be out in lightning, but I have found the fishing to be good in the rain. I welcome a midday shower.


The biggest walleyes and small mouth we have caught, have been in wet drizzly conditions, in the middle of the day.


Most of the lakes in the boundary waters are very clear. Fish tend to be spooky, especially midday. The rain breaks up the surface, and makes the fish feel more comfortable to be in shallow water. I think it knocks alot of bugs and other food into the lake, turning on the bait fish, and the predators. It seems like the rain rings the dinner bell.


I would agree though, good rain gear is huge. Especially if the temps aren't warm.


As far as tactics. I fish the same lake all the time, but we head right to a weedy flat, and fish with slip bobbers and leeches or minnows. Game on.


Seems like right before the storms hit, shore fishing with top water can be fantastic too.


Just be careful. Some of those storms bring a ton of wind, and the water will be very cold. Capsizing this time of year, too far from shore, could potentially cost you your life. But perhaps with the warm temps, hypothermia is not as much of a risk as it was a week ago.
 
trailcheif
05/23/2018 06:04AM
 
A lot of very nice fish! Has any body paid attention to if the rain is part of a warm front or cold front? If one of them makes fishing better ?
 
mastertangler
05/23/2018 06:15AM
 
trailcheif: "A lot of very nice fish! Has any body paid attention to if the rain is part of a warm front or cold front? If one of them makes fishing better ?"


Excellent point! Indeed the bite before the arrival of a cold front can be great. But the post cold front blues with the big drop in barometric pressure can certainly shut things down. Fish hard anyway is my motto..........earn your afternoon nap ;-)
 
QueticoMike
05/23/2018 06:44AM
 
analyzer: "
I can't quite remember, it was either QueticoMike, or WalleyeDave I think, a couple years ago, they had a Quetico trip in June, and got rained on most of the trip, but I recall they did very well. I think it was QueticoMike. As memory serves they hammered the smallies. Nice ones too. I'll have to see if I can find the thread.
."



It could have been me, I can't remember all of the threads or all or the trips or all of the smallmouth. After so many trips they all seem to blur together. I do know that I try to fish as much as possible when I am there. If I can get at least 16 hours a day or more that is a good day. I always tell people you can eat and sleep when you get home, but you're not going to catch fish like this back home, so more time should be spent chasing fish. Fishing is a not a matter of life or death, it is more important than that! :) Fishing ranks right up there with air and food for what you need to live......
 
missmolly
05/23/2018 09:49AM
 
QueticoMike: "



Some fishing in the rain jacket pictures........"



Mike, that middle smallie, just, WOW!
 
QueticoMike
05/23/2018 09:04AM
 



Some fishing in the rain jacket pictures........
 
missmolly
05/23/2018 09:47AM
 
I love when Analyzer posts his wife's smallie pic!


Rain is good. The fish should be shallower and if you've got current, that'll pick up, which is a feeding tube for fish.
 
QueticoMike
05/23/2018 10:04AM
 
missmolly: "QueticoMike: "




Some fishing in the rain jacket pictures........"




Mike, that middle smallie, just, WOW!"



Wish I had a better picture of that fish. It is just a still shot from a video. The auto focus on the camera during the trip was leaving most of the pictures blurry so I just turned on video and took a frame from the video. It was raining that morning and I was on a solo trip fishing from the shore. I was fishing a river flowing into the lake. The water wasn’t more than 2 feet deep. It crushed a magnum torpedo right where the river met the lake. This was in Sept of 2014. That made the whole trip worthwhile.
 
Tyler W
05/23/2018 11:13AM
 
I try to camp on the fish so that I can fish ALL THE TIME. My perfect BWCA day is a little drizzly with lake trout right off of camp. I can poke a smokey campfire and I only have to get wet when the bait clicker starts to buzz.


If you have a supply of firewood and a good sized tarp you can be comfortable all the time. And if you can catch fish from camp you won't miss getting soaked in a cold rain.
 
analyzer
05/23/2018 05:49PM
 
Tyler W: "I try to camp on the fish so that I can fish ALL THE TIME. My perfect BWCA day is a little drizzly with lake trout right off of camp. I can poke a smokey campfire and I only have to get wet when the bait clicker starts to buzz.



If you have a supply of firewood and a good sized tarp you can be comfortable all the time. And if you can catch fish from camp you won't miss getting soaked in a cold rain. "



When you are fishing Lakers off shore, what sort of depth are you fishing?
 
SweetBerryWine
05/21/2018 11:34PM
 
Well, my trip has been planned for months now, and the weather forecast calls for sporadic showers and potential thunderstorms. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching the environment when inclement weather rolls through, but let’s face it; we all want stellar fishing weather for our anticipated BWCA vacation.

My question is, how do you adjust fishing tactics when the weather will likely dump rain three out of the six days of your trip? I feel like past trips with similar conditions have made fishing frustrating, and would love some insite as to what you do when changes in weather are drastic.

I wish all of you a safe a enjoyable Memorial Day weekend, and hope your lines become taught with marble eye deliciousness.

Safe travels..

SweetBerryWine
 
mastertangler
05/22/2018 05:47AM
 
I don't mind fishing in tough weather conditions provided I am fairly comfortable. And that means good clothing. Naturally premium rain gear will be important but so will good boots and particularly neoprene fingerless gloves and a seattle sombrero hat.


Make sure your campsite is in order as well.........everything thoughtfully planned out and ready for your arrival off the water. Tarp is up, etc. etc. I hate trying to get organized during a dumping rain.


Next and very important is attitude. I sense a bit of poor language choices as per past experiences. Blah! Let all such thoughts and vocalizations be henceforth banished!! While I would not fish in a storm steady rain is not so bad. Casting and retrieving can be a chore however while your getting dumped on. I like trolling during rain with a good rod holder. Fish might be shallower than you might think and a jointed black and gold rapala would be a good choice. Ease around, maybe put a split shot 18" above, and do lots of exploring trying to get some clues. I might spend 1/2 day dragging that. It will help establish wether fish are shallow or not. Then another 1/2 day with something a bit deeper........say a shad rap or Berkley Flicker.


I would fish hard regardless.........then when all is said and done you can look back with satisfaction regardless of how you actually did knowing you gave it your best shot. It may be just a matter of establishing what the fish are doing and then who knows........you could end up having the best trip of your life. But you have to stay positive, assertive, imaginative and aggressive.


A thermos of something hot along with a Cliff Bar can be helpful as well.
 
old_salt
05/22/2018 06:17PM
 
Fish like the rain. They’re used to being wet. Many fishermen don’t like the rain because it takes them out of their comfort zone. Fish also like the rain because fishermen don’t fish in the rain.
 
moosedoggie
05/22/2018 04:48PM
 
If the rain in slow and steady, go topwater!!