I have convinced my wife to come and see the beauty of the BWCA with me. I have a very mild trip planned to cater to her and I am really looking forward to it. The main difficulty is these are lakes that are poor fishing lakes. She isn't a huge fisherman (woman) but she does enjoy it for an hour or two. All I can find is this lake has perch and hammer handle northerns.

I do like to eat perch, but what I know about perch fishing is through the ice. I know they like it on the bottom and used to use pinched off crawlers or wax worms on small jigs. Am I thinking right for summer perch? Is there a small artificial that works well for them?

Not looking to slaughter them all day long, but would like to be able to account for a dinner or two. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am hoping a little twister tail grub or a small crappie tube jig. Just want to make sure I bring the right tackle for the job.

You should have no trouble catching Perch in the summer. Plain hook, small jig tipped with a piece of crawler, or a leech should do the job. Might consider a slip bobber rig also. You might have a hard time catching any that are big enough to eat, especially if it’s loaded with small Northerns .

Can you share which entry point you're entering at? I probably can't help but people who know the area better than I do would probably ask right away.

newguy: "Can you share which entry point you're entering at?"

EP 6 Slim Lake but heading back to Keneu Lake or maybe stopping at the campsite on Hook.

Per the MN DNR, Hook is above average for northern.

I know a lot of people look down on them, but, I did poor-man's lobster with pike, and my wife loved it. It was a hit. I used the 5 fillet technique for northerns, and didn't have any bones.

Just throwing that out there.
Good luck, and lets hear about how it went afterwards.

Agree with Sammy, the 5 filleted Northern Pike is the way to go. No bones this way. I think it is better tasting than the Walleye. Easier to catch too.

Don't expect to catch much on Keneu. Great little lake, but the fishing is poor.

Savage Voyageur: "Agree with Sammy, the 5 filleted Northern Pike is the way to go. No bones this way. I think it is better tasting than the Walleye. Easier to catch too. "

Thank you Sammy and Savage! I have eaten northerns before and they are good eating. I have never done the 5 fillet before but I have seen plenty of youtube video on the how to as well as how to fillet out the "y" bone. Fall back plan is northern. Poor man's lobster....is that where you boil it?

walllee: "You should have no trouble catching Perch in the summer. Plain hook, small jig tipped with a piece of crawler, or a leech should do the job. Might consider a slip bobber rig also. You might have a hard time catching any that are big enough to eat, especially if it’s loaded with small Northerns . "

Thank you walllee, I didn't even think about size. I just assumed them to be a normal pan fish size. Well if they are too small and the northern's are big enough I may get some practice trying out the 5 fillet method talked about above. I will post a trip report afterwards. This will be my wife's first time in the BWCA and she wants a relaxing sightseeing trip with a "Little" fishing. She knows me to well....lol. I know these are not great fishing lakes but they fill the ticket for what kind of a trip she wants so poor fishing won't be a trip breaker. However, good fishing would be a bonus. Thank you!

Northern fishing and sight seeing were made for each other. Just troll a crankbait out from the bank.

Where you can find perch in the daytime, go back at sundown, sunup for northern action.

The best fish I ever ate was small perch out of cold water. Nutty and sweet!

missmolly: "The best fish I ever ate was small perch out of cold water. Nutty and sweet!"

I do like eating them too I just haven't fished for them in warm weather before.....I like walleye a lot better....lol I think I may have to practice filleting northern for "y" bone removal before hand though.....just in case.

This is an easy one. If you want to catch perch then what you've got to do is go try to catch walleye. But you've really got to mean it, really focus on catching as many walleye as you can. Whenever I do that all I catch is perch and I'm sure it will work for you as well. The only issue is that all the perch will be 4-5 inches long.

nofish: "This is an easy one. If you want to catch perch then what you've got to do is go try to catch walleye. But you've really got to mean it, really focus on catching as many walleye as you can. Whenever I do that all I catch is perch and I'm sure it will work for you as well. The only issue is that all the perch will be 4-5 inches long. "

lol trust me I know that feeling too. The lake I live on in Illinois is just starting to get perch showing up. No one claims to know how they got there as the are not stocked and generally don't come in through the creek feeding the lake.

Recommend shorter fishing excursions and heading back sooner if you're not landing fish. I got feedback from my wife after the first trip that there was too much fishing, but in reality we were staying out too long as a result of not catching anything in the first place. At our next trip, we had shorter excursions that we extended if we were catching fish. If a goal was fish for dinner, and we got that, we headed back early vs. trying to find some sort of trophy fish hiding below the surface.

I have heard that Hook and Keneu are both pretty cool little lakes and will offer solitude. But it seems that Slim is also a pretty nice lake, if somewhat busier. Slim has walleyes, not a great population but some good size. Also northern pike, same deal, not great numbers but decent size. My co-worker spent a few days on Slim last fall and reported excellent smallmouth fishing too, good numbers and some nice fish.

It does not appear to have any panfish, but might be an option if you can't find good sized perch anywhere.

lindylair: "I have heard that Hook and Keneu are both pretty cool little lakes and will offer solitude. But it seems that Slim is also a pretty nice lake, if somewhat busier. Slim has walleyes, not a great population but some good size. Also northern pike, same deal, not great numbers but decent size. My co-worker spent a few days on Slim last fall and reported excellent smallmouth fishing too, good numbers and some nice fish.


It does not appear to have any panfish, but might be an option if you can't find good sized perch anywhere."

I plan to troll Slim so maybe I will get lucky on the way in. I think most of any fishing we will do will probably involve trolling or drifting (if we had enough wind) as she likes it in the canoe if we keep moving. She is content to sit back and watch the shore go by. We are hoping for the solitude. That is one of her ideals to have when planning a trip. Fishing is far down at the bottom....lol However, she would like a meal or two of fresh fish if possible. I am meal planning as if we don't catch anything but hoping to scrounge up a decent meal or two.

nofish: "This is an easy one. If you want to catch perch then what you've got to do is go try to catch walleye. But you've really got to mean it, really focus on catching as many walleye as you can. Whenever I do that all I catch is perch and I'm sure it will work for you as well. The only issue is that all the perch will be 4-5 inches long. "

Ha!

Hook and Keneu are both beautiful lakes. I took my first solo into those lakes, and didn't see another soul until I exited 3 days later. If she is looking for solitude you will find it. I can't speak to fishing since I don't on solo trips.

walleyevision: "Don't expect to catch much on Keneu. Great little lake, but the fishing is poor."

It's been a handful of years but, we did quite well number wise for northern on Kenue. Trip report . Although, I can say we never caught any perch.

I dont know if it's still there or not??? But, if you do camp on Keneu, there was a message jar hidden just outside of camp.(see link to trip report above.)

TuscaroraBorealis: "

walleyevision: "Don't expect to catch much on Keneu. Great little lake, but the fishing is poor."

It's been a handful of years but, we did quite well number wise for northern on Kenue. Trip report . Although, I can say we never caught any perch.


I dont know if it's still there or not??? But, if you do camp on Keneu, there was a message jar hidden just outside of camp.(see link to trip report above.) "

I have read your trip report before when I first started looking at these lakes. I read there are perch in hook and back in rice before you get to keneu. Which direction from camp on Keneu was the message jar?

As I recall, it was under a huge boulder near the shoreline just outside of camp.

When I trip with my wife and (grown) kids, smallmouth are often the target. Plenty of action, great fight, and they are good to eat. Many a mixed-bag supper of walleye, northern, and bass have shown us that there is no meaningful difference in the quality among the 3 species. Big perch are one of my faves, but I have never caught a keeper in the bwca.

A wacky-rigged 4" senko under a slip bobber is the simplest, fish-catchin-est novice rig around.

Perch are great eating fish. So easy to fillet, and so tasty. I prefer a plate of perch over walleye any day. I don’t know the lakes you have mentioned, but I can tell you there are some real pigs in the Fowl lakes and John Lake, way on the east. Something about those lakes that grow em big. Probably a lot of bugs in the weeds... that is what I think, but I ain’t no Babe Winkleman, nor a rocket science neither. Best of luck on your search for the succulent perch.

Cheers! scat

lundojam: "When I trip with my wife and (grown) kids, smallmouth are often the target. Plenty of action, great fight, and they are good to eat. Many a mixed-bag supper of walleye, northern, and bass have shown us that there is no meaningful difference in the quality among the 3 species. Big perch are one of my faves, but I have never caught a keeper in the bwca.


A wacky-rigged 4" senko under a slip bobber is the simplest, fish-catchin-est novice rig around."

Take a day trip to Kawishiwi Lake. We stayed at the SW island site and caught a bunch of nice Perch on the east side of the island.

For perch using artificials, I like Flu-Flu jigs. Those always seem to work better than the knock-offs. Smallest that you can cast. Have caught perch in BWCA in the reeds/lilies.

If getting all small perch, toss any of the little spinners like a beetle spin, which usually grades to the larger ones. Will pull some little pike though. Have also pulled incidental walleye that I really didn’t expect.

Abbey: "For perch using artificials, I like Flu-Flu jigs. Those always seem to work better than the knock-offs. Smallest that you can cast. Have caught perch in BWCA in the reeds/lilies.


If getting all small perch, toss any of the little spinners like a beetle spin, which usually grades to the larger ones. Will pull some little pike though. Have also pulled incidental walleye that I really didn’t expect. "

Awesome information. Thank you! This is what I was looking for. I will make sure I bring a couple of each.

I often trip with my wife. Here is what we do:

Reading. She sits in the front and reads. I can fish til my hearts content. She turns around and takes an occasional picture. Otherwise, she reads. It works perfectly for us.

Trolling. We often troll and she holds a pole. One person paddling is perfect speed so there is no need for her to paddle. We primarily troll for lake trout. She likes eating lake trout.

Fish from camp. I often fish from camp. She will usually throw out a slip bobber too. In reality, I'm watching both of the bobbers. But she does reel in hers to stay within the law.

Mad_Angler: "I often trip with my wife. Here is what we do:


Reading. She sits in the front and reads. I can fish til my hearts content. She turns around and takes an occasional picture. Otherwise, she reads. It works perfectly for us.


Trolling. We often troll and she holds a pole. One person paddling is perfect speed so there is no need for her to paddle. We primarily troll for lake trout. She likes eating lake trout.


Fish from camp. I often fish from camp. She will usually throw out a slip bobber too. In reality, I'm watching both of the bobbers. But she does reel in hers to stay within the law."

+1

That sounds about like my son and his wife. She reads up front, and has a slip bobber out, but mostly reads.

Selfsuffi: "

Abbey: "For perch using artificials, I like Flu-Flu jigs. Those always seem to work better than the knock-offs. Smallest that you can cast. Have caught perch in BWCA in the reeds/lilies.



If getting all small perch, toss any of the little spinners like a beetle spin, which usually grades to the larger ones. Will pull some little pike though. Have also pulled incidental walleye that I really didn’t expect. "

Awesome information. Thank you! This is what I was looking for. I will make sure I bring a couple of each."

Hope it helps. Dance and swing those Flu-Flu’s through the water column like an injured or struggling baitfish. Something will come up to grab it.

If you want to target perch a road runner would be my number one lure to use 1/8ounce in yellow, white, or chartreuse .

Basspro69: "If you want to target perch a road runner would be my number one lure to use 1/8ounce in yellow, white, or chartreuse ."

that makes sense, a lot like a beetle spin. I use to have a couple road runners but I think the kids "borrowed" them and they never made it back to my tackle box.