Hello All,

I was able to secure our permit for the first of June and I am leading a group up to Boulder Bay. This is an area we have never been to before and it came highly recommended by several enthusiasts on this site. This is the 5th year this group I lead is going up the boundary waters and we have always done the Gunflint Trail before, so this will be all new.

We are not expert fisherman. For a couple of the guys in the group, this is the only fishing they get to do all year. This area was recommended to us because of the possibility of excellent fishing the time of year we are going. Our most effective method of fishing the Gunflint area has been a good old slip bobber and leech. I do bring a portable battery fish finder.

I would really like some advice from people that have fished the area. What specific areas should we focus our efforts on? Will a slip bobber work in the river? Is it worth fishing under rapids (I have no experience doing this) and what is the best way to do it? Will it be easier to beach the canoe and just fish from shore? Is it worth canoeing down the Dahlgren River and fishing that? Is it worth going back to Lake Agnes and fishing the north side of that?

Another, maybe not fishing question, is related to canoeing to the campsites on Boulder Bay. We are getting shuttled to EP16 and want to get to Boulder Bay as fast as possible to secure a campsite. I am seeing several ways you can go, with various different portages. What is the fastest route to get to Boulder Bay?

I would love any feedback on any of these questions! My group will thank you :)

If you put an email in your profile I can send some info. Yes, leech and bobber can work anywhere.

As for route, fastest way to Agnes is north out of Nina Moose on the river which you'll be heading downstream on all the way from the entry. From Agnes, the 2 routes are debatable. High water the one long portage might be faster as the river section after will go fast. We were there in early June a few years ago and did the 2 shorter portages both ways. No complaints going that way, the long single can be muddy at times.

I like to figure on the short portages. NW. Leave early and push it. To nearly every question in your third paragraph; yes ,they are worth it. Bobber leach is always good then too. Current is great. With a fish finder /depth finder you should easily find fish then. You could even do a day trip up the bottle a bit and even bank fish some holes. Just like many other places in BW at that time of year; good fishing.

I'll be entering EP16 on the same day so I might see you there! Will be a group of 4 people in 2 Kevlar canoes. Probably outfitting with VNO, just need to book it. Will be staying in Boulder Bay for night 1 unless weather is awesome and we make good time, then we might push to Fish Stake Narrows or Lady Boot Bay and stay there for 3-4 nights before moving to Iron for 3-4 nights and then heading out.

I will confess, I have no intention of using bobbers to fish. It's a different style of fishing. I prefer to actively fish different lures based on the area and time of year. I don't use live bait either; plastic grubs have worked well for me in the past but I'm bringing a ton of new plastics this year. Google "quetico mike zulu" and you'll find some posts of his on here that talk about those specific plastics (Zulu/ZToo/ShadZ), how to rig them, etc. He will also send you some of the articles he's written for the Boundary Waters Journal if you email him :) Dude's got some experience!

I would also recommend adding a few lipless crankbaits and either jointed divers or tail dancers to your tackle, but definitely some lipless cranks. They're easy to fish, just chuck & wind. They like to get stuck on rocks if you reel them too slowly, but they're meant to be fished at moderate to fast speed with a little variation, so you can just keep crankin' em and give slight pauses to vary the action. They work on basically every species of fish (bass, pike, walleye, trout) so they are quite versatile. You can also vertically jig them in deep water; if you make a trip up to Fish Stake Narrows/Lady Boot Bay, you've got a solid chance at lakers given the amount of structure surrounded by deep pockets and channels. Make sure you troll on the way up there with crankbaits of any kind, or a flashy spoon. Vertical jigging with regular ol' chartreuse vertical jigheads with a grub should work great if/when you find lakers.

Have done six or seven trips in the area and it is fantastic, especially that time of year. Just send me an email and I'd be more than happy to offer any information that might be of assistance. It's been at least 10 years since I've been up in that area, and I'm hoping as my kids get older in the next few years to get them up there because it is probably some of the best fishing I've ever had, and the area is amazing.

I did this trip. I found the best fishing to be rapids where rivers entered the main lakes. At those spots, the fishing was amazing. (I think that observation is true for most of the BW).

We had young kids and they caught a crazy number of fish at these spots.

My email is now accessible to all, so to those that offered, I would happily accept emails with further tips/specific locations for fishing! Or keep sharing on here please. Thank you all.

We did this trip as well a few years back. Same entry point and destination.

I will say this -- depending on the day you go in, prepare to race for a campsite. I mean, literally race. We went in on a Friday, and at the end of the day at dusk we were racing at least 4 other canoes for any available campsite. And every campsite we passed in Boulder / Tiger Bay was already taken. It was not fun.

However, the next day, everyone seemingly cleared out, and we secured a gorgeous campsite on a large island in Lac La Croix right across from the Bottle portage. I believe it was #2132. We wound up base camping there the entire trip it was such a good campsite. The only bad thing about it was that we could hear and see motorboats going across Lac La Croix dropping Quetico trippers off at the Bottle portage. But those were rare -- maybe only every day or two.

There is good to great fishing all around that area. You could spend a whole day fishing the Bottle River. I remember catching tons of pike and a walleye or two back in there.

There are also a lot of islands around that area of Lac La Croix so you know you have points, ledges, reefs, and all kinds of good structure underwater where fish are holding.

You might want to break up the trip out by staying on Agnes one night before you head out. That's we did, and we were glad we did.

This is one of my all time favorite areas of the BWCA. There’s a large rock in the middle of the Boulder River with a hole/eddies down current that’s generally a well known/decent spot to fish (see pic).



The pictographs on Lac La Croix are very much worth the effort.

Regarding campsites, I’d recommend stopping on Agnes if you pass a nice unoccupied site and heading to Bolder/Tiger Bay on day 2. Agnes is a really nice lake with good Walleye fishing and landing a premo campsite in the late afternoon is unlikely.

Our group is also heading in June 1st at EP16. We're a group of 9 with 4 canoes. This will be our first trip to LLC, but we've done EP23 to Crooked last year, and EP25 to Knife/Cherry the two years prior to that....all the first week of June.

We've always had good luck with top water crank baits and jigs/plastics for the pike & smallmouth.....Mepps #4 Black Furys and red/white spoons for trolling, mainly pike. For walleye....slip bobbers & leeches.

Hopefully the weather is better this year....the rain & wind kept us off the water for a couple of days last year.

Have been to Boulder Bay many times, Done both routes out of Agnus to in there. The wife likes the 2 short portages for some reason. I prefer the long 90 rod one into the Boulder River even though it is muddy on both ends. Favorite camp site is the one one west side of the island in the bay, big and spacious. Lots of ticks every time though and pesky squirrels. Had to go into Tiger bay one time because it was full up. We always go the first week of June.

Fishing is amazing that time of year. We do bring in leeches, slip bob from shore in the evening after supper, may take a night or two to find the perfect spot. During the day we troll promising looking shore lines with homemade spinner rigs, with either a live leech or Gulp bait. Any where in the mouth area and up the boulder river has always produced everything. Crappies, Walleyes, Small Mouth, Pike, big and small, perch. Crappies are huge if you can get in on there. Point coming out of the river to the east is always good, Shore line goes from sand near the mouth to rubble to a large rocky point, just need to find where they want to be on that structure.

I've done parts of this trip many times.

E mail me for specifics.

PJS

brux: "This is one of my all time favorite areas of the BWCA. There’s a large rock in the middle of the Boulder River with a hole/eddies down current that’s generally a well known/decent spot to fish (see pic).





The pictographs on Lac La Croix are very much worth the effort.

Regarding campsites, I’d recommend stopping on Agnes if you pass a nice unoccupied site and heading to Bolder/Tiger Bay on day 2. Agnes is a really nice lake with good Walleye fishing and landing a premo campsite in the late afternoon is unlikely."

+1

I prefer the 115 to the Boulder river if you are heading to Boulder bay. The river side can be very muddy. If you are heading to Tiger bay, take the 2 shorter portages. If there is an open campsite on the north end of Agnes, take it. The Boulder bay campsites fill up fast....if you can get one take it. Fish below rapids and near beaver lodges. The entrance to the Boulder river can be fantastic as well as the mouth of the Bottle.
Boulder river stringer and Boulder bay sunset!