I'm from west-central Illinois and not able to keep up with the seasonal movements in the BWCA. Will be arriving on Monday night and heading out on Tuesday morning for a few days. Will the smallmouths be pre-spawn/spawn/post spawn?

Also: the Blues will be playing Monday night. I'll be staying at the Canoe Country Outfitter's room in Ely. Not sure if they will get the game or not? Where's the best sports bar in Ely?

We're from SE IA so probably not far away, Muscatine area. We are heading up in a week so interested to hear some feedback. Let us know how you do!

The Twins have the day off on Monday, so I'd imagine that the barkeep at Ely Steak House would tune in the Blues for you.

Smallmouth should be starting their spawn as we speak. I have not targeted them yet this year but I did see multiple Smallmouth moving into the shallows near moving water on Trout Lake two days ago. I would say the next three weeks will be great for Smallmouth topwater action.

LMB still have eggs on my local lake Waconia (metro) but was surprise to see a surface temp of 57 , smallies are still staging but still able to be caught , they are smallies.
if temps in the BW are still under 52* lakers should not be hard to catch , but i'm sure there ready to move to that next comfortable depth soon,
i would think pike are ready to start smashing anything that moves ;)

We went to Okoboji Lake In Northwest Iowa last year in June, and ran into 3 guys from Muscatine. Muscatine isn't that big. Any chance you were one of them?


Hope you have a great trip. We are planning on fishing hard for 4 days. Trolling on the way in and hoping the fish will let us know what they want, and go from there. Would just as soon catch a bunch of smallies and big pike, with a few walleyes for dinner in the evening. Not picky, just hoping to catch a hot bite.


Don't know if you've been to the BWCA or not? I've been 5 times, the last time was 25 years ago. I haven't experienced that kind of peace and tranquility since. Figured I'd better get back at it before I got too old. Thanks for the reply, I'll let you know if we figure out anything worth passing on. Wouldn't mind finding a few morels too.

Thanks, Schweady!

If the Blue's play like they did last night? I'd almost prefer to watch a replay of today's Twinkie game. Nah.....just kidding. It drives me nuts that my hockey team finally made it to the finals, and the local radio stations play the Cardinal games. I used to think that this time of the year, the boys should be fishing on the pond, instead of trying to skate on it. That was until my team made it.


I appreciate the reply, hope you are having, and continue to have a great weekend.

Thank you , Eric.

I've got enough tackle to start a shop, lol. Looking forward to checking out the topwater bite. That reminds me of a previous trip in June with my father. They were exploding on every topwater I threw. I couldn't hook them to save my life. I'd like to think I've learned a little since then.


I appreciate your reply. Looking forward to the warming weather trend this week as well.

Thanks for taking the time to reply and give an update.

The idea of lakers sounds extremely appealing. We'll have to see how it goes? My buddy and I are both 53 now. In order to hit the lakes with Lake trout, we'll have to make what appears to be a few tough portages. I'm hoping to relax and perfectly fine with smalljaws, walleyes and pike. You never know? We've done crazier things.

Pike were smashing raps and leaches last weekend

Just got back this morning. Take plenty of bug spray. The mosquitoes weren't too bad. The gnats were horrible and the black flies were getting nippy the last day.

The fishing was good for walleyes. We caught them on about everything we threw. When we concentrated on the jigs and plastics, we caught them best. Typically 30-50 a day. I started trolling a swim bait with a 1/4 oz standup chomper jig head when we'd paddle from spot to spot. They seemed to like that real well. Didn't use leeches or crawlers too much. When we did, we let them drift on a bobber in front of the camp, the walleyes were all over it.


The pike were small, except for the one that grabbed my walleye. He was a brute. We didn't catch many smallmouths. Not sure what we were doing wrong there? Tried surface lures, crankbaits, and jigs. The few we caught were stout. Get on a hot bite with the smallies, and that could be a lot of fun. Others said they were catching smallies better than walleyes, I dunno? I suspect location was the key. We tried for smallies pretty hard, then came to the conclusion that the walleye fishing was better, so we concentrated on them.

Caught a yellow perch, a few largemouths, and 3 suckers as well. I'm glad to be home, but wish I was still there. Hope you have a great trip.

The surface temperature on the north east end of Ensign was 60 last Wednesday.

Hey Shock, I've paid attention to quite a few of your post. You strike me as the kind of guy that really enjoys and gets into the BW. I can recognize also, that you are a real fisherman. I bought a year long , non-resident MN fishing license. I'm entertaining the thought of going back up from IL. I've taken the easy route, into Ensign multiple times. Like it a lot, but think a variation would be nice. Is there a route that you would recommend, with fishing as the first and foremost factor?

It's been awhile. Where'd you go, and how did you do?

Derrick , Feel free to email me , more than happy sharing BWCA info ,,, unless it's a Brook trout lake ;),, maybe ;)

Hi Darryll,

I'm having a tough time finding your e-mail address. Would like to chat if you have the time?

i'll enter yours in my contact info & send you a email. , but ya , for some reason i cant see anybody's email address ,