BWCA August 11-15 fishing report Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
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barehook
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08/19/2019 12:14PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Large stained lake. Me and one other person, promised him to share no details of lake name or locations. No pix. Fished deep mid-lake reefs and points, 15-25 feet. We caught (very approximately and I think conservatively) 400 fish in the five days of fishing. Targeted walleye, all the smallmouth caught were incidental. Guessing 80% of those caught were walleye. Fished only jigs, straight down as close to bottom as possible, bare jig heads (color irrelevant, I used white, black, chartreuse, unpainted), tipped with 1/3 crawler or leech (made no difference). Biggest walleye 28", had eight 25" plus. Guessing we had 35 or so smallmouth 17-19 inches, had my PB of 22 inches. 1/2 dozen pike or so over 34", we fish without leaders and had the usual bite-offs in addition. Jig heads are cheap, big pike in canoe are a hassle IMHO. Were very lucky in that we had perfect and stable weather re wind and rain. Fish bit all day, sunny, cloudy, calm, light chop, made no difference. Probably the advantage of fishing a stained lake? We had no need to target the sunrise/sunset bite.

Smallmouth were generally shallower. When we'd drift up to 15 feet or so, those depths held held the smallies.

Great trip. For a little more detail re fishing techniques used, you can search for my report of two years ago. Basically a repeat. Maybe caught more really nice smallmouth than last time. Should work on any stained lake if you can find good structure close to deep water. I cannot emphasize enough, fish right at the bottom. Use whatever weight jig head needed to get there.
 
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missmolly
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08/19/2019 01:40PM  
I think that's called crushing it, like monster-truck-on-an-MGB crushing it. Any pike over 40"? That landing big pike thread has me thinking about big pike and wanting to target them.
 
barehook
distinguished member (149)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/19/2019 02:16PM  
missmolly: "I think that's called crushing it, like monster-truck-on-an-MGB crushing it. Any pike over 40"? That landing big pike thread has me thinking about big pike and wanting to target them. "


The short answer is 'no, we landed no pike over 40"'.

BUT....since you ask, I DO have a big pike 'fish story' from our trip. We are fishing away, my buddy has the usual 'tap', sets the hook, it gives way just a bit....and then it doesn't. It took him 10-15 minutes (8 lb line, being cautious), to get it in sight. We are both thinking the mother of all walleye. Finally we see it and almost need toilet paper on the spot, if you know what I mean. It was the biggest pike either of us had ever seen....and the tail of a walleye is sticking out of its mouth. The fish was just kind of lying there next to the canoe. The first tap had been a 13 inch walleye, and then the pike moved in on it. We didn't know what to do. We never take a net, and there was no way we wanted that pike in the canoe anyway. Shore was quite a long ways away (mid-lake reef location). But we DID want to measure it. We're thinking about options when all of a sudden the pike made one of those typical huge thrashing movements at the side of the canoe and came loose. Out popped the mangled walleye, still deeply hooked. The way it was deeply hooked meant the pike never was actually hooked, just holding on to the walleye. Weird that it would hold on so long.

Anyway...and now this is totally FWIW, who knows, feel free to call BS, but I have personally caught a 44" and 45" walleye in Woodland Caribou. Got them to shore, measured them. Memory is a poor guide and of course all fishermen are liars, BUT...I do really think this pike was maybe closer to 48". Maybe not. Maybe it would have been only 42" or so. Who really knows? But it looked HUGE.

I think in the end we would have just cut the line. We both thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

I think those big pike just hang around those reefs and scarf the smaller walleye now and then.

 
barehook
distinguished member (149)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/19/2019 02:35PM  
barehook: "
missmolly: "I think that's called crushing it, like monster-truck-on-an-MGB crushing it. Any pike over 40"? That landing big pike thread has me thinking about big pike and wanting to target them. "



The short answer is 'no, we landed no pike over 40"'.


BUT....since you ask, I DO have a big pike 'fish story' from our trip. We are fishing away, my buddy has the usual 'tap', sets the hook, it gives way just a bit....and then it doesn't. It took him 10-15 minutes (8 lb line, being cautious), to get it in sight. We are both thinking the mother of all walleye. Finally we see it and almost need toilet paper on the spot, if you know what I mean. It was the biggest pike either of us had ever seen....and the tail of a walleye is sticking out of its mouth. The fish was just kind of lying there next to the canoe. The first tap had been a 13 inch walleye, and then the pike moved in on it. We didn't know what to do. We never take a net, and there was no way we wanted that pike in the canoe anyway. Shore was quite a long ways away (mid-lake reef location). But we DID want to measure it. We're thinking about options when all of a sudden the pike made one of those typical huge thrashing movements at the side of the canoe and came loose. Out popped the mangled walleye, still deeply hooked. The way it was deeply hooked meant the pike never was actually hooked, just holding on to the walleye. Weird that it would hold on so long.


Anyway...and now this is totally FWIW, who knows, feel free to call BS, but I have personally caught a 44" and 45" walleye in Woodland Caribou. Got them to shore, measured them. Memory is a poor guide and of course all fishermen are liars, BUT...I do really think this pike was maybe closer to 48". Maybe not. Maybe it would have been only 42" or so. Who really knows? But it looked HUGE.


I think in the end we would have just cut the line. We both thoroughly enjoyed the experience!


I think those big pike just hang around those reefs and scarf the smaller walleye now and then.


"


And might I add, if you think about it, how hard it was for us to believe my friend didn't have a 'bite-off' instantly. Remember, we never use leaders. The walleye is hooked in the mouth, which is head-first way down in the pikes mouth! So the line was completely susceptible to the pike's teeth. Go figure.
 
missmolly
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08/19/2019 04:46PM  
I've caught big pike on 6-pound test with no leader. I think the big pikes' teeth aren't as sharp. I know pike can replace old and lost teeth, but maybe, as they're older, the newer teeth aren't like the puppy teeth they once had. I just know that I lose more smaller pike than big pike.


I have never even seen a 48-inch pike other than mounted. That must have been thrilling! If you've caught 44 and 44" pike, you know what a 48-incher would look like, so I believe you.
 
IowaFishinGuy
senior member (81)senior membersenior member
  
08/20/2019 08:58AM  
Sounds like a great trip, congratulations! Trips like those keep us going back every year. I’m hoping to duplicate your results in a couple weeks!
 
adam
Moderator
  
08/23/2019 09:11AM  
Please don't feed the trolls or be a troll.

Thank you barehook for the report!
 
barehook
distinguished member (149)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/23/2019 01:05PM  
Great job as moderator, Adam. Helps keep up the high quality of this board. Thanks.
 
08/24/2019 08:56PM  
Thanks for the report. Fun to read.

T
 
barehook
distinguished member (149)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/25/2019 08:46AM  
I cannot emphasize enough the 'luck' factor that we had with the weather. The reality is that we went in with most of our eggs in the basket of using the jigging technique I described. If wind had kept us off the midlake reefs, we were ill equipped to go to Plan B or Plan C. I've always considered versatility to be an attribute that separates the great fishermen from the 'good' fisherman. Sadly, even at age 66 I find myself in ruts that come back to bite me at times. If we'd had 5 breezy days, I would have been in trouble. At one portage trailhead we talked to a group coming out, who had wind every day but one! And their 'fishing report' was of anemic fishing.
 
missmolly
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08/25/2019 09:33AM  
You have a beautiful mind, barehook. I love the way you think.
 
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