BWCA What's your "Can't go without" bait? Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
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08/07/2020 10:57AM  
I'm not much of a fisherman, but am going to give it another try on our upcoming trip. Going to be on Malberg, Makwa, Adams, etc. (EP 37)

Curious to know what's the one or two that you all take on every trip. I recently spent hundreds on stuff that I don't even know how to use, but came "highly recommended" by my fishing buddies.
 
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08/07/2020 11:47AM  
Are you looking to spend hundreds more? LOL
 
08/07/2020 11:48AM  
AmarilloJim: "Are you looking to spend hundreds more? LOL"


Lolz!
Not really.
 
Savage Voyageur
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08/07/2020 12:04PM  
Are you looking for bait or lures?
 
08/07/2020 12:15PM  
Savage Voyageur: "Are you looking for bait or lures? "

Probably a little of both. Not really fishing for anything in particular.
I've got a few spinners, 3" grubs, 5" swimsenkos3/8 oz booyah globlades, roboworms, Zoom limetruse trick worms, swing impact 4" shads and a few rapalas, wack worm set ups and other odds and ends...
 
Savage Voyageur
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08/07/2020 12:30PM  
I would bring leeches when you can get them or night crawlers. Fish them on a slip bobber. I also like the jig tipped with a live bait. As far as lures I would include some Shad Raps and some original floating minnows.
 
08/07/2020 01:19PM  
Savage Voyageur: "I would bring leeches when you can get them or night crawlers. Fish them on a slip bobber. I also like the jig tipped with a live bait. As far as lures I would include some Shad Raps and some original floating minnows. "


Forgive my ignorance, but are leeches and crawlers normally available in and around the area?
 
Savage Voyageur
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08/07/2020 02:28PM  
pilot: "
Savage Voyageur: "I would bring leeches when you can get them or night crawlers. Fish them on a slip bobber. I also like the jig tipped with a live bait. As far as lures I would include some Shad Raps and some original floating minnows. "



Forgive my ignorance, but are leeches and crawlers normally available in and around the area?"


You might have another week to find leeches then they will be gone. They stop trapping leeches and the supply dries up.

Crawlers are pretty plentiful at any bait shop.
 
Moonman
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08/07/2020 03:20PM  
I would have to agree with Savage, as original floating raps and shad raps are hard to beat just trolling around the lake. I would also add a number 3 mepps spinner, in gold or silver, a white willow leaf spinnerbait, and a straight tailed worm (zman hula stik etc) rigged ‘Zulu style’ as per Quetico Mike. Of course hard to beat live bait when you have it.

Lots of other similar lures will work as well of course, those are just some of my favs that have proven themselves time after time on many different bodies of water. One thing to consider is that two fishermen fishing those lures in the same lake might have vastly different outcomes, experience and knowledge really do matter (not saying you don’t have those lol). Keep it simple by keying on classic mid summer locations: for smallies, current areas, offshore shoals and weedbeds, primary drop offs, pike, secondary drop offs, walleyes in deeper current areas, secondary drop offs in 18-25’ of water, suspended at those same depths of water but over the open basin, and then shallower reefs and weed edges at night.

Hope that helps,

Moonman.
 
danbogey
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08/07/2020 03:33PM  
You can always try the Berkley leeches on a jig. When are you heading up? Friend canceled on me so I'm going solo on the 7th of Sept, coming from Pittsburgh. Will be a great week of fishing and photography.
 
08/07/2020 05:52PM  
danbogey: "You can always try the Berkley leeches on a jig. When are you heading up? Friend canceled on me so I'm going solo on the 7th of Sept, coming from Pittsburgh. Will be a great week of fishing and photography."


Next week. Been looking forward to it since May.
May squeeze in a fall trip too depending on what happens with schools and C19.
 
airmorse
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08/07/2020 06:24PM  
 
QueticoMike
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08/08/2020 06:00AM  
ZMAN scented jerk ShadZ using a Zulu rig. ( search Zulu Rigging on this site )
Magnum Pop-R
Booyah chartreuse 3/8oz spinner bait ( sounds like you might already have these )
Green Pumpkin tubes
Bullfrog Lucky 13
Dardevle spoon
Mepps Spinner - size 5
Gold Rapala jointed lure - J9
Rapala Husky Jerk - Gold
Berkley Gulp Leeches
Dr Spoon silver spoon
One ounce jig with white buck tail
Black and silver size 11 Rapala

 
missmolly
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08/08/2020 04:47PM  
Mike's ZMan, for sure. Applying his coaching, I caught five bass in my first five casts with a ZMan and one was 19".

I have caught more fish with an F13 Rapala than any other. I like the bright colors to track them in low light and chop.
 
tarnkt
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08/08/2020 05:13PM  
Wacky worms were very effective for me on Adams for smallmouth years ago. That was in June so you might have to go deeper when you’re there.

I would recommend rigging them on a drop shot to get down there quicker.
 
oldmil
member (16)member
  
08/08/2020 09:56PM  
One of the best baits I've ever used are Thompson's Jigs https://thompsonsfishingjigs.com/ They are badger hair and marabou jigs but are way more durable than any other jig I've used. Great on walleye.

Oldmil
 
CoffeeInTheWoods
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08/09/2020 07:25AM  
pilot: "I'm not much of a fisherman, but am going to give it another try on our upcoming trip. Going to be on Malberg, Makwa, Adams, etc. (EP 37)

Curious to know what's the one or two that you all take on every trip. I recently spent hundreds on stuff that I don't even know how to use, but came "highly recommended" by my fishing buddies."


Did the route in June. Beautiful area!

Makwa - lakers and a few pike trolling silver little cleos and rippin raps at dusk, but they’ll be deeper
Boulder - Bass aplenty on anything we threw.
 
08/10/2020 12:27PM  
Whooper Plooper
 
PineKnot
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08/10/2020 03:02PM  
PikeLover: "Whooper Plooper"


That must be the Chinese knockoff version of the Whopper Plopper!!
 
QueticoMike
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08/10/2020 05:10PM  
PineKnot: "
PikeLover: "Whooper Plooper"



That must be the Chinese knockoff version of the Whopper Plopper!!"


Sounds German to me :)
 
lundojam
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08/11/2020 07:47AM  
1/8 oz jigs (or smaller) with half a crawler. walleyes and bass (Malberg bluegills)
husky jerk: all species
wacky worm:bass
 
08/11/2020 12:21PM  
i've mainly done opener trips in the BW and mainly for lake trout , so i always bring my spoon box with.
 
thegildedgopher
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08/13/2020 10:39AM  
shock: "i've mainly done opener trips in the BW and mainly for lake trout , so i always bring my spoon box with. "


Shock I am gonna show up at your ice house this winter with a bottle of whiskey and make you teach me how to dress a spoon like that. That pink dardevle gets me every time. The dressing looks like my daughter's bike streamers :)

My answer would be different if you were primarily wanting to catch lake trout, but in general I'd say leeches if you can get 'em, otherwise crawlers, along with a handful of jigs and perhaps a slip bobber set up, would be my #1.

The first question asked above was the real question. 20 anglers will give you enough ideas to spend a small fortune at Marine General. We all tend to have our "confidence baits" and while there will be significant overlap on our lists as above, the real takeaway is that you can catch fish in the BWCA on almost anything if you're in the right spot at the right time. So don't overdo it, in my opinion.
 
08/14/2020 01:09PM  
^^^ sounds like a plan to me , i'm sure me and my clan can help get rid of that bottle , the pink daredevil i made myself from flashabou i ordered off of ebay , all i used was some black braid ice line(some thinner power pro will work too) and epoxy mix ,, and i have caught pike on it,,,, the other ones i purchased from a ebay seller that dressed up the larger trebles but i just recently looked up that seller and they have no items for sale anymore. but many other sellers with dressed trebles but most are size #4 to #8 to small for larger spoons. i just ordered some black/silver flashabout for my new williams spoon.
 
08/17/2020 10:32AM  
I use my flytying vice, a good spool of rod tying thread or heaving weight fly tying threads and bucktails of various colors to dress up trebles that I make spinners out of (think Mepps).
 
Trouthooker
member (16)member
  
11/19/2020 04:59PM  
-3/8 oz white jig head with 4-5 in white grub hands down my go to. For lakers Williams Wobblers and Little Cleo's seem to do the trick.
 
cyclones30
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11/19/2020 06:16PM  
Pull up the old google machine....type in b-fish-n tackle or authentix. Find their moxi and pulse-r plastics.....find your favorite colors and get a few and match them to your favorite jigs in....1/4 to 5/8 oz depending on depth and current you find. (and you'll find current on that route which is a good thing)

You can also buy bigger packs of their factory blem's and 2nds...I get those too....you can pick a general color and get a variety of styles and colors.
 
outsidethebox
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11/21/2020 09:01AM  
I have been fishing very successfully with nightcrawlers as a primary bait for over 60 years.
 
Chicagored
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11/22/2020 10:56AM  
In the original post, you did not say what you wanted to fish for.

I do not consider myself a good fisherperson, but I always have success up there. I happen to like pike, and I never fail to catch them by trolling a floating rapala, usually one with some green on it, maybe 100 feet or so behind the canoe. Sometimes get a smallmouth that way too. I try to troll about 30 feet off the shoreline.

I think its Quitico Mike who has written many good articles in the past. One time I contacted him directly and he sent me a very good article on fishing in the BW. I learned a lot from it. I always go to his recommendations first.

One other point. Each year I always haul a ton of tackle up there and end up using 3 to 5 lures, plus some duplicates when I lose one. Also hooks and twister tails etc. Try to only bring what you think you really need or want to try.
 
QueticoMike
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11/24/2020 03:22PM  
Chicagored: "In the original post, you did not say what you wanted to fish for.


I do not consider myself a good fisherperson, but I always have success up there. I happen to like pike, and I never fail to catch them by trolling a floating rapala, usually one with some green on it, maybe 100 feet or so behind the canoe. Sometimes get a smallmouth that way too. I try to troll about 30 feet off the shoreline.

I think its Quitico Mike who has written many good articles in the past. One time I contacted him directly and he sent me a very good article on fishing in the BW. I learned a lot from it. I always go to his recommendations first.

One other point. Each year I always haul a ton of tackle up there and end up using 3 to 5 lures, plus some duplicates when I lose one. Also hooks and twister tails etc. Try to only bring what you think you really need or want to try."


If anybody want to read my article Grand Slam Lures or any of my other articles just send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and I will send you a copy. Just request what you are looking for. Good luck everyone!
 
ManMythMurse
member (5)member
  
11/25/2020 09:37PM  
I never leave without a red and white striped Daredevle spoon. That, and a top-water frog are my two most successful lures, and the others are not even close. If it’s getting late, and I still need to catch dinner, I throw on the spinner and do some trolling around the lake. So long as I’m keeping a consistent speed and not straying too far from shoreline, that always lands me one.

I know the thread is a bit old, but figured I would share my favorite!
 
TheOnion
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01/08/2021 03:44PM  
X raps do really well. They are a bummer to lose though.

I have used and lost several Silver, Gold and Olive Green X Raps. They all catch fish.
Tie good knots and don't toss them into trees :)
 
CityFisher74
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01/13/2021 09:22AM  
pilot: "I'm not much of a fisherman, but am going to give it another try on our upcoming trip. Going to be on Malberg, Makwa, Adams, etc. (EP 37)

Curious to know what's the one or two that you all take on every trip. I recently spent hundreds on stuff that I don't even know how to use, but came "highly recommended" by my fishing buddies."


If I could only bring 2 rigs up to BWCA, I would bring a slip bobber with a leech as bait, and I would bring a Rapala Original Shad.
 
01/13/2021 10:14AM  
It depends on what we are fishing for. Usually though, I try to bring a couple options for each species. Little Cleos and tail dancers for trout, jointed rapala and rigs for walleye, Mepps and top water for bass, and then a couple bigger lures and spoons for pike. Toss in some general tackle and jigs and that is my tackle box.

It's not about any one "best" lure or setup. You just bring what you think you are likely to use and have a couple backups or color variations. The Little Cleos, jointed rapalas, and Mepps are the ones I usually try first though.

On a side note, we did get skunked once two years ago and we really went through almost our whole tackle boxes in the process. That experience really showed me that there are just some lures and gear that you will never use or only ever try to use when there are no fish biting. You are much better off sticking to what you know and have had success with in the past instead of filling out your tackle box with every option. It lets you travel lighter and makes changing your lures out easier. If you are targeting the correct depth/location, a slightly different lure is not going to get fish to start biting.
 
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