3rd trip, always in Mid June, fish for walleye - this year we're planning to base camp and fish on Disappointment. We're not the die-hard, up before dawn, fish all day type but we do enjoy some fishing and catching a few walleye for a good meal. Typically we slip bobber or vertical jig with leeches. First two trips, not a ton of success paddling around the lake trying different spots (although last year we did discover a ledge right from camp that produce a meal's worth of walleye).

I'm thinking this year we may try some trolling hoping to find them, then maybe "anchor" and slip bobber or vertical jig there. Is that a strategy that would work? If you find them, skip the "anchoring" and keep trolling that area?

As for setup - Lindy Rig? Bottom bouncer with a spinner? Hard bait like a Flicker Shad? Worth bringing a couple containers of crawlers? (Usually we just bring leeches)

Thanks for any advice you can toss my way. (and if you have any secrets for Disappointment, I'd gladly accept those too)

i mainly target lakers in the BW so no walleye expert.
as far as trolling goes , i think with lindy rigs and bottom bouncers , alot of rock in the BW, in a motorized boat sure in a canoe could be a lot of hang ups and more snags then fishing ?
many talk about the rapala taildancers , they get down over 20+.
i really like the suspending deep diving crankbaits , for this main reason , when doing S trolling your lure is going to pause and go while staying in the strike zone and the stop and go IS a HUGE trigger in getting fish to strike. (pic of my go to)(middle lure suspender)(blk/gld rapala early spring killer) (8a bomber can never go wrong)

Mid-May can be a tough, post-spawn, time for walleyes. They will be pretty lethargic and unlikely to chase crank baits. Slow presentations are most effective in shallower bays and flats... think slip bobber with a leech or jig tipped with leech or minnow. Look for warmer water and skip the mid-lake reefs/humps until later in the season. I'd pass on the trolling and crankbaits till July and August as well. Others will disagree...

bobbernumber3: "Mid-May can be a tough, post-spawn, time for walleyes. They will be pretty lethargic and unlikely to chase crank baits. Slow presentations are most effective in shallower bays and flats... think slip bobber with a leech or jig tipped with leech or minnow. Look for warmer water and skip the mid-lake reefs/humps until later in the season. I'd pass on the trolling and crankbaits till July and August as well. Others will disagree..."

Good advice. We usually pull perch shad raps around the first week of June with mixed success. Might have to give the slow approach a go on some spots where we usually find a couple.

Those are all good ideas. Faster with crankbaits, slower with crawler/spinner, slower yet lindy rig. Don't over look original rapalas and husky jerks longlined in shallow, say 5-7 ft. at like 1 mph.

During the summer months, I feel the easiest way to troll for walleyes is to drift. If there is any wind at all, you will be able to drift from .5 to 1.5mph just by positioning the boat perpendicular to the direction of the wind and letting the wind do the work. Trolling works just fine, but it generally too fast for lindy-rigging. If the wind is pushing you too fast, have the stern paddler be the rudder to slow you down.

When drift-jigging with spinners tipped with minnnow, leeches or crawlers, it is best to have at least one hand holding the rod with a finger on the line with the bail open so when you feel the hit you can let line out to let the fish take the bait and have time to get it positioned in its mouth for a better hookset. If you have the fish in a rod holder or between your legs because you are actively paddling, you will likely lose a lot of fish who dont inhale the entire bait and set the hook for you. The beauty of drift jigging is also that you can feel for bottom and fish a variety of depths and find out where the fish are (with or without a sonar). If you are dragging a crankbait all over the place, you will likely only be fishing one depth (depending on how deep the lure dives and how much line you have out), rather than a variety of depths and structures.

Bottom bouncers and lindy weights work fine, but you really have to be careful in the bwca that you don't get snagged. A bullet sinker, egg sinker or simple split shots will work just fine. You don't have to be directly on the bottom (bouncing) to be successful, you just need to be within a few feet of bottom. If you are fishing later in the season (Mid July-Sept), I would use bottom-bouncers as you will have to be fishing deeper and smaller weights won't get you down as deep.

Cranksbaits can be very effective to find the fish, but they rarely outfish live bait (generally later in the season when the fish are looking for a larger meal to prepare for a long winter) on a spinner and are tougher to use if you don't have a sonar to avoid reefs and steep drop offs/inclines.

Drift fishing is also super effective with a jig and a minnow, soft plastic, leech, crawler, paddle tail, etc. Once you find the fish, the strategy changes, but in my opinion, drift jigging/dragging is the best way to fish an unfamiliar body of water.

Use rapalas floating or husky jerks, or if you have a favorite plug use that. My key for trolling is finding the first break (drop off) and paddling along that drop off in a S pattern ,so your going from shallow to deep constantly. The change in depth and speed of your lure really triggers strikes . If the fish have moved to deeper structures like reefs, saddles humps do the same thing S pattern troll over these structures .

If we decide to troll, I will paddle real slow in water about 8-18’. My rod is in a rod holder so I can paddle. My buddy is up front and he likes to cast to the shore at logs or rock piles as we go by. We can cover more area this way.

Early to mid June the walleyes should be up pretty shallow (6-12 fow) in low light conditions - early/late in the day or overcast/choppy. Our go-to presentation is a spinner tipped with a leech.

We always go early to mid June as well. Our best success has been trolling for walleye, despite trying a fair bit of jigging. We’re Texans, so that could be our problem.

Our best success has been on stick baits and crank baits. J-11 rapala in gold is a shallow favorite. Husky jerk in firetiger, shad rap 8 or 9 in gold, blue/chrome, or the original silver/black have all worked well too. Look for areas with emerging weeds, saddles between islands, and points that time of year and paddle slowly through them. Troll back through when you get a walleye. Good luck!

I might be doing it wrong but the only thing I ever catch trolling in the Bwca are northerns and smallies.

I think going to promising dropoffs/points/humps/bays and setting up shop jigging and bobber fishing is best for the walleyes. If we don’t get a bite in 20 minutes we’re on to the next spot.

We fished Disappointment most years the 2nd week of June. We do well trolling husky jerks along the first dropoff and once we bump into a few we break out the leeches and slip bobbers to really get after them.

Disappointment is a fun lake with good fishing. Pike and Smallmouth Bass are easy targets midday when the walleyes slow down.

I have fished BWCA and Gunflint lakes over the years, beginning with my dad in 1957 and recent years with Gunflint guides. Most of the time in early to mid-June. Trolling is a very affective way to find walleyes. You can catch them in a variety of places and conditions. The best advice is to troll slowly, bumping the bottom with homemade spinner rigs. About a two and half foot of monofilament leader with a couple of beads, small spinner and a hook commensurate with the size of bait. Live bait works the best, but be sure to try night crawlers. I was impressed by the small hooks used by the guides. The bait needs to be hooked a certain way. You will have figure that out yourself. We have had success trolling productive shorelines, in the middle of a sunny calm day, in about 6 to 8 ft depth, but the night bite is often the best, or in changing conditions, like the a steady wind pushing against the shoreline. I'll attach a photo of a 27 inch wally taken under these conditions. I didn't realize you could catch fish during such pleasant weather, but it is true.

Here is the photo. A fishing buddy caught this 27 inch wally trolling a minnow or leech in 8 feet of water along the shoreline, early June, a few years ago. Right in the middle of a sunny, calm day.

bruleman: "Here is the photo. A fishing buddy caught this 27 inch wally trolling a minnow or leech in 8 feet of water along the shoreline, early June, a few years ago. Right in the middle of a sunny, calm day. "

Super picture! Super picture!

bobbernumber3: "Mid-May can be a tough, post-spawn, time for walleyes. They will be pretty lethargic and unlikely to chase crank baits. Slow presentations are most effective in shallower bays and flats... think slip bobber with a leech or jig tipped with leech or minnow. Look for warmer water and skip the mid-lake reefs/humps until later in the season. I'd pass on the trolling and crankbaits till July and August as well. Others will disagree..."

+1 agree after the spawn walleyes will search out saddles/small deeper bays (25'-30') close to their spawning areas with not much movement but if you find them they can be stacked ! , one lure that doesnt get it's due are the CD9 not a wide aggressive wobble and you control the depth , a fantastic lure for early spring.