My family and I are going on a canoe trip in around two weeks. The main lake we will be on is Basswood. I am not a very experienced fisherman, but want to catch enough fish for some fish dinners. I need some tips on what lures, poles, how I should rig everything, and the locations I should fish. I am hoping to catch walleye, lakers, pike, smallmouth, and crappie/sunfish. Any tips on how I might be successful would be helpful.

Hone your canoeing and camping skills. Focus on bass with artificial lures. Don't plan on lots of fish meals.

Troll a ddhj 10 about 50’ from shore. Use a leader and learn the five-fillet technique for cleaning pike and you should have all the fish you want.

I’d get a Phluger President 7’ combo spooled with fire line or power pro
They're on sale for $70 at Gander right now.

Get some of these if you don’t like tying on a new lure everytime you change. I haven’t noticed a difference with or without one catching wise

Purchase a slip bobber set up, some small jigs, and something to carry leaches in. Rig up your slip bobber to fish from camp. Try to fish various depths from camp until you find where the fish are. Look on the internet for instructions on rigging a slip bobber off you don’t know how. Make sure you’re fishing close to the bottom.

AmarilloJim: "Troll a ddhj 10 about 50’ from shore.
Use a leader and learn the 5 fillet technique for cleaning pike.
U should have all the fish u want.
I’d get a Phluger president 7’ combo spooled with fire line or power pro
They r on sale for $70 at Gander right now"

Gander has all their fishing gear for 50% off. So with a Good Sam's discount you can get a Pflueger President combo for $35-40!

I wrote an article called Grand Slam Lures which might provide some guidance. If you would like to read it, send me an email at - queticomike@yahoo.com and request the Grand Slam Lures article.

I have a couple basic questions. Does it make more sense to bring rods in a case, or bring two/three piece rods and just assemble them once the portaging is done?

Does anyone recommend a good rod holder for a canoe?

Tomrank: "I have a couple basic questions. Does it make more sense to bring rods in a case, or bring two/three piece rods and just assemble them once the portaging is done?


Does anyone recommend a good rod holder for a canoe? "

Rods go in the case in the drive, and when we're getting to our camp (meaning not fishing). The case is a big PVC. No collapsible rods, all one piece. When you're portaging and fishing, use BDBs (Bungie Dealie Bobs) to strap them to the thwarts of the canoe.

I've never used a rod holder, just prop it between my feet.

I use sewer pipe rather then pvc as it is lighter. I used to put my rod between my legs but started using a rod holder the last few years and I like that better. But it is one more thing to carry. I use a bass pro shop heavy duty clamp on rod holder.

I got a Folbe Jr rod holder a few months ago. I really like it, I'm definitely taking it to the BW in August.

To put the rod in, you just lay it in the open holder and it closes. To remove you just lift the rod.

The rod is held securely with no need to fuss with locking devices. There is a lock, but it's only needed if you want to lock it closed during portages, etc.

The only loose items I carry on portages are my rods, butt first.
I put my rods on top of my packs or behind my seat while paddling. Always ready to fish. The Tite-lok rod holders are strong and light. They make a clamp on as well.

Awesome, thanks. Since I am usually the only one in our group of 4-8 to fish, I am looking for ways to make it easier to get a line in the water and with as little extra gear as possible.

6’6” medium action rod with 8 lb test mono is the best all around workhorse setup you can buy. Spend as much as you want. The previous recommendations will catch you plenty of fish.

That time of year cast topwater lures (rapala skitter pop, whopper plopper, tiny torpedo) at rocky points and fallen trees along the shoreline. You’ll catch all of the smallies you want.

Live bait is best for walleyes but based on what your situation you probably don’t want to manage that. Buy some 1/4 jigs and 4” curly tail grubs. Cast them out along the first dropoff (where it goes from approximately 5-10 ft) and jig/swim them in. The first and last 2 hours of daylight are best for this technique. This will catch plenty of walleyes and also plenty of smallmouth and northerns.

While traveling mid day troll a shad rap in 15-20 feet of water.

Good luck!!!!

AmarilloJim: "The only loose items I carry on portages are my rods..."

Do you leave your clamp on thwart (that holds the fish finder & rod holders) in place during portages?

Yes it stays in place the entire trip. That's my solo set up, easier to balance. When using it on a tandem I usually have to put a little extra weight under the bow seat.

Not sure how experienced you are but there are a few things I like to look at when adding gear to my tackle box. First is depth. You want your top water lures, just under the surface lures, 5 foot deep lures, 10 foot, and deeper. You need to make sure you cover your bases and are paying attention to this when planning and using the lure.

Then there is the species you are targeting. Bass and northerns tend to be more shallow and this means you want either something that does well in the weeds like a spinner bait, or troll the weed line with something like a spoon, Rapala, or Mepps.

Walleye like to sit on the bottom, so something that gets close enough is needed. I like the shad raps for them. Jointed or regular, and probably in a few different sizes so you can hit different depths.

Trout tend to be much deeper and you want to looking at 20+ feet down. Deep diving tail dancers are good. Little Cleos are great too because they are pretty heavy. If the water is warmer and you are later in the year, you will have to go deeper. Drifting while jigging, either with a little cleo or a jig works pretty well, or you can add a weight before your lure when trolling.

Lastly I look at rounding out my tackle box to make sure I'm not missing anything or to make sure I don't bring too much. You need your hooks, weights, bobbers, leaders (I like titanium), swivels, fake bait, and so on. Make sure you know how and when to use everything though. If you don't, then it is just going to sit in your tackle box and be dead weight.

I've found a method that works well for us.

Rods are in a soft cloth sleeve and tied into the canoe...they stay put paddling and portaging on "travel" days until we're at camp. I keep a collapsible rod BDB'd to the thwart (cross-ways) and so does the bow paddler if they want. Can be fishing with that in 30 seconds if I want for a bit. Collapse it back, strap it in, and keep going in 1 more minute.

I'm not carrying any rods on portages and they're not exposed when loading/unloading at landings. (main rods are tied into canoe in the tiger stripe cloth sleeve near the extra paddle)

Bungee cord rods to my gunwales or thwarts. Works pretty easy to transport, and access.

AmarilloJim: "The only loose items I carry on portages are my rods, butt first.
I put my rods on top of my packs or behind my seat while paddling. Always ready to fish. The Tite-lok rod holders are strong and light. They make a clamp on as well. "

Sweet float system for your rods - I do something similar for my net, just some foam around the handle and tape with electrical tape - never thought to try on rods. Although could have come in very handy in a few cases, haha.