I've previously posted in past years about some sensational mid-summer trips. I made it sound like it was easy....and on those trips, it was!

Humility requires that I also confess to the opposite. We got out last Saturday (the day the BWCA closed) after a one week trip, worst fishing I've ever had in BWCA. Hot, windy, and even when conditions allowed for decent fishing on what seemed to be good structures, WE COULD NOT FIND THE FISH!. Lucky to get enough to eat. The one exception was a flurry of 7 smallies in about 25 feet, 16-18 inches, hugging the bottom and biting light.

I have no good ideas of where they were, other than noting several occasions of spotting big schools of baitfish 30 feet down, with arcs showing just below them, over 50-60 feet of water. Hmmm. Lake we were fishing was 4 feet low. Hmmm. This was a new lake to me, only one where we could get a permit, but by reputation it is excellent. Certainly not blaming the lake!

As one poster said in another thread, "sometimes the fish win". They sure whipped us this time. Feel free to rub my nose in it, I deserve it!

I will say the trip out was an adventure. 2--3 foot swells, paddling some big water against the wind. NOT an adventure I wish to repeat. Two hours after we were out, learned about the closure.

Ah yes humble pie. I got a dose of it this year up there in May. Sucks when it happens but what can ya do? Keep casting.

:D Sometimes you're the windshield...sometimes you're the bug, yeah? :D

I have dined on heaping portions of that pie this season.
I'm blaming the fish.

Had a skunk day on both Saganaga and North this June. Had some quality days too, but there were days we just couldn't do anything right.

When my group started tripping, my friend was planning the trip. He put together some great trips and we always caught fish.

Our 4th year, I ended up working at an outfitter. Figuring im now the "expert", i took the reins and planned our trip. This trip, between 6 of us we caught maybe 20 fish, and I personally got skunked.

They dont let me forget it either. (Im still planning our trips though)

There are many reasons to go fishing. One is catching.

Been there done that!
Too many times to count!!

We too were out on a BWCA day trip on Saturday and can vouch for the tough windy paddling, and poor fishing.

Every honest fisherman (yes, I know...) has had such days and I guess that's why it's called fishin' and not catchin'.

But... it's always a good day when you're lucky enough to be on the water.

Cheers.

Happens to the best of us.

barehook:
I have no good ideas of where they were, other than noting several occasions of spotting big schools of baitfish 30 feet down, with arcs showing just below them, over 50-60 feet of water. Hmmm. Lake we were fishing was 4 feet low. Hmmm. This was a new lake to me, only one where we could get a permit, but by reputation it is excellent. Certainly not blaming the lake!
"

Looks like you did find the fish, out chasing baitfish...Did you spend any time trolling through those big clouds of baitfish 25-35' down? I am assuming you went to Trout Lake, here on the Ely side. If that is the case, that can be a tough lake to fish. If so, those were likely Trout and Walleye chasing the schools of baitfish...Trout can be a tough lake, only a couple of big fish/day is usually a good day of fishing. I went on a trip last year around this time where it was hot, muggy and very little wind and I only found success trolling big crankbaits out over very deep water. I know it is tough with the wind, but you likely would have caught a few pig walleyes or trout if you had spent your time trolling deep.

Not Trout Lake.

Thing is, we had made a couple of pretty basic philosophical decisions prior to entry. We were targeting numbers, not size, and we don't enjoy trolling. Not bashing it for others, that's just us.

Previous mid-summer on deep reefs, jigging with crawlers and leeches on deep points/reefs, we found we could have our cake and eat it too. We had 75-100 fish days for walleye, with big ones (and smallmouth) sprinkled in. So we didn't take in deep trolling lures, and kept searching depths of 15-30 feet with our jigs for schools of walleye which we never found. Added factor: winds were stiff enough by noon that trolling would have been borderline dangerous.

That is not to say I don't agree with you. I think at least some of the walleye were suspended 'out there' somewhere. I also suspect that they may have stacked along some windswept shores, either with wind pounding into shore or paralleling the shore. We just didn't have an effective way to fish such areas.

It is what it is. We didn't drown, didn't starve, had a great campsite, and I never saw ONE SINGLE MOSQUITO land on me the whole time in.

Not Trout Lake.

Thing is, we had made a couple of pretty basic philosophical decisions prior to entry. We were targeting numbers, not size, and we don't enjoy trolling. Not bashing it for others, that's just us.

Previous mid-summer on deep reefs, jigging with crawlers and leeches on deep points/reefs, we found we could have our cake and eat it too. We had 75-100 fish days for walleye, with big ones (and smallmouth) sprinkled in. So we didn't take in deep trolling lures, and kept searching depths of 15-30 feet with our jigs for schools of walleye which we never found. Added factor: winds were stiff enough by noon that trolling would have been borderline dangerous.

That is not to say I don't agree with you. I think at least some of the walleye were suspended 'out there' somewhere. I also suspect that they may have stacked along some windswept shores, either with wind pounding into shore or paralleling the shore. We just didn't have an effective way to fish such areas.

It is what it is. We didn't drown, didn't starve, had a great campsite, and I never saw ONE SINGLE MOSQUITO land on me the whole time in.

Last May I had two of the best days of my life on SAK. Unfortunately, this was followed by four of the toughest fishing days in memory. Funny thing is, I barely remember those four hard days. The days before were just that good!

We were on the water eight hours a day. We trolled for Lakers for 8-10 hours and I got one. We jigged with leaches in 6-20 feet of water around islands, points, mid-lake humps, rocky shorelines and inlets only catching one. We got to the point where we started casting cranks along shorelines just hoping for a few bass, or at least some pike. We got a few bass, but amazingly no pike.

We were marking fish, but we could not get them to bit. Very humbling.