Hello,

My sons (16&17) and I are headed to the Boundary Waters from Central Illinois this June for a 6-7 day trip. Our likely route is Snowbank-Disappointment-Ahsub-Jitterbug--Adventure-Jordan-Ima. One of our primary goals is to catch some Lakers on Ima. We are intermediate fisherman (give or take), and are looking for good tips on rod/reel considerations, bait, and techniques and any other good information. We were supposed to go last year, but my 16 y/o broke his collarbone in football so we postponed. Love this site and have poured over trip reports and information on different considerations but I always love to hear it straight from the horses' mouths!

-Leathernecks

I've not fished that exact lake, so no spots or anything.

But lakers in June....depend a lot on water temps and how the spring temps have been leading up to it. If it's a late ice out and cold spring they could be between the surface and 20' down and you can use standard lures and rigs.

If it's the opposite weather and 90 while you're there, the trout could be 50+ feet down. If that's the case then you'll want more specialized lures and rigs to get down there. There are a lot of laker lure talks on here if you use the search function. Little cleo is a nice spoon in different weights and colors, get a few. Have a few large jig heads w/ tube or plastics, like larger than you'd use for bass. Yes the stuff to get down deep weighs a bit more but it's worth it if that's where they are.

Rod, reel, and line I'd just stick to the usual "do all" setup for up there. Medium spinning rod with a mid sized reel and maybe 8lb line. Mono or braid, 6-10lb works well in general. If mono I like 6 to 8, if braid I like 10-12 since you can get away with it for the smaller diameter.

I caught my only lake trout by trolling a rapala purpledescent taildancer near the end of June. I learned about this lure from this board. The lure gets down deep and is more visible at depths because of its color.

We trolled off shore near the deep part of the lake we were on. Use a map like a Fisher or a Voyaguer that shows some contour lines of the lake.

My paddling partner also had a fish on. He was using some kind of large spoon. This fish ended up breaking his line. I found out after the trip that we might have been using line that was a little light. IIRC, lures are calibrated for trolling with 10lb mono. I plan to use at least 10lb mono for trolling in the future.


Try purpledescent site:bwca.com

I have only been in that area a couple times and have never fished IMA so sorry, I can't be much help with that and the Lakers there. We did do well on Hatchet Lake (one portage East of Ima) for Walleye on a June trip. Then the only other lake I have fished on your route would be Dissapointment lake for one night on our way out. We did decent on Walleye and Smallmouth bass. Caught some Pike as well.

Lakers are the kind of fish that could be anywhere anytime of the year. Without electronics and early June I’d start trolling with a Tail Dancer, maybe one that goes down 20’. If that doesn’t work switch to one that goes down 30’. Another option is to troll with a little Cleo or kastmaster with 2oz weight then maybe 3oz. The key putting time in. Get up early and fish ALL
day if you’re serious about catching trout. If you catch one count it as success.

I fished a Quetico-area lake one early June and was surprised to catch 21 lakers fifteen feet off shore in ten feet of water. My Dad and I just trolled crankbaits along the shoreline to catch them. We thought we would catch pike, but caught lakers. So, try shallow and in tight too.