Where does fishing (generally) land on your priority list for a typical BWCA/Q trip? I realize that each trip may differ for some folks based on time of year, tripping partners, age, etc. I also realize many responses will come from die hard fish heads seeing as how I posted this in the Fishing forum. For me, it’s a close #2 (right behind Wildlife as #1). Fifteen years ago, fishing would have been priority #1 for me.

I love fishing, but I'm not great at catching, so for me it's probably somewhere in the 2nd-4th range of priorities. #1 is always just having a good time. I don't need to catch a bunch of fish for it to be a good trip, although it's always nice lol.

#1. It's a fishing trip. If not for fishing, I'd've gone to the BWCA/Q a couple times in my life and been done. Canoeing just gets you to the fishing.

I fish every weekend. I bring 2 rods with me on canoe trips but fishing is not #1 priority. I think just being out there and enjoying friends and food is #1.

Fishing was the #1 reason I began going to the BW but as the years have gone by I’ve stopped to “smell the roses” and enjoy just being there a bit more. I still fish everyday but I do not make myself get up at the crack of dawn to get on the water or think that I have to be fishing 8-9 hours a day.

#1 for me but I enjoy all aspects.

My trips consist of 2 of us, myself and my son. We started going when he was 10, and he's now 24 but we've managed to get away for a week at least once each year, sometimes twice. That's my main reason to go, to spend some quality time together, bond, and decompress.

That said, our main purpose while there is to fish, usually getting out 2-3 times a day.

While I often spend a great deal of time fishing on my BWCA trips, I think it's fair to say it doesn't land on my priority list. I really enjoy catching and eating fish, but top priorities are enjoying the wilderness solitude and spending time with those who come with me. If we spend the day on the water catching little to no fish it doesn't put a damper on anyone's day. I've actually found that I tend to enjoy trips less when I focus too much on catching fish rather than immersing myself in the wilderness.

Fishing ranks very high on my priority list!

I suppose fishing would be toward the bottom of my top 10 loves in the Northwoods. I do like to fish and I like to eat fish and I would be very disappointed if it were banned but if I had to choose between a fire ban or a fishing ban I would be tempted to choose the fishing ban.

I love loons, birch trees, cool temps, campfires, my sons and friends, quick dips in cold lakes, chipmunks, bannock over a fire, moose, gentle all day rains, early morning fog, and on and on and on. Fishing too.

Really, the Northwoods are just great aren't they!

#1, it's a fishing trip that just happens to involve camping and beautiful scenery.

Many of my trips are lightweight solos and my number one goal is to keep moving. I love wilderness traveling so I often am on the water early morning to sunset. Having said that I carry a rod armed with only jigs and one type of plastic bait and look for walleye. Trolling is my preferred technique and until I catch one then I will stop and still fish. When the sun is high its travel time until the evening then its back to the walleye. This set up works well for bass during the day but that usually is not a priority. I usually base camp on a lake that holds walleye, fish in the early hours then travel long loops back to my camp (with food and emergency gear) to grab a quick bite and sleep... then back on the water at first light. Even though travel is the first priority I am fishing at prime times and usually do very well. I can cover a lot of ground and can do portages easily in a single trip with the light pack and don't have to set up and take down camp every night.

moray: "Fishing was the #1 reason I began going to the BW but as the years have gone by I’ve stopped to “smell the roses” and enjoy just being there a bit more. I still fish everyday but I do not make myself get up at the crack of dawn to get on the water or think that I have to be fishing 8-9 hours a day."

+1

It ranks first. Not sure I would go if there was zero chance of catching a fish. It just wouldn’t be the same. You know?

Bottom of the list. I don't fish at all. I go for the experience, the adventure, the physical exercise, the wildlife (always see or experience something new...this last trip was a duck walking into our campsite and eating juneberries off a bush 10 feet away), and my traveling companions (when I'm not solo). The only time I have anything to do with fishing is when my husband asks me to paddle him around while he fishes. For him, I'll do anything :)

I go for the experience.
The experience of fishing.

Fishing is huge. But the wilderness, the quiet, the friends and the laughter are all big parts of the trip. One of our guys took his own life in January so this year's trip seemed more subdued at first. Everyone is getting more introspective as we age.

But a big yes on the fishing. Morning after breakfast, then a mid-day trip somewhere with a lunch stop, then dinner, then night bite. Repeat.

#1 ranking for me. Kind of the main reason I go now. Started out as a lower priority in 1980 when I first started going, but now it is the main reason I go back.

Very interesting, do you have a sense of why it has become more important for you? I have generally found that the more I go back the less emphasis I placed on it, as has been the case with other people I’ve talked with.

I think for some their opinions start to shift because of how they framed their initial experiences. I think for me I initially viewed trips purely as a “fishing trip“, and with more experience have found it to be much more than that, hence less focus on fishing in particular. I still love to fish, but have found so many other things about tripping that I love as well!

I could also see that if you didn’t approach it as a purely fishing trip, and you ended up having some really productive fishing while you’re out, that might push you in the opposite direction.