Appreciate advice here, my fishing experience is very limited but I've been reading up, practicing locally. I was thinking maybe I'd go pure trial and error, just make a best guess (using various rules of thumb on where to fish).

I see a lot of recommendation to monitor depth, and even to have a fish finder. Is that something more for experts? Or would I benefit from having that on a first outing?

I don't really mind trial and error and getting a feel for something. I do think getting skunked for an entire week long trip might be discouraging. I appreciate any perspectives you can share.

A fish finder really only works if you know what you are looking for. More critical than a depth finder is a topographic map of the lake so you know what structure to look for. Then once you have that target, a depth finder can help you dial in to the exact depth you are looking for. The fish finder function helps as well, you might happen across fish or it might help you not waste time where there are no fish, but you still need to have an idea of what you are looking for or you can waste a lot of time blindly searching the lake for fish.

I don't use a depth finder myself. I'm not serious about fishing enough for it to matter to me. As long as I can catch some dinner, I'm happy. I do spend time before the trip going over topography maps though, and download them on my phone so I have general plan before I hit the water. Even with a depth finder, you can't skip the planning step.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. In case it makes a difference, a lot of my fishing this year will be in Quetico and Ontario crown land. Not sure if depth maps exist, but would be interested in any recommendations. Or any other advice folks have!

I agree with A1t2o that you do not need a fish finder. If you're not particular about what you catch my advice would be to find and work the weed edges. Weed edges near moving water can be the best places to find fish.

A1t2o: "A fish finder really only works if you know what you are looking for. More critical than a depth finder is a topographic map of the lake so you know what structure to look for. Then once you have that target, a depth finder can help you dial in to the exact depth you are looking for. The fish finder function helps as well, you might happen across fish or it might help you not waste time where there are no fish, but you still need to have an idea of what you are looking for or you can waste a lot of time blindly searching the lake for fish.


I don't use a depth finder myself. I'm not serious about fishing enough for it to matter to me. As long as I can catch some dinner, I'm happy. I do spend time before the trip going over topography maps though, and download them on my phone so I have general plan before I hit the water. Even with a depth finder, you can't skip the planning step."

A1t2o, What app do you use to download the topography maps?

DJtheAngler: "A1t2o, What app do you use to download the topography maps?"

I have used Navionics in the past but with their subscription charges being ridiculous, I stopped using them. Recently I have just been downloading PDFs off of MN Lake Finder on the DNR webpage and using those as a reference. While having the GPS to show where you are on the topography map is useful, I find that I don't typically need it. Once you get used to it, you can use the geography of the lake to help you visualize where you are on the map and what the bottom looks like. The only times I struggle are with sunken reefs.

I would never go without a fish finder. We are serious about fishing, and having it is a total game changer. Mine is the PirhanaMax by Humminbird. Works great, isn't super heavy, and one good battery lasts 10 days.

https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/fish-finders/piranhamax/piranhamax-4-pt

I had struggled to catch fish the first three trips I took. This year I spent a great deal of time getting my canoe set up to mount a Garmin Striker fish finder. I also had a nice rod holder setup since I figured I’d be paddling a lot while my son fished from the bow. On a day trip on day one, I got excited and forgot to attach the rod holder properly, and into the water it went.

While this fish finder setup is popular, we ultimately chose to leave it in the car due to the weight, bulk, and fear of breaking some of the parts while portaging in packs.

We had a very successful week of fishing using my leg as a rod holder and my (somewhat poor) instincts as a fish finder. Admittedly our standard for success is just steady action with enough for a meal or two, we aren’t hunting trophies. During tougher fishing months or if targeting specific species deep (lakers), maybe the fish finder is helpful. But only if you really know what it’s telling you.

For those of you that bring a fish finder, what do you use it for? Are you looking for depth or are you trying to locate fish before you even put a line in the water? I'm not against people using one, it's just that a fish finder is a tool like any other. It's important to know ahead of time how you are going to use that tool and how it can benefit you to justify the cost and weight to carry it. If you are going to be trophy hunting or looking to catch dozens of fish every day, then yes a fish finder is probably worth it. If you just want to catch dinner or fish more casually, it isn't required.

For me, I fish while I'm in the BWCA, but I don't go to the BWCA to fish. Therefore, I don't see any need for a fish finder. YMMV

For me, as a novice and someone who has taken a dozen trips but never fished there, my only real goal is to catch something (anything), sometime, and keep a few for a meal here or there. Plus to gain some experience. I only want to avoid getting skunked for the whole trip, lol!

From the advice above it sounds like fishing via rules of thumb and learning to read the lake as much as I can should work. I don't believe there are depth maps available for most of the lakes I am visiting. I'll just experiment.

Love the advice, and thoughts on tools. Please keep it coming!

I bring a small deep finder because I like knowing how deep the lakes are, but one trip my deep finder wouldn't work and enjoyed going without it. I realized I look down at the screen to often when I have it on. Now, I try not to use it to often but still like it for locating schools of Cisco or bait fish over deeper water. If we mark a good school of bait fish, we will often jig or troll over them.

If I was going in the late July or August, I would like a fish finder to locate deeper reefs but earlier in the year, its just find moving water or visually see a reef sticking out of the water, small island, points, neck down areas or weeds and cast towards it.

Kevin

I don't bring one and have no desire to. For me, it just feels like one more thing to worry about and deal with. I like to keep my trips simple. I don't use one locally either. All of my fishing (Trips and Local) is done from a canoe and we catch plenty of fish of whatever species were targeting.

A few years ago I started bringing a Striker 4 on trips. The biggest difference I found is that I lose fewer lures when trolling.

I have a small Garmin portable. Depth is the main thing. Son is always saying "Depth?" over his shoulder. It's helpful. Not overly heavy.

If you can afford the weight and plan on fishing 5+ hours doing something other than casting shorelines and rapids, then yes I'd bring a depth finder regardless of your experience level.

Function is to find depth, more so than fish, from my experience. Don't waste time fishing/jigging depths of the lake that have no chance of having the fish you are after. If trolling, particularly when after lake trout when your setup has your lure down 20'+, use the depth finder to avoid shallow areas (i.e. paddle away from shore when you see depth getting too shallow) and avoid snags.

In the real world time is money. In BWCA fishing, time is fish. Depth finder keeps you from wasting time on incorrect depth and snags.

As you use the depth finder, you'll observe the depths fish are at and begin to learn what's happening in the lake beneath you. At that point it will start to become a fish finder :).

I have a Garmin Striker 4 setup that I used to bring on a more group dependent basis (i.e. if I was the only fisherman in the group, I wouldn't bring it). Now, I bring it on every trip as I find I just have more regular success targeting walleye and lake trout than using just my topo maps. I do find I lose fewer lures, especially while trolling deep and getting too close to a point or reef I didn't know was there.

One big downside for me that NatureCall also mentioned is I find myself watching the screen too much and not experiencing the world around me. I mentioned this to my bow paddler earlier this month on a trip when I realized I was overly focused on the equipment rather than focusing on the moment.

A depth finder is nice (I bring one) but not necessary. Casting at fallen down trees and bouldery shorelines with topwater/wacky worms/crankbaits/jig and soft plastic will get you plenty of bass and pike usually.

Depth topo maps from the MN DNR lakefinder site are very helpful. Find the general area of a dropoff on a point or in a bay and anchor up with slip bobbers and jig with leeches to catch some walleyes.

Good luck!

Hey - I think we are making this too complicated.

I use a Vexilar hand held LPS-1 (google it). All it tells you is depth. Which is all I need to know! It runs for days on a 9-volt battery - light, durable, lasts 20 years.

This gives you 90% of what you get with a regular depth finder, allows you to fish without staring at a screen, weighs less, takes less space, solves the futzing around with equipment. Oh, and cheaper to purchase. You will love it!

I leave it at home as it’s one more thing to bring and for me just feels out of place in the wilderness. Also, I find myself consumed by the screen and not looking at all the beauty around. I know I would catch a few more fish with it, but normally can find enough Walleye or smallies for a meal. Just fish the points, islands and weed lines and you will figure it out.

If you are focusing on lake trout or walleye, I would say bring one. It's no trouble. That said, if you pay attention to weedlines, drop-offs, current, deadfalls, etc, you'll catch plenty of fish. Concentrate on any edge you can find: weed edges, sand to gravel, deep to shallow, current seams, shoreline, the surface, the bottom, thermocline, they are all edges.

lundojam: "If you are focusing on lake trout or walleye, I would say bring one. It's no trouble. That said, if you pay attention to weedlines, drop-offs, current, deadfalls, etc, you'll catch plenty of fish. Concentrate on any edge you can find: weed edges, sand to gravel, deep to shallow, current seams, shoreline, the surface, the bottom, thermocline, they are all edges."

+1

lundojam: "That said, if you pay attention to weedlines, drop-offs, current, deadfalls, etc, you'll catch plenty of fish. Concentrate on any edge you can find: weed edges, sand to gravel, deep to shallow, current seams, shoreline, the surface, the bottom, thermocline, they are all edges."

Agreed - For me, it's alot easier to look at a depth map to figure out where I want to start in a lake, then paddle over there and look for things noted along with others.

Thanks everybody! There are no depth maps for most of the lakes I will be visiting this summer. Since these are my first trips where I plan to fish, I'll just focus on the rule of thumb about edges. I'll have enough to keep track of without extra tools.

I use a small fish finder but I only use it as a depth finder. We almost exclusively troll for fish and the time of year we go the 14' mark is usually the most productive. I can keep the canoe on that depth line and we just paddle away checking out the sights. I've found that trying to follow anything on shore or staying X distance out from the shoreline is not practical. The depths change so frequently in the lakes I have visited. It will also tell me if I have discovered a mid lake shoal, hump, reef etc. If we pick up a fish on those spots I can turn around and go over them again. My finder runs off a small AA battery pack (8 of them) and I can run it for a few days. I take 8 extra AA in case we need them.

No insight on a depth finder as I don't use one. I do always have a "portage anchor" with me. That is any kind of mesh bag with parachute cord. Stuff a few rocks into it and you can drop it down to hold you in place once you locate fish. I once sat in the boat for an hour on Duncan reeling in fish after fish, all the while watching a dude in an expensive canoe with a high tech fish finder drift back and forth over the same school of fish...not catching anything. I thought his head was going to explode!

A depth finder and a fish finder are two different things. I have a big Garmin that actually shows you a picture of the fish, rocks, weeds under your boat. It takes a lot of battery to run this one. But up in the BWCA you really don’t need a fish finder, you need a depth finder. With the tannin stained water you have no idea if you are in 4’ or 40’ of water. You want to be fishing for walleye in the zone that is producing fish, not 40’ deep. If you are fishing for lakers you want to be in deeper water that hold them, not 8’ deep. If you are just fishing for walleye with slip bobbers or jigs I say don’t bother with electronics. Just set you slip bobber and fish on.