After about ten Boundary Water and Quetico trips (we have also paddled and portaged through Isle Royale), my brother and I are ready to "step up" to Woodland Caribou. We have a great trip planned with Harlan's help, that is not the issue.

Residing in the south might explain some of my anxiety. We have not ever targeted walleyes..... on our trips, we have caught them but incidentally. Smallmouth and northern fishing is a lot like freshwater fishing here. We have been quite successful and I have grown confident that we will always catch fish.

This trip, not so much. With no smallmouth, I am worried that the relatively easy smallmouth and northern catches of the past will not happen this year. I know there is virtually no pressure but I guess it is the unknown.

From some of you that have made these trips, I would like to hear some reassurance that in nine days we will catch a few fish (I know we will) and some general strategies for me and others who have not targeted walleyes and find themselves in a walleye fishery (and northern and lake trout).

A few lure suggestions would help as well.

Thanks and hope everyone has a great trip this year...... We will be there in late June - early July.

At first it sounded as though you were looking for smb in wcpp. I take it that you are not, and are just asking for reassurance that there will be SOME decent fishing. If your main goal is fishing, then you shouldn't be disappointed. This may help a little. So far it holds pretty true to what you'll find up there. Otherwise, ask the park service or Harlen.
I was told that Kilburn was a good base camp fishing lake. That's all that I can give you. I go for the paddling and scenery.

Portage Keeper-Where did you get that cool little fish table for the WWCP?

Correct, I know there are no smb. I am worried that the skills that I have developed on my other trips will not so applicable in this new setting where walleye is one of the primary fishing targets.

Fishing is not our primary interest but important (more me than my brother).

So I would like someone to say something like, "no problem, you will figure it out and I would suggest throwing a ____ and ______ . You might also want to try this, it has worked for me and we caught fish."

Would appreciate something like that.

Larry

quote Frenchy19: "Portage Keeper-Where did you get that cool little fish table for the WWCP?"

It's included in the park brochure. I think you can still pull one down from their site. This one is pulled off the WCPP side bar on the solo tripping site. Link.

That's what I like about WCPP... you don't have to be Al Lindner to catch Walleye up there. If you read Marten Kehoe's trip reports on Canoestories.com he uses a pink daredevil. I use a couple different Rapela's and we use pastics. My best luck up there is at the base of rapids or falls. That is from early June and mid July experiances. Going early June again this year. I like using a leader cause of the possible Northerns... the guy I was with last year used mostly plastics with no leader and lost a few to northerns. There are lakes that have Lakers and no Walleye and others with Walleye and no Lakers. Northerns seem to be everywhere. Harlan can help you there and the cheat sheet PK showed is pretty accurate. One word of warning... Once you go there you'll do anything to go back!

Thanks nctry, that helps. I think I get the crank bait deal and we will have a variety of shallow and diving rapalas, Would you mind saying a bit more about the plastics that you use?

Yes, I am afraid that we will be spoiled. It is a bit more of a trek for us to get up to Red Lake but I don't doubt that it is going to be fantastic.

Thanks for the help.

PK-Thank for the link!

Hey Larry,
Who is doing all the paddling and work while you fish?
Oh wait, I know--ME!!
Dan

fish the rapids. the eddies behind the rocks are a good place. even i can catch these walleye. i've had my best luck with mepps type spinners. anything seems to work, anytime of day, no excuses. try to land your lure just a bit beyond and upstream of the eddy, at the line where the down river current and back eddy meet is where the fish are supposed to be, if you don't get a hit let the lure drift in the current. anyways the fish are here and if you hit sections of the park that aren't accessible by fly in fisherman it is paradise. if you are heading down the bloodvien be prepared to catch fish that you can't identify. some aren't as tasty as you may have hoped.

every trip needs a grunt and I am very lucky and grateful to have my baby brother, thanks Dan!

casting from shore from your campsite should be good for a Northern or two, also after the sun goes down it could result in Walleye. Lake Trout in spring can be caught shallow, but later you need to go deep, REAL deep. Jig them from 80 feet or more. Read Mike Furtman's book on BWCA fishing to learn how to do this. In fall they will come up shallower for a lure deep trolled.