I am fairly new to the BWCA was a little lost on what lures to grab from the stores.

Can't go wrong with the original rapala, double jointed rapala, or the shad rap... But if you want the magic ticket, go with a small plain hook tipped with a leech, crawler, or minnow and a split shot about a 1-2 ft up. Spinners/Lindy rigs with live bait also work great.

#11 Original Floating Rapala will catch both. But I have had more success with a leech on a hook under a slip bobber.

Send me an email at - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request the article " Grand Slam Lures ". This article will give you basically all of the lures that have produced for me over the years up in Quetico and the BWCA. Just make sure you title the email "Grand Slam" in case it ends up in my SPAM box so I can find it.

There are a ton of lures that will work for the BWCA, I ahve some of just about everything that was mentioned, but when all else fails, go with a nice selection of jigs and twister tails!

I received your request and sent you the article, along with my article on Zulu fishing.

If you click on the "search" tab up above this page, do a search on " smallmouth lure " and then do one on " walleye lure " and you will find all kinds of good stuff to read up on for lures on those two fish up there. If you have any questions, just let us know.

What time of year are you thinking of going?

quote CrookedPaddler1: "There are a ton of lures that will work for the BWCA, I ahve some of just about everything that was mentioned, but when all else fails, go with a nice selection of jigs and twister tails!"

Add some jig spinners too, (for walleyes gold jig & 1/4oz yellow twister tail and 3" jig spinner).

Jigs and twister tails!

When trolling. A diving wiggle wart from Storm.

Buy a few Smithwick Rogues, shallow and suspending, in color 69. In early morning and before sunset till 11:00pm, troll the shallow one. Just keep canoe moving slowly, snap it fairly hard and reel slack up and then pause. Once sun is up a little, switch to the suspending one. Again, keep messing with your rod, snaps, sweeps, twitches and then pause. Make sure line is tight as they hit on the pause. Set hook hard!

quote AmarilloJim: "What time of year are you thinking of going?"

This is the the all important question isn't it? Certainly tactics in early jume would be vastly different than the middle of August would they knot?

1st week of June

SR7 black/silver.

quote SeagullScott: "Buy a few Smithwick Rogues, shallow and suspending, in color 69. In early morning and before sunset till 11:00pm, troll the shallow one. Just keep canoe moving slowly, snap it fairly hard and reel slack up and then pause. Once sun is up a little, switch to the suspending one. Again, keep messing with your rod, snaps, sweeps, twitches and then pause. Make sure line is tight as they hit on the pause. Set hook hard!"

so, i must be missing something obvious. Which one is color 69?

I didn't see it on the site. But, will be looking to take this with me, this year.

Thanks!

Whatever you use, cover it in BBQ sauce.

I'm no kind of walleye fisherman . .but, for me, live leeches were tops. The other fish mostly stayed away from them and I caught lots of walleyes. I also caught a few walleyes on crankbaits and one on a spoon . .but mostly the pike would get them first. First week in June, don't forget top-waters for bass. I brought a couple pop-r's and a spook. All caught lots of bass and all now have pike tooth-marks on them as well, lol.

quote murphylakejim: "Whatever you use, cover it in BBQ sauce."

?

quote QueticoMike: "I received your request and sent you the article, along with my article on Zulu fishing.


If you click on the "search" tab up above this page, do a search on " smallmouth lure " and then do one on " walleye lure " and you will find all kinds of good stuff to read up on for lures on those two fish up there. If you have any questions, just let us know."

Email sent

1st week of June?!!

Ah! Pretty much throw anything..........or if your just looking for dinner just park yer boat a short distance from the shore and wait for a few to jump in :-)

Also heard there is good crappie fishing where I am going any suggestions there?

I've been to the BWCA numerous times. I go every year and I have found that lures are fun, but the majority of fish I have caught have been on a simple jig and leech or worm combo. With this set-up I have caught predominately Walleye and Smalls and a Pike every now and again.

I'd say the biggest Walleye i've caught on this set-up is 26' and the small was 19'.

For those reasons, I haven't used many lures. If you goal is to catch the big boys maybe lures is a good option. A better option for big Walleye would be to fish right before dusk and into the night for an hour or so. Walleyes have big eyes for a reason. They are night hunters.

Jig and a leech. Bright colors for bright days, natural colors overcast days.

A. Topwaters, jerkbaits, soft jerkbaits, soft stickbaits, jigs, twister tails, tubes, craws, diving crankbaits, spinnerbaits. Add some spoons if you want, maybe frogs. This pretty much covers all categories, but seriously, any of these could be perfect for June fishing (or just about any time).
B. If you want more specific suggestions, PopR, Zara Spook, Rapalas, Bomber Long A, Flukes, Senkos, Dingers, Kalin twist tails and tubes, Rapala, Arashi crankbaits, Titanium spinnerbaits. Generally, natural colors (shad, green pumpkin), chartreuse, and black.
C. I like to fish "high/low, fast/slow." That is, high and fast, then high and slow, then middle fast, then middle slow, until you are on the bottom working super slow. If the fish are active, your fast retrieve will cover more water and clean up. If the fish are less active, a slower, deeper presentation will produce more. You could add large/small, as a larger bait will produce better when fish are active, and a smaller bait when less so.
D. One other thing: I fish 80% of the time with confidence baits, 20% with experimental baits. Some of those experimental baits become confidence baits.
E. Finally, follow the advice of everyone else too.

Thanks for the advice will be sure to share my catches with you when I go.

I find for most of the time, lures dont really matter when fishing the boundary waters and quetico. its more where you put it (finding the fish). Most of the time, most any lure will work. When they are aggressive, some lures will work better than others, rattle traps or spinnerbaits or anything with lots of thump and vibration will turn on aggressive fish even more.. The key is when fish are neutral to negative. At those times some lures are clearly (in my experience,) better than others. Lures like zulus in neutral colors like smoke, black, pumpkinseed, the original rapala, and the shad rap, in silver/black and perch, have a more subtle action and definitely outfish similar lures with more wobble and flash/ bright colors etc. i have watched big fish actually turn and swim away from a brightly colored curly tail bait more than once....then there is live bait, which always works, and for the toughest bites, live bait with no weight added whatsoever, on light line.

Moonman.

4" BfishN Ringworm or Paddletail, Chartreuse/Pepper in color if I can only pick one...fished on a 3/32-3/16 oz. jighead. Give me that and I'll catch everything from Bluegills to Pike.

Jig + 4" powerbait twister tail. Cast it out, let it sink, jig it while you retrieve. This almost always outfishes trolling or drifting leeches or minnows for me on Walleye.

I'm not much of a smallmouth guy but I've had my best luck with a swing bait. Steady retrieve.

quote murphylakejim: "Whatever you use, cover it in BBQ sauce."

LOLOLOLOLOLOL That's right !

yup...Moonman said it. To add: kinda weird, but when the bite is tough I really change my attitude....I try to sneak my lure thru potential fish holding areas. Avoid noise, drift to casting position...just do my best to not give off negative clues.

Finding the fish is the most important thing as has been mentioned. Fortunately, where you are going, BW, you can find fish by simply trolling along shoreline breaks with any of the lures mentioned. Don't sweat it. You will catch fish. Get a small selection of proven lures, Rapala guy here, that go to different depths, and throw it out there and drag it around, intelligently as you can. If you are more skilled and patient, bringing bait like leeches and minnows, is a good way to go. I've been using more live bait lately, although I usually end up killing most of it before I can use it for some reason.

C-9 rapalas will get the job done also

Its gold sided and orange belly with a black top

Just went on Smithwick website and they are now calling it Gold Rogue