this year seems to be cool so far... any guesses at how the fishing during the week of June 19 will be affected? will smb be catchable? will the eyes, northerns, and trout stay really shallow?

Everything will be catchable. The weather will stabilize and be really, really nice, with highs in the upper 70's, and lows in the low-mid 60's. The sun will shine each day, and the breezes will be gentle. No storms, no worries. Leave the raingear at home, and pack only shorts and t-shirts. ;) 8) 8)

As for the fishing, jigs will work the best, followed by crankbaits, then spinnerbaits. Fish will range in depth from 0-60', except for lakers. ;) I ain't tellin where they will be. ;)

If you're wondering how I know this, its the same week Snowdog and I will be in Q, and we always plan for this kind of weather on this week in June. 8) 8) Trade secret. 8)

Right now northern pike are a little slow but the smallmouth are biting pretty well.

Walleyes are doing better when you use a rainbow or fathead minnow.

Not much of anyone buying crawlers right now.

thanks, so what depth will the eyes be at? more shallow because of the cool weather? sorry to be so nitt picky but I am a good angler for everything but eyes and desperstely want to catch some

FS-
If you find a bunch of Smallies, you can usually find Walleyes in the same area, just a little deeper.

This weeks guiding was a bit tough for eyes.  Basswood surface temps were 45-50 and the eyes were a bit finicky.  Spinner rigs tipped w/ minnows were the ticket when fished shallow and slow.  Smallies were getting more aggressive.  Caught some big northers in the bays!  Walleye fishing should improve with some stable weather.   :)

wrote on May 23^rd, 2005 at 10:33am:

thanks, so what depth will the eyes be at? more shallow because of the cool weather? sorry to be so nitt picky but I am a good angler for everything but eyes and desperstely want to catch some

You still have time to pick up & digest "A Boundary Waters Fishing Guide" by Michael Furtman.  It's a good resource for all the Big-4 species.

I'd give you actual advice, but most of the walleye I've caught have been by accident.  Someone said recently that you catch most of them near dusk, and I've seen that before even close to the surface at that time of day.

edit...I found the quote...

Quote:

you can catch 80% of your walleyes the hour, hour and one half right before dark in water under 10 feet.  Soon as the sun hits the treetops be ready for some quick action.  If you can stand the wind, try shallow rocky bays that the wind is blowing into.  Good luck. --------Pax

Fishslayer,

Best advice is to troll as you paddle.  Stay in the 10-25 foot zone as much as possible (easier with a depthfinder, but not too difficult to guesstimate without) as you troll.  Use shad raps, walley divers, large husky jerks, #18 floating rap, or the like.  Odds are, you'll scratch up a mixed bag which includes walleye.  You'll catch more pike and possibly bass than walleye, of course, but I've put many a walleye on the stringer while trolling just this way.

Anytime you catch a walleye and you have time, you can stop and fish the area more thoroughly with your favorite walleye presentation (jig, slip bobber, lindy rig, whatever).  Odds are if there was one walleye around, there's more, and if that one walleye was aggressive enough to hit a crank, then some of the other walleye will be willing to bite a slower presentation.

Pax was also correct about hitting shorelines that have been pounded by the wind.  The longer the wind has been blowing from the same direction, the better.  Focus on the 8-20 ft depth first, then slide up closer and attack the area from the shoreline to 8 ft deep or so.  An anchor makes all this far easier.  Obviously this works best if its on a reef, island, point, or whatever that's got good walleye habitat to start with.  If you are trying to fish a smooth granite shelf you are wasting your time.

Start with a medium-deep crank that runs down 8-12 feet or so and just crank it right down the dropoff or parallel to it.  If walleye are active, they'll hit it and it's lots faster and easier than traditional walleye fishing.  Once you've caught any active fish in this area and the action's slowed, slide up shallower and use a shallow-running crank.  If it floats you can cast right up next to shore.  I have been amazed at times how shallow these fish can be in the middle of the day.  I have caught them in 2 feet of water under these conditions, even with the sun out as long as the wind is blowing at a decent clip.  You'll probably nail some bass in this close, too.

A couple years back I took my nephew (Old Salt's son) out to just such a place.  We'd passed it every day for most of a week as we fished a 10' reef in the middle of Cirrus.  The reef produced quite a few walleye, but it wasn't real fast fishing most of the time.  My nephew wanted to fish bass, so I slid up to the windward side of an island just off a point with lots of rubble on the shoreline of both island and point and anchored at about 12 feet.  From the bow, this gave him great access to the shoreline and we tied into a couple of bass quickly before the action slowed.  I fired a cast out to the side and had a strike as soon as my lure banged off the first rock.  Walleye.  Another cast.  Another walleye.  Another cast.  Another walleye.  My nephew lost interest in the bass and tied on a walley diver as well.  Pretty soon we were both catching walleye fast and furious and he was grinning from ear to ear.  We nailed about a dozen walleye off that spot in 20 min or so before the action slowed.  The sun was out the whole time and it was early afternoon, definitely not "traditional" walleye conditions.  The constant wind against that shore for about 3 days straight was the key.

wrote on May 23^rd, 2005 at 4:22pm:

I fired a cast out to the side and had a strike as soon as my lure banged off the first rock.  Walleye.  Another cast.  Another walleye.  Another cast.  Another walleye.

Some good information by all. I want to emphasize the point above. Don't be afraid to bang rocks regularly with your crankbaits as this is sometimes the key to triggering strikes. I've used a sinking rattle trap to find the bottom even in deeper water and "dig" it all the way back on the retrieve. They seem to hold up to it pretty well and usually don't snag. Make sure to check your last 2 feet of line for nicks and abrasion often and retie if needed. Don't want to lose the big one!

Anyone know what water temps are in Quetico, around McAree lake right now?  

Going into Q, June 17 and hoping to hit the spawn just right!  

I'm so excited, and can't wait to wear out the smallies!!

Tony right now the water temp is at 58.5 and on June 17 it will be 69.7
The day before you go in there will be a massive cold front however which will knock the fish back out of the shallows as the temp will plummet to 65.4 degrees. But be of good cheer........within a few days the sun comes out and the fish return hungrier than ever.

I know.......everyones a wise guy ;). I'm jealous is all.......is there anything more fun than getting on the smallys when they're up shallow?

I'll be on Isle Royale June 18 (Lord willing that is). No smallys there :'(. Hoping to pop some leg long snaggletooths though and perhaps a few surprises.

Good luck Tony........let us know how you did [smiley=thumbup.gif]

mastertangler wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2011 at 4:48pm:

I'm jealous is all.......is there anything more fun than getting on the smallys when they're up shallow?

Totally!  Popping 'em off the surface!

speaking of popping them off the surface.........I got sucked in  ::) to getting one of these at Bass Pro the other day. While I usually prefer a Pop-R style topwater for Q smallies I took one look at this little sweetheart and was grabbing it off the rack before I had time to think about it.

I especially like the BB's that weigh slender belly into the water. That should give it a bit more churn in a shorter distance than say a torpedo. Plus it seems to be a bit more of a finesse bait you could use on calm water (I like a little chop when using the Pop-R type lures).

Of course the first 20" pike that takes it away from me will cause some gastronomical cramping :P

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Well I gave the little prop bait a go in the ditch in front of my house (yes! I have waterfront property  ::) ;D ).

I seen a nice fat gar and plopped it right on top of him. Much to my surprise, instead of swimming right on by like they usually do, it ate!

I shall re-name the Kelly J prop bait........"Gars delight" [smiley=thumbup.gif]

tonyt74 wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2011 at 1:52pm:

Anyone know what water temps are in Quetico, around McAree lake right now?   Going into Q, June 17 and hoping to hit the spawn just right!   I'm so excited, and can't wait to wear out the smallies!!

As of Saturday (6/4), surface temp. was 60-62 on the West end of Basswood. The topwater bite was great on 5/29, but a cold front and heavy winds early in the week slowed things up a bit. We actually caught some big smallies in 20+ feet (after the front) fishin' for walleye.
I'm sure the weather will be much more stable by the time you get there. Last week was "challenging" to say the least.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info, I hope the weather calms down a bit before we get there!!  I've been waching the weather closely and t looks like temps have been pretty constant in the mid to upper 70's however wind has been a different story, its been all over the map.

I just hope for good travel day weather so we can get to our destination.  We are opting for smaller lakes this year so we can hopefully avoid the wind.  We just need to get across McAree on our travel day and we'll be fine.  

Anyone else goin in late next week with Anderson's?  Would love to meet up with some of the other QJer's while were up that way.  

[smiley=dankk2.gif]

Goin in on the 16th, headed out of stanton bay, hopin to make it into hoare lake and come back up via fern, beg, and bud. hopefully that wind lets up a little gettin across pickeral! :o

polarbear wrote on Jun 7^th, 2011 at 7:41pm:

...headed out of stanton bay, hopin to make it into hoare lake and come back up via fern, beg, and bud. hopefully that wind lets up a little gettin across pickeral!

Looking forward to a report on your trip. Sounds like a similar route I have planned for beginning of September. Safe travels.

J

Been a while since anyone’s updated this so I’ll pose a question or two. We are going to the BW the second week of September. A huge swing for us; we typically hit the end of May / beginning of June. Health reasons mandated the change. So now we are faced with an entirely different set of conditions which we are not familiar with. Any help would be appreciated. Walleye; smallies; pike; no real interest in  lakers.
About all I know is that water will be warmer and forage species will all be larger. Follows that we would need to use larger artificials (any favorites out there for this time of year?) or larger live bait. (allowed where we are going)
Beyond that; we doing all we can to be best prepared for the change of conditions. I’ve made my inept attempt at using the search feature but either came back with no hits or way too broad of a spectrum to be of any practical use.

Gimp,

I usually go that time of year (or a week or two earlier but not too much more than that). The fishing can be good if you know where to look. Walleye, Pike, and Smallies will be deeper. That said they do still come up in depth as the day ends, long steep drop offs are great for the fish to transition depths quickly. I've had good luck on deep divers (think down to 25') and big husky jerks. Jigs work well too.