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?

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.

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

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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...
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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.

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!!

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

Totally!  Popping 'em off the surface!

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

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"

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. 

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


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

J

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.