QuietJourney Forums - Bait size

Apr 18^th, 2026 at 9:15am (UTC)

QuietJourney Forums › Boundary Waters / Quetico Discussion Forums › Fishing Tips for the BWCA and Quetico › Bait size

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Bait size (Read 12504 times)

db Web-lackey Inukshuk Voyageur Offline Posts: 5460 Location: Just off the beaten path. Joined: Sep 14^th, 2002	Re: Bait size Reply #10 - May 10^th, 2012 at 6:52am	Quote Print Post
	I call this the right size for trolling in August if you want 18" eaters. I'd go bigger but that gets to be a pain and expensive. Less bite-offs too. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)


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jaximus Senior Member Offline Posts: 343 Location: wisconsin Joined: May 12^th, 2010	Re: Bait size Reply #11 - May 10^th, 2012 at 12:39pm	Quote Print Post
	@db, how does that color pattern work? i personally havent had much luck on the light blue/silver/orange combo. i have the deep husky jerk with the black back and silver sides with a kinda cream colored bottom and that works well.


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Snow_Dog Voyageur Inukshuk Offline Posts: 1858 Location: Twin Cities Joined: Jul 11^th, 2003	Re: Bait size Reply #12 - May 11^th, 2012 at 2:23am	Quote Print Post
	jaximus wrote on May 9^th, 2012 at 9:44pm: "Anglers often experiment between stick baits and shad profiled baits and both lure profiles have their place in walleye fishing. The biggest lesson I have learned from my years trolling is to keep forcing yourself to try and retry different things. Don’t live by the fishing rules so many anglers are quick to throw at you. Matching the hatch for example is a joke with walleye fishing. Many walleyes for example have never seen a night crawler or fire tiger minnow. Force yourself to switch between shad profiles and minnow profiles and let the fish tell you. This is basically my mantra for fishing: Keep trying different depths, actions, sizes, profiles, and colors until you find something that works. Then try to refine it further if you can. The first two are the most critical. The last three can all be important...or not...depending on the mood of the fish.


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db Web-lackey Inukshuk Voyageur Offline Posts: 5460 Location: Just off the beaten path. Joined: Sep 14^th, 2002	Re: Bait size Reply #13 - May 11^th, 2012 at 5:48am	Quote Print Post
	jaximus wrote on May 10^th, 2012 at 12:39pm: db, how does that color pattern work? That lure was new to me last year. (August) Blue always works for me mid-day and I like orange or some red on bellies and it was big so.... I used it on two lakes, one clear and one stained at two different times and locations on each. It always caught a walleye within 5 minutes. One liked it so much he hit it at the boat after I released him. The longest troll it went on ended when I noticed the vibration wasn't exactly quite right. That turned out to be a six inch eye. So YEAH! I like it! That's why I took the picture. I want to remember what it looked like so I can replace it after it gets bit off by a pesky northern or wedged between too rocks.


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mastertangler Inukshuk Offline Posts: 3111 Location: florida Joined: Feb 1^st, 2010	Re: Bait size Reply #14 - May 11^th, 2012 at 12:20pm	Quote Print Post
	The longer I fish in the north the more convinced I am that the fish (and other inhabitants for that matter) are just plain more savage. I was fishing below Kennebas falls early on morning (having camped on the portage trail that night having been a bit to tired and out of daylight to continue). I started out using a shad rap which seemed like a logical choice given the conditions........no dice. I tied on a super shad rap, basically a muskie/pike lure, to troll with in Kawanipi. Before I shoved off I decided to make a few casts in the falls and couldn't keep the 4 to 6lb walleyes off my line........they wanted it big. I had to make myself stop so I could get through Kawanipi before the wind cranked up. But the lesson was noted. Another time on Suzanette I was fishing a muskie topwater prop bait that was at least 8" long. The smallies had no problem deciding it was something they wanted to smack....... My motto? "Think big"............Of course you have to have the gear to handle it but that's another story.


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xcskibum1 Inukshuk Offline Posts: 22 Location: Wausau, Wi Joined: Feb 9^th, 2012	Re: Bait size Reply #15 - May 22^nd, 2012 at 3:39pm	Quote Print Post
	Maybe it the time of year, but small has been my go to strategy. I have caught almost all of my big pike on small lures. I just came out of quetico on sunday actually and between two canoes we had about 15 or more pike over 36 landed in our 8 day trip and it all happened in one spot... all the fish but one were one a 3inch flat rap. and over the years i have caught the majority of my big pike on that bait. including a 46 a couple years back. also a buddy i typically fish with almost exclusivly fishes a mistertwister casting all day and he will catch multipile big pike every year on that bait and ive even seen him catch big walleye on it too. on the flip side his brother spent 10 day period with us only fishing big baits as in muskey baits and did not catch any big pike on it. I have never gone later then june and that may have a part in it but for me shallow and small baits have been my big producers.


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db Web-lackey Inukshuk Voyageur Offline Posts: 5460 Location: Just off the beaten path. Joined: Sep 14^th, 2002	Re: Bait size Reply #16 - May 22^nd, 2012 at 6:49pm	Quote Print Post
	Most of my biggest pike (Northerns) have been caught on small bass that hit a jig and a tail in Springtime. I did use smaller lures for anything other than lakers on spring trips. Honestly, when the fishing is that good I really think location matters more than presentation.


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pikeman Inukshuk Offline Posts: 26 Location: Canton, Ohio Joined: Dec 16^th, 2005	Re: Bait size Reply #17 - May 26^th, 2012 at 4:36am	Quote Print Post
	DB, I fish that same color pattern on the Rapala Husky Jerk HJ-14. It works great for shallow walleye and pike. With regard to pike, I am definitely in the big baits = big fish camp. 80% of the time when I am pike fishing, I'm throwing musky jerk baits, glide baits, bucktails, etc. When I get tired, I'll downside to a big spoon or a #5 Mepps. Incidentally, fishing large lures does not necessarily keep the small fish from attacking. A couple of years back I was trolling a 16" UKKO musky bait on Basswood when I felt the strike. As you can imagine, I had visions on a monster pike hitting my 16" bait, so I set that hook pretty hard. As it turned out, I ripped a 2" slot into the top jaw of a pike that was only about 18" long. - Dave


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carmike1 Paddler Offline Posts: 5 Joined: May 1^st, 2012	Re: Bait size Reply #18 - May 29^th, 2012 at 3:06am	Quote Print Post
	Interesting discussion. I just got out of the BWCA yesterday on a trip up to Crooked Lake, and the bigger popper worked much better than the smaller ones for smallies. I don't know if I'd generalize about what's "usually" best--I will try just about anything if I'm not getting fish--but it sure is intersting how big of a difference size can make.


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Preacher Contributer Subscriber Offline Posts: 1327 Location: COTU Joined: Apr 10^th, 2010	Re: Bait size Reply #19 - May 29^th, 2012 at 1:02pm	Quote Print Post
	Sometimes I'll tie on a big popper just to watch the little fish try to hit it.


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