Fishing opener May 13, 2017

Are the fish biting? What are they biting on? How deep? Where are the walleyes?

All questions we have heard today. All good questions to ask any bait shop. So what are the answers?

• Yes, the fish are biting! Walleyes and northerns and some bass today.
• Minnows were the bait of choice today...rainbow chubs and golden shiners di well.
• Start fishing at 10 feet deep or more. Fishing the current was the best area . Spawning is not complete yet.

Stay connected for more fishing reports.  Fish on!

Spirit of the Wilderness

2030 E. Sheridan St

Ely, MN

218-365-3149

Fishing report - July 13, 2013

If you are willing to do a bit of paddling for excellent walleye and bass fishing; travel out to Insula Lake. Enter the BWCA at Lake One, #30F, paddling through Lake One, Two Three, Four, Hudson and finally the 105 rod portage into Insula. The southern shore of Insula was affected by the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire, but what a neat place to visit looking at the regeneration of ground cover and wildlife.

Move onto the northeastern section of the lake working the reefs and drop-offs with jigs and leeches. Bass are hitting on top water lures right in the weed beds. A father and son reported today catching 5-28+ inch walleyes, 3-4 lb bass and more. Pictures to follow when they are able to get email access.

Gabbro and Bald Eagle, entry #33, have been producing plenty of walleyes, bass and 30+ inch pike.An Ohio group reported catching a 38 inch pike that grabbed the lure, dove to the bottom and the fisherman dropped his rod in the excitement, grabbed the line and pulled the fish in hand over hand. What a great memory of fishing the BWCA.

There is still time to travel and fish the Boundary Waters this summer and into the fall. Permits are still available with some limitations for dates and entry points. Make lifetime memories this summer. Call Spirit of the Wilderness, Ely MN at 800-950-2709 for more details on fishing the BWCA, reserving your permit and outfitting needs

Check out our website Special Offers for August-September. Visit www.elycanoetrips.com

More fish pictures

And once again more great fish pictures

We would like to thank everyone that has been registering thier catches with Spirit of the Wilderness of the Ely Echo Angler Contest this summer. Just a few more weeks for the contest then it's over until 2011.

Fish Photos. What a catch!

We have been having a number of great fish entered into the fishing contest. Many of these fish were released back into the lakes to live to be caught another day.

Live Bait in the BWCA....Still OK.

As we work our way into July we keep getting questions about if live bait can be used in the Boundary Waters. The answer is yes, you can bring in Minnows, leeches and crawlers to name a few of the most popular types of bait. There are no rules stating you have to only use artificial baits. You do want to make sure that any left over bait is packed out of the wilderness and thrown in the trash.

The question for your group and your trip is what kind of bait do we want to pack in and fish with?

Night Crawlers are a pretty basic bait the will entice a number of types of fish. They are easy to put in your canoe pack or canoe. They just need to be kept in the shade and they will make it for most or all of your trip. The key is to make sure you have enough. The middle part of the summer is when night crawlers are most popular with the fish. This typically means mid-June to mid-August.

Leeches are another great mid-summer live bait option. Leeches take a little more care, but are hardy and loved by the Walleyes, Smallmouth Bass and a few other fun fish to catch. Leeches like to have fresh water a number of time a day. It is best to not get them too warm in the container. Leeches are best when the lake water has warmed a bit. Too cold, such as early spring, and you may not have as much luck with leeches. The warmer summer lake water allows the leeches to be a bit more active. Too cold of water and they tend to keep balled up on the hook. To take leeches on your BWCA canoe trip you should plan on having some sort of leech tote that has very small holes. Minnow buckets have hole much too large to keep the leeches confined. You want a container that allows you to easily change water to keep your bait happy.

Minnows are a great spring and fall a bit. The cooler weather makes it easier to keep healthy minnows. The typical types of minnows used in the Ely, MN are are fathead chubs, rainbows, shiners, and a variety of sizes of sucker minnows. You can use minnows year round. They get a little harder to keep when the weather turns hot. So most turn to leeches or crawlers for their mid-summer canoe trips.

Now a quick note to those of you headed into the Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. There is no organic bait allowed into this wilderness area. You also need to make sure you are using barbless hooks when fishing the Quetico.

If you have any questions please give us a call here at Spirit of the Wilderness 800-90-2709. We do stock minnows, leeches and crawlers all summer long. Just give us a quick call if you would like to pre-order your bait for your upcoming BWCA canoe trip. Need suggestions on what bait to take or what lures to pack or buy? Just stop in and ask. We talk fishing!

New Boundary Waters Fish Pictures

More Fish Photos

Signs of Moose on Big Moose Hiking Trail

I ventured out to the Big Moose Lake hiking trail, located about 28 miles North of Ely on the Echo Trail. The 2.5 mile walk to the lake starts out very smooth and easy, but eventually gets a little more rugged. There are spots that can be rather rocky and a couple of stretches in the low areas were very wet and boggy. The trail winds through multiple Aspen and Jack pine stands of trees before emerging at the lake shore, which is in a sheltered bay. To the left of the landing was a campsite on a point that looks like it would be a nice place to camp. There were big tent pads right on the shoreline and decent fishing from shore. While we rested at the lake I witnessed a fisherman trolling the bay in his canoe. He caught a number of Small Mouth Bass.

One great thing about this area is that the terrain and vegetation are prime habitat for moose. While hiking I found signs of moose everywhere I looked. There were piles of scat (poop) and tracks. One of the neatest things was looking six feet up into the Aspen and Maples and seeing all the spots the moose had been browsing (nipping tree buds off and eating them during winter). Along the trail we also found evidence of wolves, pine martins, and owls (again from scat and tracks). Some of the local flora has started to bloom such as the Large Leaf Aster with their tiny white flowers and the bright red berries on the June Berry Bushes.