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

Loon on her nest

We were fishing on a lake off the Echo trail this past week and came upon a loon on her nest. We drifted close by her and she hardly moved, although she watched us very carefully. The male loon was across the lake fishing.

By the way we caught a couple of small northern pike and had a smallmouth bass grab a lure and flip out of the water.  What a great sight to see.

Stop at Spirit of the Wilderness Bait Shop, Ely MN for your live bait needs as well as current fishing reports.  We talk fishing. Hours: 6 am - 9 pm daily.

Early season fishing report - June 4, 2014

Fishing Report From the Ely Fishing Guide Company by guide Rob Nelson.

Our season started off with a bang with good numbers of walleyes in the current areas. Our customers were able to catch a lot of eating size fish as well as some trophies which were all released. Biggest Walleye of the season so far is 30.5 inches. With a couple others in the 30 inch range and many more in the 26-29 inch range. These big fish made for some happy customersI

Currently the walleyes are on the move finding their summer spots. The current areas have slowed down and our guides are finding fish in the bays, points and flats. Fish have been caught in the 13-18 foot range with minnows, leeches and some crawlers.

Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike are being caught on the shorelines and the bays. The bass are still pre-spawn and the larger females are being caught in 6-10 feet of water on plastic worms and tube jigs.

Basswood produces Big Fish

Like early Spring, the Fall is another time in the season for big pike to be caught. Justin C. caught this 44+ inch one on Basswood yesterday working the currents using a big sucker minnow. He did CPR on the fish...catch, photograph and released it to be caught another day. It was fun to hear him tell the story of how he saw a "log" come swimming near the bottom, how it hit the minnow and the fight a fish like this can provide. He also hooked into one that was even bigger, but it broke his line and swam away.

Justin C, 44+ inch Pike, Basswood lake

Be sure to stop in at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters and Outdoor Store, Ely, MN for all your fishing and outfitting needs. October 1-5; hours: 7-6pm  October 6-12; 8 am-5pm. Or by appointment if needed.

See you in Ely soon for the Fall colors and great wilderness travel.

Big Northern Pike

Knife lake has been producing great fish this year. B. Johnson from Rochester MN
submitted this 44 inch northern pike from his September canoe trip with his brother.

44 inch northern pike

This is the time of year many of our guests come back with stories of the "big one" that they caught, grabbed their stringer of fish or simply got it up to the boat and the line broke. Sure makes for great stories and lifetime memories.





Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters & Outdoor Store, Ely MN is open and sending wilderness Fall travelers into the Boundary Waters and area lakes. We will be open well into October for all your outfitting and fishing needs.

Call us at 800-950-2709 or email; info@elycanoetrips.com for up-to-date Fall conditions and fishing report.

See you in Ely soon.

Have you ever heard of this?

Two people catching the same fish on two different lures at the same time? Brad H from Wisconsin came into our shop to tell us about his 3 year old daughter fishing with her pink rod, pink reel that lights up when spun and a pink jig while his wife fished using a tiger-colored jig on the opposite side of their boat on Fall lake.

His daughter started reeling in her line because she caught a fish. Brad's wife started reeling in her line because of a fish. They both tugged on their line and see sawed back and forth pulling the fish from one side of the boat to the other.  Brad realized they were playing the same fish. Once brought up on one side of the boat, the small northern pike had two jigs in its mouth...a pink jig on one side of its mouth and a tiger-colored jig on the other side of its mouth.  Now that is one hungry pike. It is back in the water ready to be caught again.

Share your adventure
Do you have a fish story to share? Email your story with a photo if available to Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters and Bait Store, Ely MN. Email address: info@elycanoetrips.com

If we publish your story on our blog we will send you a Spirit of the Wilderness T-shirt as a complimentary thank you. Be sure to include your mailing address, phone number and shirt size. All stories and photos submitted become property of Spirit of the Wilderness and can be used to promote fishing and traveling the BWCA.

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

Basswood Lake produces again, Mayflies on White Iron

 Walleyes, bass and northern pike are biting on Basswood. Use a gold jig with a leech or Gulp. We've been told northern pike in this area do not have any manners: they are stealing walleyes directly off stringers! Taking the end one and biting through the stringer and releasing the others.

Mayflies are hatching on White Iron. Walleyes are gorging themselves. Night crawlers are a bait of choice this week.

Stop in at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters and Outdoor Store, Ely, Mn for an up-to-date fishing report and for all your live bait and tackle needs. Open 6am-9pm daily with fresh bait arriving twice a week. We offer minnows, leeches, crawlers and wax worms. Check us out at www.elycanoetrips.com

Ely Area Lakes Fishing Report - June 11, 2013

The water temps are 62-64 degrees. The Walleyes are mainly hitting on Minnows. Shiners, Rainbow and Fatheads seem to be their favorite. Most are catching fish with Lindy Rigs or jigs right off the bottom in depths of 12-18 feet.

The Smallmouth Bass are very close to being on their beds. We have seen a number of larger Smallmouth Bass being caught.

The Northerns are still in shallow. The favorite seems to be Light or Heavy Northern Minnows on a rig or big bobber. Casting spoons has also been productive.

Don't forget to take a photo of your catch and we will enter your fish in the local Angler Fishing Contest. No fee to enter.

Happy fishing!

The big ones are being caught: Lakers, walleye, northern pike this past week. Minnows are hot...fathead chubs, rainbow chubs, shiners and pike suckers.

Good news is that many anglers are doing CPR with their catch...Catch, Photograph and Releasing. Remember the big ones deserve to be caught again!

Angler Contest
Bring in or email your fish photos to Spirit of the Wilderness (info@elycanoetrips.com) and we will enter you in the free Ely area Angler Contest. We accept both released or kept fish images.

Be sure to include your name, address, type of fish, measurements, what lake you caught it on and what bait or lure you used.

Not one, but two on the same day; 29 and 29 3/4 inch lakers

 Caught on Burntside lake

Paula W. first Lake trout and she was excited!

Larry B. 28.5" walleye caught & released on Bear Head Lake

Angler Fishing Contest

Each summer the Ely Echo has a summer long fishing contest here in town.  It is free to submit an entry.  Spirit of the Wilderness is one of the Angler Check In Stations for the contest. 

If you are in the area make sure to take a photo of your fish and send it to us with your contact info and how big your fish is.  The contest allows you to enter fish you keep by bringing them in to us to weight and measure or you can take a photo and release the fish for someone else to catch later.  We recommend the Catch and Release method so someone else can have a chance at catching a trophy down the road.

Here are a few of recent entries.

Happy New Year!

2011 is officially here. With a busy holiday season of visiting friends and family the time has sure gone by fast. We hope the holidays have been good to you and your loved ones. If you family is like ours, we talk about the fun things we did over the past year. Many of the stories are of the canoe trips we have taken and the fun we have had. Here's to you and 2011 being full of more fun adventures.

Ely, Minnesota has gotten a number of recent snowfalls. It's beautiful to see all the trees covered with snow. A few more months the snow will start to melt and we will be back into the canoeing season. Until then we will be enjoying the snow and ice. This is a great time to do a little cross country skiing or snowshoeing. There are many great places to sneak into the Boundary Waters across the frozen lakes. This is a time of year when you definitely have peace and quiet. Compared to the summer months, not many people venture into the BWCA during the winter. Speaking of winter, you can't forget about ice fishing. The Walleyes and Northern Pike are the fish of choice currently.

Happy New Year.

More fish pictures

Today is Walleye Opener

Today is the day we have been waiting for. This is the start of the fishing season here in Minnesota. it will be interesting to hear the fishing reports. We had very early ice out this year, which means the water has had a chance to warm a bit more then normal. Th current water temps. are in the low 50 degrees.

We will try and post a few fish pictures from the weekend.

Happy Fishing!

Fishing Opener!!!

The Minnesota Fishing Opener is just days away. May 15, 2010 we will be joining many other anxious anglers to get out in the canoe or boat to kick off our 2010 fishing season. It is almost a holiday in Minnesota.

At Spirit of the Wilderness we take this day very serious. We make sure to be stocked up on all the popular lures, rods, reels and of course we have bait. Since we are closed for the winter this is always an exciting time. We measure time in when we will be getting the bait in to start the 2010 fishing season. We always carry all sorts of minnows, leeched and crawlers.

The most popular minnows in the spring depends on who you ask. Many will tell you it's all about the shiners. Others swear by the rainbow or fathead chub. We like to think of ourselves as an equal opportunity minnow employer. You know, we do train our minnows to catch fish or die trying!

No matter what bait you choose or what lure is on the end of your line we hope you have a great Fishing Opener!

P.S. Don't forget to bring in your catch or a photo of it and we will sign you up for the local fishing contest and put you on the bragging board.

Fish Photos