2018 Fishing Opener Specials at Spirit of the Wilderness

Stop in today at 

Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters and Retail Store 

to grab your 

FREE Rapala T-Shirt when you purchase any 2 Rapala Lures.  

(Special runs 6 AM - 9 PM 5/12/18)

We are open from 6 AM - 9 PM daily.

Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters & Retail Store
2030 E. Sheridan Street
Ely, MN 55731
218-365-3149
www.elycanoetrips.com
info@elycanoetrips.com

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

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.

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

BWCA Fishing Report - July 5, 2013

Bass are hitting on top water in the lily pads. Best time seems to be in the evening hours. Using jitterbugs, hula poppers, skitter pops have produced results.
Night crawlers and leeches are doing well when fishing for walleyes. Still 12-18 feet deep or in areas with a current are your best choices.

Shagawa and Basswood produced some large walleyes, bass and northerns this past week.

Here is a trifecta by Tommy Dowden of Indiana. Out fished his dad!

8 lb 8 oz on the left, 6 lb on right (Dads)

M Martin on Basswood

Shagawa Lake and a kid from Indiana

Tommy D from Indiana and his dad were fishing Shagawa Lake this past week. Dad pulled in a 6.25 lb walleye (on the right) and bragged to his son..."what do you think of this one?"  Tommy then pulled in an 8Lb 8 oz, 28 3/4 inch walleye, topping his dad's catch. This is the biggest walleye Tommy has caught yet.  Sounds like he is not done.

Great fishing.

Fish registered at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters and Outdoor Store, Ely, MN. Submitted to Ely Angler fishing contest.

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!

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

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!

More fish pictures from Ely area lakes

New Boundary Waters 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.

Minnesota Fishing License

Don't forget to pick up your Minnesota Fishing License for the Walleye Fishing opener this Saturday, May 15, 2010. The state of Minnesota has give out new touch screen computers to issue hunting and fishing licenses this year.

You must have your State Issued ID with you to purchase your license. If you have never had a license before you will also need your Social Security Number. Those of you who have had a MN license in the past will have already given your SSN.

More Fish Photos