BWCA Fishing in Mid-Summer - The Heat is On
As happens each canoe season in the Boundary Waters, the general state of BWCA fishing goes through a schedule, of sorts. That is, throughout the season, the different species have different patterns and different locations.
Many anglers that fish the Boundary Waters consider May and June to be the best time to be on the water. The reason for this, in my opinion, is that there is a lot of truth to that assumption. Most of the fish can be caught in shallow water and shoreline fishing. This makes the fishing easier than at other times of the season.
Casting a top water or shallow running lure or spinner bait off of the bank often produces at least some if not much success. There are many shallow water techniques that will produce…when the fish are there.
Mid-Summer Fishing in the Boundary Waters
Fast forward to mid-summer. The water is now much warmer, perhaps as warm as it will get in the entire year. Still, fish can and are certainly caught in shallow water.
However, a lot of fish will vacate the shore in search of cooler temps and baitfish (which have done the same thing). BWCA mid-summer fishing can be very productive with a few BWCA fishing tips.
Big Mid-Summer BWCA Northern Pike
Change of BWCA Fishing Tactics
A change in BWCA fishing tactics is a must for maintaining success. Don’t leave your top water lures at home, though. Early and late in the day or pretty much any low light conditions will often make for some great surface smallmouth action. Shallow crank baits can work as well in these conditions
Most fisher people understand the lake trout go deep in the heat of the summer, but don’t necessarily think of smallmouth bass, walleye and pike going deep. Pike especially like the deep cold depths and can often be caught trolling the deepest diving lure in the box. Bass and walleyes will transition out to mid lake humps (reefs and rock piles) that might top out at 15 or 20 feet with deeper water around.
Trolling around these spots can be very effective. A vertical presentation will often help concentrate your efforts in the right areas. Vertical lures include jigs and jigging spoons, lipless crankbaits (like Rippin’ Raps or Rattle traps) or a simple live bait presentation such as a leech or nightcrawler under a slip bobber. Long deep points can also be good places to work over.
Finding BWCA Fish in Deeper Water
Now finding these deep water spots isn’t always easy, nor is it always easy to hold on these spots.
· Three things that will help in the effort:
· An anchor
· A good topo map
· A marker
Kondos Anchor Bag
The first (anchor) is nothing more than a rope or utility cord to tie to a rock or a mesh bag full of rocks to hold on the spot. Anyone who has been in the Boundary Waters knows there is no shortage of anchor rocks around. You don’t want to be lugging a boat anchor from lake to lake.
A Standard Lake Map with Depth Indications
There are some good topo maps of Boundary Waters lakes available to reference from the Minnesota DNR website (in their Lake Finder feature) that can help you find those spots. Good satellite images (like Google Maps or ARC Gis) are great sources to visually locate spots, too.
And last, a small marker buoy can be priceless, once you find a spot. They’re pretty small, don’t cost a lot and take the guess work out of relocating the spot if you drift off of it.
So, if you’re going be on a fishing trip the Canoe Country in the heat of summer, a little planning, a touch of effort and a good presentation could up your odds for Boundary Waters fishing success.
