BWCA Fishing Report
I had the opportunity to fish the boundary waters for the first time July 20, 2024 - July 26, 2024 and it did not disappoint! Over the seven day trip between 6 people, hundreds of fish were caught with plenty of 14 - 20 inch Smallmouth bass and some reaching 21 inches, walleye up to 24 inches, and about a dozen pike in the 20 inch range. Our group rented canoes from Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and camped at Sawbill campground, utilizing Sawbill lake as our launch point each day to venture to the nearby lakes. While some backpack through the BWCA and setup/teardown camp each night, we opted for a convenient home base at Sawbill campground and thoroughly fished the surrounding lakes, only portaging our fishing essentials each day.
We fished Sawbill, Alton, Beth, Kelso, Smoke, and Burnt Lakes during our time there, and each lake had its own personality. Not only did each lake have differing water temps, clarity, and fish populations, but the weather was constantly changing. The first few days were cloudy with highs around 70 and lows in the 50s, while the second half of the trip warmed up with sunny and consistent southern wind that peaked out around 15mph on our final day of fishing. We also took a little detour one afternoon and fished for brook trout along the Temperance river, where 3 of us caught about 40 brookies from 6 to 11 inches in three ours on nymphs, dry flys, and a few on a streamer pattern. Most days, there were 6 in our group fishing from 7AM to 7PM, all with different skill levels and fishing preferences. Several guys used a fly rod, and others used spinning tackle or a combination of the two, but everyone caught an abundance of fish and we all used artificial lures 100% of the time.
While each lake was unique, there were some patterns found and other observations made that I believe are beneficial. Below I’ll share all the info with links to the tackle that I used.
Observations to help you fish the BWCA:
All the lakes mentioned in this post were tannin, the darkest of which was Kelso. I’m no marine biologist, but I do know that water filters out light, and tannin water adds an amber tint. I also know black is black regardless of the water color and looks like a variety of forage that fish eat, and black was the most effective color, especially when fished in the middle or bottom of the water column. To my knowledge, white was only effective for topwater and shallow water although we fished it throughout the week to test our theory.
Windy days where white caps formed made it hard to control the placement of the canoe, but the fish were still eager to eat; however, I don’t recommend you stay out and fish white-capped lakes in a canoe.
A lot of fish were caught in shallow (less the 5’ of water) near drop offs on the main lake, points, and the pockets of the points on windy days. Shorelines with structure (downed trees, rocks, and ledges) near main-lake drop offs produced the majority of the smallmouth bass we caught. Weed lines produced the majority of the Pike we caught. Wall-eye were on the ledges of deep water and responded to a moderate retrieve or bouncing the bottom with a jig.
With the exception of Burnt and Smoke which were more turbid than the surrounding lakes, visibility was about 8 to 10 feet.
Most of the forage we found were leeches, small baitfish (2 to 3 inches), and several crawdads were coughed up by small mouth bass.
About the Lakes:
Beth has a large population of 12” smallmouth bass that will eagerly smash a 3” grub or Ned rig, but no Walleye or Pike were caught. Our group of 6 caught over 100 smallmouth bass in about 4 hours.
Alton produced very large fish, but we all admitted we had to work for the fish. Some of the biggest Smallmouth Bass and Walleye were caught in Alton.
The most productive Walleye session was on Burnt before lunch with jigs near the bottom.
Kelso was only fished for an hour or so and mainly a sigh-seeing tour, but two Pike were hooked and broke off before they were netted.
Despite more fishing pressure, Sawbill still produced quality fish. I personally caught Northern Pike, Walleye, and Smallmouth Bass on Sawbill.
Smoke was the most productive top-water lake
The Most Effective Spinning Tackle: (Click on the underlined text for the exact product I mention)
I had two 6’ 6” medium spinning rods, one spooled with 10lb Floroclear P-Line and one spooled with 8lb Floroclear P-Line, and I felt they were adequately matched for the fishing we did, however, there were several light-action rods that did fine. I took a bait-casting rod but didn’t use it much.
The most versatile jig was an 3/8oz mooneye jig head with a 3” black grub. Pike, Walleye, and smallmouth were all caught on this simple jig and it became the “go-to” search bait. It can be fished all throughout the water column at varying speeds, but was most productive with a medium retrieve. At least half of the fish caught on this trip between the six of us came on this pattern.
An extremely effective jig for bouncing the bottom was a 1/6 oz Ned rig hook with either a leech pattern, dark colored TRD, or crawdad (all Z-Mann elaztec). Ned rigs are notorious for hanging up, but they catch fish, so buy what you think you need for a week and add a pack of the jig heads. (This is my #1 jig for Smallmouth Bass no matter what water I fish).
We noticed that the fly anglers fishing a slow-retrieved 4” streamer that was minimally weighted was very effective, so I offered a similar presentation (at least in hang-time) with a 5” wacky rigged senko style bait (in green pumpkin) on a VMC neko rig hook. This became my preffered method of fishing for Smallmouth bass this past week and accounted for about 1/4th of the small mouth bass I caught.
Pike took white grubs, Pop-R’s, and Wopper Ploppers consistently in the morning, especially on cloudy days. Smallmouth Bass also exploded on Pop-R’s consistently throughout the day on Smoke around submerged vegetation, down trees, and current breaks.
War Eagle spinnerbaits and Jackhammer chatterbaits were fished occasionally and most successful on windy days or turbid lakes.
The most effective Fly-Fishing tackle:
While I personally chose (and would recommend) a 7wt fly rod with floating line and a 9 foot 1x tapered leader for the BWCA to punch bulky flies through the wind and wrangle larger fish, a 5wt and a 6wt with lighter leaders were used by my friends effectively for top water and small streamer patterns as well.
Poppers were effective for Smallmouth bass and pike, but the favorite top-water fly was a black stealth bomber with chartreause and white bucktail fished subtly.
Black, White, and Olive streamers in the 3” to 4” range were most effective for sub-surface presentations. Cone-head streamers like a wooly bugger and small articulated variants of the wooly bugger like peanut envy’s and mini dungeons produced fish, as well as zonker patterns with minimal weight that resulted in plenty of hang-time. The key was a floating line, a 9’ leader, a small, lightweight and dark streamer, and a medium slow presentation around structure.
Although I didn’t try this method, a sink tip line and heavier weighted fly with a heavy weighted sculpin pattern would probably be effective, although it might hang up in the rocks
Summary:
The BWCA and especially the lakes mentioned in this post have great fishing. The fishing is challenging on several lakes, but with the tactics mentioned above, even the most novice angler should be able to catch fish without having a lot of tackle or money invested. When you add the great fishing to the beauty of the BWCA, as well as the great outfitting experience at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters and the amenities of the campground, it’s an experience that will spoil you.
*I was not paid to promote Sawbill Canoe Outfitters or any of the products above, but I am an Amazon Associate that receives a small incentive if you purchase through the links I provide.*