Spring Walleye Fishing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

[@Tastewithnewdrinks]

Amazing fishing.

[@therealfarwater]

It sure was! Can’t wait to go back

[@davidstone7404]

Awesome video...nothing better than doing what you love to do and having great success while doing it.

[@therealfarwater]

Thank you! I feel so lucky to live up here and get to have these kinds of experiences on a regular basis!

[@troystevenson1115]

Great video! One of the best I have seen from BWCA. Thanks!

[@therealfarwater]

Thank you!

[@troystevenson1115]

@@therealfarwater Im headed to Crab Lake on Sunday, any recommendations for walleye?

[@Dennis-Olsson]

Awsome video! spent 8 days at crooked lake some years back! awesome fishing and beautiful campsites.

[@therealfarwater]

I wish I would have had more time…4 days was just not long enough. We did catch a few decent pike but really didn’t have any time to target them. I’ll have to go back

[@Dennis-Olsson]

@@therealfarwater yeah there are some nice pike and big smallmouth. Maybe I try go back next summer. I live in Sweden now so it’s quite the adventure. My pals live in Duluth tho.

[@therealfarwater]

@@Dennis-Olsson I think you could spend months exploring crooked. I will definitely be back for the multi-species trophy fishing

[@webjammer1]

I enjoyed watching this while eating walleye I caught up in the BWCA in May.

[@therealfarwater]

Awesome! I’m glad you enjoyed. I hope the walleye was tasty

[@golfish8589]

I camped on that point for three nights. The wind/breeze never let up. The unrelenting wind through that group of White Pines just about drove me crazy. I was on a solo trip. So no one to talk to. You were probably a week early for topwater spawning smallies. Lure of choice Rapala and rebel teeny pop r

[@therealfarwater]

That is wild! Soloing can be tough

[@golfish8589]

@@therealfarwater i am cheap. So I solo in our Piraigus used wenonah minn 3. 20ft 3in. If you go solo . Use a kayak paddle. Cruising with a kayak paddle with your buddy will gain you an extra mile per our. And no switching in your tandem canoe. I just saw hour 35+ lake trout :) I just recently found you and ndyakangler on KZbin. He fishes alot of river smallies. It has relit the fire under me to convert a jetski or kayak to electric and jet propelled for zooming up rapids. I have mostly done Quetico east end and some in crooked. All but one early june. Minneapolis area based. If you see an eagle watching you they are waiting to be fed. One eagle on crooked would let us stand on a rock 6 feet from our dead fish. And it would swoop down and pick it up. It was low light so we didn't get great video.. I will see if I can share it with you.

[@masonkrebs4312]

Im going in to moose lake tomorrow and over to knife river for a week

[@therealfarwater]

I hope you have a great trip! Will you be fishing?!?

[@kyleanderson9230]

I love watching your videos. My son, cousin, and his son are going first week of June this year entering America Point paddling the Thunder Point Loop up around South Arm possibly into Cherry on our way back. Do you ever have any luck with that same white headed jig with leeches for walleye? Any recommendations on the loop we are taking the best areas for walleye, lake trout, and small mouth bass? One more question what model and where did you get the rod holder for you canoe that I've seen you use? I purchased the same Ram mount combination setup you were using for your Hummingbird Helix 5 as I have that same fish finder for my Hobie Outback kayak. Can't wait to use this on the BWCA. Thanks for any recommendations on our trip!

[@therealfarwater]

Thanks for watching! I’ve got a ton more coming over the next few months so stay tuned for more open water fishing action! I don’t get out much June/July so I don’t fish with leeches much by my go-to colors generally depend on the water clarity. For stained water with low visibility I use black/gold/pink/green. For lakes with a big crayfish population orange/red/pink are great! For super clear water white/chartreuse and green have worked best for me. Generally I bring an assortment and cycle through until I notice one out-performing the others. Ottertrack and Knife are probably your best options for walleye. I wouldn’t spend much energy searching for walleyes on those clear deep lake trout lakes like little knife, cherry, Hanson, amoeber, etc. I just the RAM mount tough claw rod holder, best I’ve ever used.

[@Wucky28]

What is the setup you are using for the fish finder and transducer?? Would love to emulate that

[@therealfarwater]

I already made a video for you! Check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZaYg6Ofi8ekh9E

[@curtisconaway2726]

YES! LOVE YOUR VIDS. how cumbersome are electronics? never brought, but considering this year.

[@therealfarwater]

I've got a system down that isn't bad at all. I think it weighs between 6-7lbs (thanks to a dakota lithium battery) and only takes up roughly 5L of space in my pack. In my mind, when you have such a limited amount of time to learn a lake and find fish, having electronics really shortens the learning curve.

[@christianmweeks]

@@therealfarwater I just picked up a Garmin Striker 4 and a lithium ion battery - looking for ways to mount the transducer. Is your transducer setup homemade or an off the shelf deal? Looks like a good way to do it.

[@therealfarwater]

@@christianmweeks I use a complicated system of 4-5 pieces from RAM mounts. I get a lot of questions about it, so I am going to try to put together a blog post and video about it. The basic pieces are the RAM transducer mount, tough claw, double socket arm and compatible ball base (helix 5).

[@christianmweeks]

@@therealfarwater awesome! I should’ve read further into the comments section - you had already answered my question ha. A video would be great though!

[@DiscGolf_]

Gumballs worked good? What colors? What else did you use? Were going in on the kawishawi with leeches...

[@therealfarwater]

You mean fireball jigs? If so green and yellow seemed to work fine, but I’m imagining any colors would have worked as they were ravenous. We mostly used a jig and minnow until we ran out of live bait and switched to soft plastics (zman shads) and crankbaits (mostly tail dancers, husky jerks, shad raps and Berkeley flicker shads for walleye this time of year). Good luck on the Kawishiwi! Fish moving water, shallower than you’d think (if you’re talking about the river, not the lake).

[@DiscGolf_]

@@therealfarwater Yes fireball thank you. Yeah we'll be on the river for the most part. We typically just bring leeches, but I would like to try some live minnows this year if I can keep them alive. I will pick up some plastics like you said and give them a shot. Do you know if the water levels are pretty high right now? Looked like you guys got a ton of rain this past weekend.

[@therealfarwater]

@@DiscGolf_ nope, water levels are super low, actually. Only about a 1/4 inch around the ely area in the last two weeks or so

[@DiscGolf_]

@@therealfarwater ok even better for the river! Thanks for sharing. It's much appreciated!

[@alexkiminki8380]

Hate finding trash pisses me off more than anything I’ll be headed to the Boundary Waters next Friday for opener

[@therealfarwater]

Best of luck! I’m headed in on Friday, too

[@jakobwillschau9093]

Good fishing! Gotta work on your form a bit! Gotta get bigger fish!😊

[@therealfarwater]

Oh, bigger fish? Shoot, that’s what I was forgetting

[@jeffsackett679]

What depth finder model is that? Looks nice.

[@therealfarwater]

Humminbird helix 7! That side imaging sure was nice for finding structure and fish!

[@erikstark3250]

Bigger walleye on plastics, always been that way. You ever tried flies? We're going up for a week at the end of May, hoping to hammer em.

[@rolyatflow]

What kind of plastics you use?

[@erikstark3250]

@@rolyatflow all sorts, usually 4 inch paddletails. Purple or white for walleye.

[@therealfarwater]

Thanks for the feedback! I have been trying to use paddle-tails more lately, but haven't had much luck. They are great for finding structure but I just havent figured out how to trigger those walleye bites, especially early in the season when they are a bit lethargic and more keyed-in on live bait. Any tips on how to fish them would be helpful.

[@erikstark3250]

@@therealfarwater yeah plastics were a bust out there this spring but the water was super cold still. Leeches on slip bobbers worked best, very slow bite.

[@erikstark3250]

@@therealfarwater I usually use plastics on river systems and it's just been a weird year. Lack of rain and ridiculously hot weather has caused bad river walleye fishing.

[@WanderingFromKansas]

What do you use to hold your electronics to the canoe? I have a Garmin Striker that I use while kayaking. I use YakAttak parts to attach to the rail, and for the transducer arm. Thanks!

[@therealfarwater]

Best Fish Finder 2021: Humminbird Helix 5 G2 with RAM Mounts setup kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZaYg6Ofi8ekh9E

[@therealfarwater]

I’ve got a video for that!! I use all RAM mount components for my sonar, transducer AND rod holder

[@Arkman7]

Can you share any info on your depth finder set up? Im considering bringing my helix 7 MSI in a couple weeks. Not sure how to rig the ducer though.

[@therealfarwater]

I have a Helix 5, no side imaging. It was a complicated process involving 4-5 different RAM mount pieces. I had to get their transducer arm attachment, a tough claw, socket extender, additional ball attachment for the transducer arm and the adapter piece for the screen mount. I’m putting together a blog post on it shortly that I will put on my website.

[@edorvy]

This trip though we brought a Helix 7 G2SI and I've brought it on several trips since. The RAM setup though works pretty well, it's just heavy and expensive. We also recently learned the aluminum rod they use for the arm will break after bending too much.

[@wadeherbranson7107]

What are you using for a power source for your hummingbird?

[@therealfarwater]

I have a Dakota Lithium 10Ah 12v battery. Those suckers are expensive, about $100, but it provides enough power for 12 hours of fishing up to 3-4 days on a single charge for my humminbird helix 5. On this trip we brought Eric's Helix 7 with side imaging and we still had enough charge for the entire trip. Also, they are half the weight of traditional 7Ah Lead Acid battery and almost an extra 50% capacity.

[@NorthWoodsWes]

Cool vid. How many minnows you bring up there? I brought my fish finder up for the first time over this past summer. Just used a 2x4 attached to transducer and clamped to the side of canoe. I'm sure there's better ways to mount it but for quick, easy way go that route.

[@therealfarwater]

Thank you! I can remember for sure, but I think it was 4-6 dozen of mixed creek chubs and rainbow shiners, size didn’t seem to matter so if I had to do it again it go with only rainbow shiners because they’re more hearty and a little smaller. Check out my most recent video for my sonar setup and clamp explained. It’s not a cheap system but it’s the most secure I’ve found.

[@ampaetznick]

Did rocks in the horse river tear up the bottom of the kevlar canoe or was it not too bad?

[@therealfarwater]

It wasn’t bad when we went through-just one extra portage. It helped that we packed wisely for single portaging which allowed us to get our gear out of the boat easily when necessary.

[@ampaetznick]

@@therealfarwater good to hear! I was concerned it might be a tough go but that makes sense to pack light. Great video/information on this route! Looks like a fantastic trip, hoping to do it soon.

[@therealfarwater]

@@ampaetznick thanks for watching! Glad you found it useful

[@MichealBacon]

120 minnows. Did you catch any adult walleye? (no s on walleye, that's like saying mooses)

[@therealfarwater]

Most were juvenile walleyes, yes. We hit Crooked post-spawn so the larger fish were tough to find. Most of those 15 inchers were milking males, so I think we can classify those as adult. We probably caught a half-dozen over 17", but not as many as we would have liked.