mattyvac

Jack, Always check with the local tackle shop nearest to where you will stay. They will have up to date reports, and will carry lures that work at the time you will be there. If you tie your own, call and ask them the names/sizes of the patterns and tie some for yourself in advance. Or save your time and buy them when you get there. Check with Orvis.com and get their recommendations. They might even have a hatch chart that lets you know approximately which bugs are hatching where and when. Good luck, and have a great time. Matt

I agree with Alan. Take the spinning gear and a fly rod. Most spinning rigs come with two spools, so load one spool with your favorite line for smallies, the other spool with heavier line for pike. The fly gear is a blast to use for pike. Smallies too, for that matter. With the fly gear, it's lots more work to land them, but you'll still catch loads of fish, being in Canada. And sometimes when they won't take regular tackle, fish will respond to the right fly. Good luck, and have fun!

Guys, I heard from some friends who fish the run at Fremont/Winneconne in the Spring that there is a popular fly pattern that droves of anglers seek out and use. They used it tipped with or without minnow and had success either way. I have a 10 year old who would love to make a few dollars tying a useful, popular fly like that. But I don't know what it looks like. Does anyone have an example I could see? Thanks Matt

Every weekday, I leave work at 2pm and pick my kid up at 3pm downtown. That gives me about 20-30 minutes to wet a line from 2:30 to 3:00. Although it's a short trip, it still adds up - 2 1/2 hours every week, 9 months out of the year, plus normal trips to other fishing destinations. The worst thing is ahving to abandon a good bite to get Jr from school. Finally, due to the smallmouths coming closer to shore, I'm getting some results. I landed a nice 14incher on another woolie bugger craw pattern I make, and hooked another one that didn't stay hooked. The only problem is I don't have the time to progress from presentation to presentation, changing lures and retreives and depths. So I need to adopt a strategy that will let me rotate through a few tactics in a short amount of time to maximize my catch rate if my first attempts fail. What is my first concern? Lure color? Depth of retreive? Speed of retreive? How do I analyze the situation best to rule out bad choices and make the best choices to get the most out of my short time?

Glad to see all the positive feedback to the ISA/OneMoreCast Fly Tying event. We (my son and I) had a great time. At first, I assumed he would get bored and be a pain in the butt. But the 10 year old kept asking to stay and tie yet another bug! Thanks to Joseph for the opportunity, for having such patience with the boy. And the excellent articulated minnow pattern. Young Matt loved being with everyone. I am grateful for the chance to hang with good guys who love to fish.

Always check first with the LOCAL guides/anglers/tackle shops. That goes for Boundary waters, or any other waters. Get the numbers of the locals, and ask them what those particular fish are biting at that time of year. Second best is checking for any on line fishing reports for those waters from the past year. Most reports are by those happy anglers who had success. Those are the ones who you want to talk to. The more people you talk to, the more you'll start to hear a pattern emerge. They will tend to repeat the names of that handful of lures that they trust to produce results. It will take some time to talk to a few people. But I prefer to have five locals tell me, for instance, they all are successful using a white 3 inch twister tail on a 1/8 ounce wide gap jig, rather than buying or making five or ten different lures in a range of weights, sizes and colors. This actually happened to me planning a trip to Canada. I asked somebody in Chicago what to use, and they told me to bring DareDevils. So, I brought four patterns in 3 different weights. Of those twelve name brand lures , only one size and color worked. And when it did, it only worked about 1/3 as well as the similar lure they were using. It was called a Jack of Diamonds, which was identical in size and color, but it was made of different metal, which gave it it's own action. I borrowed one, and caught more fish than I have ever before or since. The next day, I went for smallmouth, and got three Manitoba Master Angler awards on one lure - a Rapala SR08 Perch pattern Shad Rap. I brought a small fortune in tackle, but only used two lures. Crazy, but true. So whether you do it while you're still at home, or wait until you get there, ask the locals. If you wait, they are likely to be more helpful if you buy tackle from the local shops.