Canada

[CLARK37]

Hey Everyone, I am headed up for my first walleye trip to Canada. Can you guys help me out with what setups to bring? Anyone have any good info on what to use around the end of August? Thanks much.

[Outfitter17]

Clark,

Welcome to FM, if you let us know what lake or type of lake you are going to that would help alot in telling you what gear to bring. (Stained, clear, near the border, 300mi n. of the border) or even where you are staying. On the lakes close to the border you may still be on a leech/crawler bit, but if you are way up north it will be minnows and maybe just artificial.

Anyways, just give a few details and I am sure you will get alot of help from the board.

[CLARK37]

Lac seul. We will be trying to cover most of the lake.

[PerchJerker]

Lac seul. We will be trying to cover most of the lake.

You have any idea how big Lac Seul is? You could be up there all summer and not be able to cover most of the lake.

The first thing you should do is try to get some current info or locations from your camp or whereever you're staying, to get you pointed in the right direction and get you looking for the right kind of structure.

The next thing you should do is study your lake map and try to find some bays or areas to concentrate in. Think of it as a systematic search --- look for good areas, fish them, and decide if they're worth staying on or if you need to move on.

Then, when you get out on the water, use your electronics to look for fish and structure. Lac Seul (and so many other lakes up there) are like a candy store or a treasure hunt, and you just want to keep going and going and going. You're going to go past tons of good spots if you do ......

In terms of fishing, at this time of year you're probably going to have your best luck on off-shore structure (ie. not connected to shore) with deep water close by, and possibly on deep points or deep breaks connected to shore. The classic way to fish is to vertical jig with a jig and minnow --- jigs anywhere from 1/8 ounce to 3/8 ounce should be all you need. My favorite technique for up there in late summer is to peg a sinker about 18" above a hook, and nose hook the biggest minnow you can find and vertical jig it and let the minnow swim around. Other good techniques are dropshotting and blade baits and using plastics instead of live bait --- but the jig and minnow is the standby. Hopefully you have good electronics and know how to use them, because being over fish is everything.

Hope this helps, have a great trip.

[kdawg]

I was up in the Caribou Falls area 3 weeks ago. It was all jig and minnow. I brought with some 3 inch gulp minnows as well and caught many on gulp. The live minnows were more productive but given the price of the bait up there, I would throw on the gulp and fish that throughout the day. One thing I learned in a short time with the gulp was to set the hook immed. upon feeling any resistance. The biggest fish of the 4 day trip, 27" walleye, was caught on gulp. Also, many times it felt like a perch "peck" but after setting the hook, it turned out to be a 20+ inch walter. Good luck - you will have a blast fishing up there.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

I am heading up next Thursday to that area.

You will be suprised how easy it is to catch fish up there. Not saying it can't be tough but most of the times its like panfishing around MN lol.

We use 3/8 oz jigs. Preffereable green, yellow, chartruese (sp). Live leeches, and Minnows usually work the best. BUT bring Gulp with! Live bait is kind of expensive. 3" Gulp minnows is what I am going up with this year. On Lac Suel focus on the east side of the lake and find some structure with some fish and start jiggin. If you pick up a few fish and they stop, then move to the next spot.

I am also going to try double stacking bait this year to maybe entice the big ladies to bite. Put 1 3" gulp minnow on a jig then clip the tail off another and hook this as well. If you get a bite and miss the fish leave it down, you will most likely get another bite... I watched a TNB you tube video today, so I am going to give it a try. Good luck man!