Canoe Country in May

May is boom or bust. Let’s go for boom.

Those traveling to the BWCA and Quetico often ask me how’s the fishing going to be on my trip. In which I follow-up with when are you going?

I’ve been to The BWCA/Quetico many times in May and it’s my experience that May breaks down in two ways, late ice out and early ice out. Arriving on fishing opener weekend can be a challenge. Water is cold and sometimes on late ice out years it’s very cold. Walleye and smallmouth fishing can be tough. On the flip side the lake trout fishing is excellent and the big pike bite can be very good as well.

Lake Trout

Trout tend to be shallow (10-30 feet) and trolling crankbaits along the shoreline break (best guess is 50-100 feet from shore) is a great way to load some lakers as is jigging tubes. My choice rod for lake trout is a medium power fast action baitcaster for trolling and I prefer the same type of set up for jigging but in a spinning rod. But this is the back country so you may only have 2 rods so just pick your favorite based on how much trolling you’ll do. The baits I’ve had the most success with are white tubes followed by minnow style crankbaits that run 12-20 feet. A good day of lake trout fishing can produce 40 or more lakers. I can’t stress enough that if you catch a laker on a shoreline keep working that shoreline with both a crankbait and a jig. Tip: If you catch a few lakers on a shoreline trolling and the bite slows switch to a jig and fish the area again.

Big Pike

My experience on big pike is to fish a jig very slowly on the bottom in areas that attach to shallow bays.

Most of the big pike I’ve caught in mid-may are caught on 5 inch grubs. A good day can yield 10-20 pike over 10 pounds with many approaching or surpassing 42 inches. If you are so lucky to have warm sunny days I’ve stumbled on big pike in mud bottom bays and best of all spots in and around cane that has yet to emerge. A good pair of polarized sunglasses is most helpful finding these underwater cane fields.

I’m going to further break down the big pike situation. A typical May has the pike shallow (8-15 feet) but still somewhat sluggish and offering them a snack sized soft plastic produces more consistent results and you may even stumble on a walleye, lake trout or smallmouth bass. Areas to focus on are sandy flats and entrances to mud bottom bays. If the weather on your trip is warm and sunny the pike tend to be more shallow 2-6 feet and more aggressive. You can stick with the jig but switch to a bigger profile swimbait and fish it faster. Spinnerbaits and glide style baits are also effective although you will find it’s preferable to use baits with a single hook. Big pike with multiple treble hooks in them pose issues that I don’t like to mess with in the back country. My pike gear is also a medium power fast action rod either a casting rod or spinning rod will do just fine.

Walleye

Walleye fishing for me in May is always hit and miss as far as big numbers. The nice part is while maybe the total number of walleyes isn’t what it will be in June it is a big fish time of year. I’ve had some trips in May where we caught more walleyes over 27 inches than keeper size walleyes.

No matter the time of year I always find walleyes on sandy shorelines and sand flats that slope into deeper water. I also like current. If you find current and sand chances are you’ll catch walleye. Maybe even lots of them them! I fish a 7 foot extra fast Predator ML spinning rod for walleyes and smallmouth. I’m casting a 1/8 ounce jig with a black plastic worm or a minnow color grub in 6-12 feet of water most of the time.

Smallmouth

During May I typically don’t target smallmouth bass unless I stumble onto them. We catch plenty of them fishing for walleyes. If smallies are your target use the same set up as you do for walleyes but fish the entire shoreline not just the sandy areas with a jig and plastic. Smallies may come from anywhere at this time of year and most are cruisers looking for an easy meal.

Gear

My recommendation for gear is simple. Each angler in the canoe brings two rods. One is a medium power casting rod and the other is a medium light spinning rod. I prefer fast action on the baitcaster and extra fast on the spinning rod but bring what you have. I always bring one extra rod per canoe. My choice is always a medium power spinning rod because it’s the most versatile option.

Lure choices are simple. The go-to is a 1/8ounce jig made with a really good hook. Hooks are very important in these waters. I’ve experienced a straightened hook on more than one occasion and it won’t happen again.

Here’s my tackle box mix in May:

Ten 1/8 ounce jigs per day. 5 days 50 of them
Ten 1/16 ounce jigs per day. 5 days, 50 of them
Twenty 1/4 ounce jigs.
1 spinnerbait
1 glide bait
2 topwaters
5 minnow style crankbaits 10-20 foot divers.
10 plastic worms per day
10 grubs per day
3 wire leaders
1 Needlenose pliers
1 Hookout

Any trip to canoe country is a good time to go and May can be outstanding. Remember this is a great multi-species time of year and be prepared to fish for lake trout, pike, walleye and smallmouth bass. Good skill!