Family Fishing Day on Basswood Chain of Lakes - BWCA

We packed up 2 boats and headed to the Basswood Lake Chain to have some fun fishing last week. Here we are at the Prairie Portage - Truck Portage getting ready to be pulled out of the water on the trailer.

A foggy early morning soon turned to sunny, blue sky with just a slight breeze.

Gavin won the prize for reeling in the 1st fish of the day. Shortly thereafter he reeled in a nice 24" northern pike in the boat.

In boat #2, Claire reeled in a 20" northern just before the lunch break. Spinner baits & spoons were doing the trick that sunny day.

Josh won the biggest fish of the day - 36" northern pike.

You know you have had a great day fishing when the kids don't finish off all the snacks/drinks you brought for the day and you never hear them say 'Are we going home yet?'!

Finding Northern Pike during the month of August

This time of year marks the down turn of the summer calendar period. The bigger fish start to get hungry again, although the water is still warm they start to eat due to the days getting shorter.
This is a good time of year to fish the mid lake reefs, and large shallow bays. One of our favorite areas to start for big pike this time of year is a larger shallow bay that is about 8 ft deep where the weeds are right below the surface and has some deep water adjacent to it. You would usually start in the shallower portions of this bay and work your way out and cover as much water as you can.

Lures that you can cover a lot of water and should run shallow or right above the weeds are spoons, spinner baits, and swim baits. Spoons generally are our favorite this time of year because they run right below the surface and you can cover tons of water with them. The more water you cover the more fish you should catch, and you will have a better chance of hooking into a big fish!

Dog Days of August in northern Minnesota

The dog days of August are upon us in Minnesota. The water is warm, the wind has been balmy and thunderstorms usually mark the end of the day.

August is a great time usually to water ski and tube up here in Ely, MN...but for die hard fisherman, it can be a challenging time to be on the water. Our guests have found that's not always the case and have had an excellent last week of July and first week of August around the Ely area & BWCA.

Our guests have found that's not always the case and have had an excellent last week of July and first week of August around the Ely area & BWCA.

Our weekly Resort Fish Fry's have been busy at Moose Track Adventures with plenty of fish fillets, great conversation & beautiful weather.

If you by chance are in the Ely area midweek, stop by our resort on the Kawishiwi Trail and you just might find one of our fish fry's happening in the evening and get a chance to taste fresh fish caught that same day!

What you could see on a N Kawishiwi River Day Canoe Trip in the BWCA

Entry Point 31 (From Farm Lake - N Kawishiwi River) of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is just a mile and a half across from Moose Track Adventures on Farm Lake. A few of our resort guests chose a couple of nice days in the last 2 weeks to head up into the Kawishiwi River and Clear Lake. Below is a sampling of some of the sites they took in during their paddle.

In a bay to the right on the Kawishiwi River not too far in from the entry point, there is a large beaver house. Sometimes you can catch the beavers in action adding to their already mound of a stick pile for a house.

Lots of water lilies are blooming at this time of year. Their white color stands out on the dark water.

Kids have a great time catching crayfish during our summer months. Sometimes you can see them moving in the water if you are really still, other times you might have to move a few rocks in the water to uncover one of these interesting crustaceans.

Otters can sometimes be seen swimming around some downed tree branches along the shore in search of fish remains that another animal might have left behind.

Snapping & Painted Turtles of all sizes can be seen here in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

The majestic Bald Eagle can either be seen perched high on a tree branch scouting for his next bite to eat or seen flying over water and then swooping down to snatch a fish right of the water. (Photo by: Dennis Davis)

Josh W. captured a picture of a mother loon feeding a minnow to it's baby loon.

Juan H. on a day canoe trip caught this moose standing in the reeds during his afternoon trip up the Kawishiwi River.

Josh W. was fortunate to see this bull moose eating his lunch of reeds on the shore of the Kawishiwi River.

Whether you have only a couple of hours or a full day, a day trip into the N Kawishiwi River is a great place to view the wildlife, birds and plants of northern Minnesota.

It's Blueberry time in Ely Minnesota

As we all know it has been unseasonably warm this year. That can be a good or bad thing depending on what you are doing. If you are a fisherman, it means that you better fish deep, if you’re a swimmer the water feels great and if you are a berry picker this is your time of year. Due to the warm weather the blueberries, service berries, raspberries and current are ready to eat early this year, almost two weeks early.

Blueberries are a very interesting species of plant. They are in the Ericaceae family which is known to have many relatives in the drier arid regions of the U.S. Many of the plants that you will find will be on dryer full sun hillsides and rock ledges. They are very distinguishable plants, they have opposite leaves that have a leathery look to them, and grow on plants from 6 inches tall to 2 feet. Blueberries are known as a super fruit because they are full of many important antioxidants.

If you are having a hard time finding a walleye on our hot summer days get out and find some quarts of blueberries, the blueberries are easier to catch anyways.

Take A Kid Fishing in Ely Minnesota!

The Ely Winton Rod & Gun Club is sponsoring "Take A Kid Fishing"

DATE: June 12th

TIME: 8 am to 2 pm

BBQ at Noon provided by the Club ~ Ages 7 - 15

Call today to register your children for a FREE fun filled day of fishing with volunteers.

To Register Your Children: Call Keith at 235-3568

And the winner of our May Photo Contest is....

The winner of our May Photo Contest - 'Flowers' is Ralph from TX. with his Barrel Cactus image.

Congratulations Ralph!

Thanks for your participation this round - some great pictures!

We will be announcing the June photo contest subject shortly.

If you would like to submit a photo in our next contest, just become a fan of Moose Track Adventures on Facebook & click on the 'June Event' to go to the June Photo Contest Wall. You will see the 'Event' info on top, followed by 'Confirmed Guests' below that and then you will see 'WALL' with 'write something' where you would put your info about the image - where/when it was shot. The 'upload image' button is below the 'write something' box where you would click to find the image on your computer to upload to the June Event Wall.

Fish being caught in our unseasonably warm weather

We are into the full swing of summer now. With temperatures in the upper 80’s, this has the water warming and it is at the optimal water temperature for smallmouth and largemouth bass. The bass are on the nests right now and some good numbers are being caught.

One of my favorite ways to sight fish bass is using a plastic worm used 'wacky style'. When you hook your worm 'wacky style' you want to put the hook right in the center of the worm, and you do not need to add any weight to the worm just let the weight of the hook pull the worm down to the fish, and use a stop and go method to retrieve the worm. Another way to attack them is a basic tube and jig. Using a tube is a simple way to fish for bass, all you have to do is cast it near a nest and either jig it back or just reel it in. Many companies make tubes and plastic worms. My favorite tubes are the Yum Salted Tubes, which are 3" long and are bright colored due to our stained water. My favorite plastic worms are the Northland 5" Slurpies.

Along with us being in full swing the walleyes, northern and pan fish are into their summer patterns. We have numerous guests fishing for northern pike with fair success. Our guests are targeting northerns early in the morning and later in the evening using sucker minnows on the edge of weed-lines. The people using this are constantly catching fish in the 30+ in range.



The walleyes are in a distinct pattern and can still be caught shallow in low light conditions using minnows under a slip bobber in 6-12 feet of water. If you are going to go after the walleyes during the day they are sliding a little deeper at 22-24 feet of water. Walleyes are hitting on minnows or leeches on jigs in these deeper areas. The crappies have finished spawning and can be found suspended in 30-34ft of water relating to deep points. Anglers are using crappie minnows on a slip bobber when they are targeting these fish.

With the warmer weather and water temps remember to move around. Your best bet is to move to the fish this time of year and to use techniques that allow moving around. Good luck this weekend and hope to see you on the water.