This was my 25th year going into Quetico Park (off and on) and it also marks the Parks 100 year annivesary! More specifically my canoe partner and I have been dialing in on the Falls chain and Lake Kawnipi north of the falls chain the last 10 years. Kawnipi is known as the premier walleye lake in Quetico, which is saying alot. And while we caught the usual amount of nice walleye things were certainly further along this year than last year and that equaled Smallmouth Bass in huge numbers wherever we went. About 10 years ago my canoe partner Ken took a depth finder up to the park and sounded Kawnipi. To our surprize Kawnipi has large feeder’s that are basically shallow flats. This means we know with confidence when we get to our chosen portion of the lake the water will be coniderably warmer than the rest of the park. Kawnipi is also heavily stained from pine, this also helps retains heat from the sun. Our best day on my hand clicker was 123 fish, about 80% of those fish were smallmouth, the average size was 3# with the biggest topping out at 4# on a digital scale. We only caught a few fish all week long that was below 2#. Pretty darn impressive numbers I would say. This year we also added a twist, we went in without a tent. I wouldnt recommend this to anyone. We have this trip pretty dialed in and my buddy Ken is a gear head. He has a very nice tarp and great sleeping bags that made the idea of leaving 15# of tent at home a great idea but risky none the less. The weather this year was so favorable we had the wind at our backs for the entire trip, this was a miracle. After 25 years of trips I have never had such favorable wind! Thank You God!
June 3, 2009 at 12:02 pm
#1218371
Also with the bait ban in Quetico we have gone with K-grubs and paddle tails along with a set group of shallow diving cranks. Its really all you need up there. Keeps things simple and light.
Nice 
