Wings n Things in Ham Lake is phenomenal. You won’t regret taking your deer there.

I need more friends like you guys! Mine always tell me that in order to retain my manhood I better consult the wife…so far it’s worked but I’m lucky to have a wife that gives me the green light…typically.

That’s exactly what I’m game planning for right now! I’m going to have to channel my inner Belichik to pull this one off…

That’s kind of what I was thinking but have never bought a boat and don’t know the market at all. I move like molasses in January when it comes to spending cash of more than $200…

And get a bait king for your leeches. Have the bait shop put the bag in there and air it up for the trip out. Once your to your destination bring a leech tamer bag in the canoe while fishing and tie the bait king off to a tree then sink it with a rock out a little ways. Keeps leeches very well and you won’t need to worry about critters eating all your leeches over night or while away from camp.

Tons of great tips here.
Easily the best thing to bring with outside of essentials is a packable hammock. You will be sick of sitting in canoes and on logs/rocks, the hammock will be a treat. I always bring two store bought anchor bags. Usually go out of Ely and I know Voyageur North Outfitters carries them. Mine has lasted 15+ trips and hasn’t failed yet. I like to cook my meals ahead of time and lay them flat in the freezer so they’re easily stackable in a small styrofoam cooler. Serves as a meal and ice.
Other “tricks” I use.
Gatorade powder added to tanic water will be your new favorite beverage…at least for a few days.
Double bag everything you put in baggies.
Bring a fresh roll of duct tape (double bagged) it’s of course great for many things, including patching a canoe if you mistakenly get brave on some rapids (not recommended especially solo). It is also a good fire starter.
If you plan on bringing eggs crack them ahead of time and put them in a tupperware container with a screw on cap and flip open lid or even a blender bottle. You can fit 20+ eggs in one container, and squeezing them out the flip lid one at a time is a breeze. Just make sure to duct tape the flip open lid down.
Five gallon buckets fit well in smaller packs and are great to have around camp. Just make sure to put something soft between the bucket and the part of the pack that will be on your back.
As someone already said, make sure to pack your things well. It can be the difference between a terrible time portaging and a tough walk through the woods.

Friday afternoon I spent a few hours on the north sand but it was slow. I moved near Pike’s Point over rocks for the evening and picked up eight, biggest being 27.5, in about an hour snap jigging spottails on standup jigs in 14-18 FOW. Fish wouldn’t take it if I worked the jig slow. Started snap jigging and it was consistent until I left.

Any guesses on how early a guy needs to get to the Stuntz Bay landing in order to find a spot Saturday morning?

Hoping to check the shiner creek today. So far I’ve barely been getting enough to supply my three person group. With the weather forecast being what it is up here I wouldn’t count on much…I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that with the sun today they’re moving in.

Red can absolutely be lights out and it has been for me in the past but I typically plan to make that trip the second weekend.
One of the benefits of living in Grand Rapids…Red, Vermillion, Leech, Winnie, Cass, Mille Lacs, all under a two hour drive. I make most of them day trips (as long as the wife allows it).

Awesome. I would rather make the trip to Vermillion. Like you I really like the area. This will be the first year I don’t make the trip into the BWCA for opener and Vermillion still gives me the same remote feel.

Maybe I’m just hearing horror stories of Vermillion’s Pike Bay and surrounding area being like a game of bumper boats?

Why the NE part of the lake Bearcat?

No doubt things change. I guess I’m just pouting. I used to love walking around Cabela’s. I would never even consider driving by one without stopping until the last two years, but disappointment after disappointment has lead me to barely consider stopping. I tried to buy a handgun there last summer and their customer service, which has historically been phenomenal, was terrible! I guess I’ll just have to settle with reminiscing about the great “don’t let the women know” sneak away trips to stock up on gear I don’t really need…

I have their credit card and used to get the majority of my outdoor gear through them and would cash in on the points…I haven’t bought anything from them in over a year. Could they be pulling a gander mountain on us?

I was thinking the same about the Bouncing rod… I would typically have a hard time dropping that cash on rods but I’m fortunate enough to get a pretty great deal on them.

Auger sold.

$850 for the house.

After considering all the suggestions I decided on the crossbreed supertuck and am loving it so far! Just need to tweak a little to minimize printing. Thanks for all the help!

There’s a cool pic of the blue fins!

A couple for comparison (one 25″ the other 30″).

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X2 on tangler…

I’ve done quite a bit of walleye fishing in the BWCA through the Crooked Lake bays especially and have noticed the fish there being darker in general, many with barely any white on their belly. This is especially true with the bigger fish. They’re always fun to marvel at up there with the unique dark color and the aqua blue hue to their fins!

I’d also recommend torpedos or probably any prop bait if your casting, we catch the most numbers on those. Our biggest fish ALWAYS come when we are jigging walleyes and slide up 3-8 feet from where the walleyes are.

I’ll put another vote in for the Cabela’s tents. Weathered some pretty nasty stuff in the BWCA keeping everything dry including the gear under the vestibule.

That’s interesting about alien gear. They must do a great job marketing, as they were the only brand I really knew of before this thread. That crossbreed holster looks promising as well. I’ll have to check out some of the various brands tornado mentioned.

Thanks for all the replies. I’ll definitely be checking them out. I’ve heard good things about the alien gear equipment from a few ppl before too. That shapeshifter kit sounds interesting!

I picked up an ’18 in December from Miller chev across from Cabela’s. Loving it so far but it was a pain to find. I was planning on buying used but like you said it’s like looking for a unicorn and the new price wasn’t much different than a used one with 30k on it.