Please help,

I am going with my sona dn his Boy Scout Troop to the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota and Canada this summer. We will be there from late June thru very early July and canoe for about 10 days.

We are very excited to be going but have lots of questions about what fishing gear to take with us. We need some recommendations on lures and rod/reel combo's. We'll be flying in from Texas and have to pack all of our gear with us. We are being told that less is more because it will be that much more weight to carry when making portages (6-10 per day).

Please help us by recommending some versatile lures and rod/reel combo's that will serve us well on our trip. I would like to share your recommendations with our Troop at our meeting towards the end of the month.

Thanks in advance for your quick reply.

Shane Mathis

hey shane,

it's been 15 years since i was in minn. but i do get to the u.p. often. if it was me i'd get 2 medium/light poles each, reels of your choice (i prefer spinning), 8-12 pound test clear mono line. tackle: 12ish rapalas (diff size,shape,color), 24 jigs 1/8 to 1/4 oz. diff colors, a few slip bobber setups, 1 pack each #2,#4,#6 hooks, pack of split shot weights, pack of leaders, a pair of nail clippers, and a set of hook getter outers. pack the tackle in 1 box and share (only one pole can be used per person at a time).

the equip. i would get is:

poles- bass pro shops micro-lite spinning   39.99 reg

reels- abu garcia cardinal spinng                 29.99 reg

rapalas- take your pick

jigs- stump jumpers                                     1.19ea  reg

hooks- eagle claw brass

right now both bass pro and cabelas are having big sales

good luck

there are a lot of  package baits that can be taken also. such as berkley power baits, yum, strike king and many more. the berkley gulp line has a very good selection of baits that you could choice from and they can be bought in bulk. the minnow and leach line look very real and when bought in the bucket a bait can be rejuiced anytime as long as the juice is still in the bucket.
with a big group like that i would ask that one person would buy one kind of or style of baits and somebody else buy a different style and that they share with each other. also what butterhooks said try to put everything in one tackle box, this should include the real or reals. also i would look into hard cases that would hold several rods and have your kids combine them togather so you have less lugage for the planes. just a thought, so good luck and have a lot of fun.

well the 2 lures/bait that has caught me more types of fish than anyother here in cali would be SENKOS & rapala's suspending baits... 

senkoes come in alot of colors and about 3 main sizes most name brands  make some kind of senko style, all of them i have tried work. you can fish them several diffrent ways too, weightless, weighted hooks, texas rig'd, drop shot~ even skitter them accross weed mats as topwater(yes it works) 

also try in~line spinner baits they sell a big pak at walmart...

not sure of the poles and reels! but smaller and 2 peice sound like a must? i do have a collapable pole but a fish of 1 # seems hard to land! but one hell of a fight!!! 

is this a camp out or do you have lodging and food takin care of too?

sounds like a awsome trip and please share some stories when you git back....maybe some pix too!!!

hey again,

a few more ideas. first, tackle box- i'd get a soft sided one that has the individual plastic boxes. don't have to take all of them and each one has plenty of storage. also the soft sides usually have a gajillion outside pockets. for your situation the best feature is a carrying strap. poles- i have a bazooka pro rod case it's expandable, lengthwise. when i go up nort i can get 25-30 rods in it, depending on the rods i decide to take. it's lockable and i think it's airline approved. only problem is finding what to do with the reels.  the rod case is $30-$40. the soft tackle box i have i got at walmart. it's got 8 trays, 12 pockets, strap. it was 29.99.