I'm going to be heading up to Ely for the weekend (leaving tomorrow) and going to get out fishing on Burntside Lake for a couple of days. Any advice as to where we should go if we are looking to catch some walleyes and/or big pike? What depth should we be fishing? Any good spots on the lake that we should try this time of year? And what should we be using... leeches?

I've never fished the lake before so any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

Kanga your in luck one of our Beloved Members owns The Great Out Doors bait and tackle shop in Ely. Not only is Jim a great guy that fishes Burntside almost daily, he also guides if I remember correctly. He is one of the most knowledgeable fisherman on that lake and will give you all the needed info to catch desired fish. He is definitely the man to see here is a link.

TGO

JB

Make sure you tell him you heard that the only thing that catches them on Burntside is Crankbaits!

Was up there in early June but restricted to the North Arm of Burntside.

You may want to switch your focus from walleyes to smallies - plenty of good smallie fishing.

I appreciate the replies so far... As far as smallie fishing, I'd rather concentrate on finding the eyes and maybe mixing in some pike fishing.

I'm meeting my Dad there Friday evening to get out early Sat on the lake. I think he's picking up bait but I will encourage him to stop by to visit TGO.

Do others have any advice on where to find the eyes this time of the year in such a big lake? Seems like there's an incredible amount of structure in the lake for them to hide. Any other advice?

Just got back from there 2 weeks ago, it's a beautiful lake! We aren't the best fisherman so I'm not a good person to give advice, but I would say go deep if you want big walleye. We caught some nice one's at around 30-40 feet, and caught a nice lake trout at the same depth. Our fish were caught on a 30' taildancer, 20' taildancer, #5 mepps and some other Rapala that was a deep diver. Tried leeches and crawlers but all we got with those were smallmouth (don't think we were fishing deep enough with them though). Friends of ours were up there at the same time and had success jigging with leeches.

We did most of our fishing on the North Arm and west side of the lake, but our friends were successful on the East Arm as well. It's a little tricky because the water depth varies so much. Lost my taildancer on the North Arm trolling when it went from 45 to 15 feet very quickly. There are a lot of reefs to fish, I recommend taking a fish/depth finder. Have a great trip!

TGO help the fellow out

quote Kanga: "I appreciate the replies so far... As far as smallie fishing, I'd rather concentrate on finding the eyes and maybe mixing in some pike fishing.


I'm meeting my Dad there Friday evening to get out early Sat on the lake. I think he's picking up bait but I will encourage him to stop by to visit TGO.


Do others have any advice on where to find the eyes this time of the year in such a big lake? Seems like there's an incredible amount of structure in the lake for them to hide. Any other advice?"

Reefs near deep water , these are major feeding locations for walleyes at this time of year.

Burntside Lake is infested with smelt, which change all the rules one learns on other bodies of water.
Walleyes can be caught in 12 FOW, or 30 FOW, it varies.
Lakers can be anywhere from 40 feet on down.
Water temps in about 36 feet were about 58 degrees one week ago.

Great advice- and thanks for the specifics 2K10... I will definitely give trolling some taildancers a shot.

TGO or others- how should we present leeches? Lindy rig? jigging off the bottom in that 30-40ft water range?

I'm so pumped to get up North! Can't wait to try fishing Burntside. I've heard it's a tough lake, though. Any others have advice as to depth or spots to try this time of year?

Kanga- I fished Burntside one day this summer for the first time in my life and can tell you I would love to spend more time on that lake. It is a fun lake to fish with enough structure to keep a guy busy for a long time. I moved quickly from spot to spot while trying to learn the lake. I caught a bunch of baby bass until I finally found a big rock that produced a nice heavy walleye.