Weather, fishing and bugs during the summer in northern Minnesota

Fishing conditions and weather for the BWCA

Here's a general idea of the weather/fish conditions that you will find on your canoe trip to the BWCA - Ely Mn and the Gunflint Trail area. This is a general guideline so don't hold us to it if the weather doesn't cooperate or you catch a bunch of walleyes in the first week of August. The walleyes, northerns, bass, sunfish and perch have a mind of their own as does Mother Nature. Being that it's northern Minnesota, anything can change unexpectedly. Remember, layered clothing is best, wind is our friend when there are mosquitos, sandflies usually don't bite you on the water or indoors, deer flies are evil, horseflies are slow, and those little ankle biting houseflies of July make a strong argument for wearing long pants and leather boots - sandals alone or when worn with wool socks are worthless, pieces of junk with bugs and rocks. Do you really want to rip off your big toenail when you're 20 miles out in the woods?

Mother Nature's control on the usual summer in the BWCA - Ely, MN
Time Periods	Mid May fishing opener	Mid-May thru Mid June	Mid to Late June	All of July	Early to Mid August	Mid to Late August	Early September	Later September
Fish That Bite	walleyes, northerns, largemouth bass	walleyes, northerns, largemouth bass, some smallmouth bass	walleyes, northerns, big largemouth & big smallmouth bass, sunfish,perch	smallmouth & largemouth bass, northerns, and more sunfish, perch	smallmouth & largemouth bass, northerns and lots of sunnies, perch	lots of sunfish, smallmouth, largemouth, northerns, perch	big, honkin' smallmouth, big largemouth, sunfish, northerns, walleyes	big honkin' smallmouth, big largemouth, northerns, walleyes
Live Bait to use	minnows	minnows	minnows & leeches	leeches and nightcrawlers	nightcrawlers & leeches	nightcrawlers & minnows	minnows	minnows
Bugs That Bite	very few bugs	very few bugs, couple mosquitos, some sandflies closer to mid June	sandflies come and go, sometimes lots of them, mosquitos may be thick in morning and evening - no bugs while on the water	deer flies, horseflies and those pesky little ankle biter houseflies that chew thru your socks, only three mosquitos left, no sandflies	2 or 3 deerflies left, no mosquitos, and no other bugs... very boring	No bugs	No bugs	What's a bug?
Night Temps in degrees F	35 to 50	40 to 50	40 to 55	50 to 65	50 to70	50 to 70	40 to 60	30 to 50
Day Temps in degrees F	40 to 65	40 to 70	60 to 80	70 to 90	70 to 90	65 to 85	50 to 80	30 to 70
Weather in General	scattered rain, sunny, windy, solid rain, solid sun, sometimes snow	sunny, windy, occasional rain, cooler temps	sunny, less winds, moderate temps	hot weather, occasional rain	hot weather, sometimes no rain at all	warm weather, occasional rain, some wind	warm and beautiful weather, little rain, more wind	warm weather to snow flurries, sometimes lots of rain, lots of wind, lots of sun
Outdoor Clothing you'll need	raingear, layered clothing, polar tec jacket, gloves	raingear, layered clothing	raingear, maybe a polar tec-type jacket	shorts, raingear, speedos	speedos & flippers	some layered clothing, rain gear	layered clothing, rain gear	more layered clothing, gloves, warmer socks, rain gear
Indoor clothing	Something casual, yet snappy! (You probably can skip the tux and evening gown.)

Cabin Availability Chart for Northwind Lodge

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