Big Red Canoe - Friends of the Boundary Waters podcast · Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

Reel Talk! Boundary Waters and Quetico Fishing with Stu Osthoff

·49 min·3 clips

Stu says eight people caught 1,200 smallmouth and 85 fish over 20 inches on Sturgeon and Gene Lake.

1. Big Red Canoe focuses on Boundary Waters and Quetico fishing with Stu Osthoff, using canoe-country angling as the episode’s central topic. 2. Stu Osthoff appears as a fishing guide and publisher of the Boundary Waters Journal, and Chris Knopp interviews him from the Friends of the Boundary Waters office in Ely. 3. The episode asks how anglers can plan the “when, where, and how” of canoe-country fishing to catch more fish in remote water. 4. Stu says Boundary Waters and Quetico trips are “paddling and foraging first and foremost,” with fishing coming after two days of travel on many 8-to-10-day trips. 5. He says Quetico has stricter rules, including no live bait and barbless hooks, while Boundary Waters fishing still compares favorably with many Minnesota waters. 6. Stu describes the region as “world-class angling for cheap,” but says anglers pay for it with portages, wind, mud, bugs, and shoulder burn. 7. He says trip success depends on timing, location, and experience, and he offers a free map-marking trip-planning service for subscribers. 8. Stu says smallmouth bass are his favorite species because they live in visible shallow structure and strike aggressively on top-water presentations. 9. He recommends Blue Fox Vibrax spinners in sizes 4 or 5, plus River2Sea Whopper Plopper 90s, and says he grinds off barbs with a Dremel tool. 10. Stu says one eight-person trip on Sturgeon and Gene Lake produced 1,200 smallmouth, including 85 fish over 20 inches, mostly on the Vibrax spinner. 11. He says the first week of June is prime time for smallmouth, while later June pushes big fish deeper during the day and back shallow in the evening. 12. Stu says many anglers miss the best fishing by eating dinner at 7 or 8 p.m. and not staying out until dark. 13. He names LaCroix, Crooked, Basswood, and Knife in the Boundary Waters, and Sturgeon, Gene, Crooked, Puba, Susanette, and Wicksteed in Quetico as productive smallmouth waters. 14. Stu says walleye are the only fish he catches, kills, and eats, and he limits fish fries to one or two meals per week. 15. He says he keeps walleye under 22 inches, values 18-inch fish for the pan, and releases 26-inch breeding stock because they are the future. 16. Stu says his current walleye tools include jig-and-minnow where legal, Berkeley PowerBait paddle tails, and the Rapala Shad Dancer number 7. 17. He says a Convy Lake trip produced 25 walleye over 27 inches in three nights, with many fish measuring 29 or 30 inches. 18. The interview moves in a practical, gear-driven style, with Chris asking questions and Stu answering in long, detailed runs. 19. Anglers who want species-specific Boundary Waters tactics and lure advice will get the most from this episode. 20. People looking for short, casual talk without detailed fishing technique may skip it.

As heard by us

A steady, practical fishing conversation rooted in Boundary Waters know-how.

Stu Osthoff offers fishing talk shaped by long days on Boundary Waters water: specific, unhurried, and grounded in experience. The discussion moves from barbless hooks to smallmouth habits to the lures that stay in the boat, with enough place-based detail to feel useful rather…

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Press play for Boundary Waters fishing tips, lures, and stories you can actually use.

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