Two of us are going walleye fishing for a week in the BWCA, how many leeches should we bring?

We recommend you take 1 pound of large leeches in the BWCA with you. One pound of our large leeches is typically around 140 leeches per pound. This will give you about 1 dozen leeches, per guy, per day, for the week.

When is the best time to come fishing up in the Ely area?

This is a tough one to answer as there are many different species of fish anglers target up here in the Ely area. Generally speaking May, June, September and October is the best fishing for trophy walleye, trophy smallmouth bass and trophy northern pike. For stream trout and lake trout, winter time is the best time to target them. Trout love cold water and are at their peak activity during the winter months.

What kind of live bait do you carry?

We try to carry the largest selection of live bait in the area, but viability of live bait can be challenging to get at times. We regularly update our available live bait selection on our home page, as it changes.

Do you sell fishing or hunting licenses?

Yes we do, but we strongly encourage you to purchase your license before you come to Ely and especially if you plan to go into the BWCA. Sometimes issues pop up with selling a license that can not be fixed by us or the 24 hour help line. When this happens the MN DNR is the only ones who can fix the issue and all too often this happens on the weekend or holiday weekend.

Why does is Arrowhead Outdoors famous for its live bait?

The secret is in the water. Our water is sourced from a natural spring we have. This water is super pure and cold year around so we do not have to filter our water or chill it like all the other live bait providers in town do. Our live bait can last for months in our water with very little care from us.

Where does your bait come from?

We source as much of our live bait from local trappers as we can. Crawlers are the only bait we sell that isn’t locally sourced as we have been unable to find anyone who can keep up with our worm needs.

Are you open year around?

Yes! We are the only bait shop in town that is open year around in Ely. We also now offer a 24 hour live bait vending machine, during the summer months.