Looking for a good place to camp and fish

[lrogers3]

Does any body have any good suggestions on a nice scenic area to go fishing/camping in my kayak? I would like to stay in Minnesota and am looking to avoid getting a permit for the boundary waters. I would prefer to have a portage in type lake to avoid the motor traffic, but would also like any river suggestions that you may have.

[Duffman]

Check out both the Chippewa and Superior National Forest websites. Chippewa has some non-motorized campsites reachable by paddling and portaging. Superior also has some lakes that would be hard to access by motorboat. Campsites are usually first come first serve, although you can pretty much camp anywhere in a National Forest, it's nice to have a firegrate and a thunderbox to take care of business.

Have some backup plans or nearby backup destinations in mind, I never see many folks in these places, but you never know. As for rivers, maybe somebody else will chime in.

[lrogers3]

Thanks for the info.

[Redlantern]

Suomi hills in the Chippewa forsest and Vegetable chain in the Superior Forest. Non motorized but without the bwca restrictions. Might check out the St. Croix north of Taylors Falls, too. Some island campsites without a lot of motor use. get's a bit too shallow for any large boats to venture through this area.

[caseymcq]

Harris Lake (south of Ely) is a lake that isn't used too terribly much. It doesn't have any motor restrictions but access is such that you wouldn't likely see anything bigger than a 15 hp if anything at all. The lake has decent walleye fishing with a few crappies and muskies.

Greenstone Lake (east of Ely)is a good option for walleyes & northerns. It is a decent sized lake (345 acres) so there would be a fair amout of water to cover in a kayak.

Eighteen Lake (north of Isabella) is a good walleye lake with carry down access.

T Lake and Whitefish Lake north of Finland are portage in lakes wiht a couple campsites.

If you wanted to try for brookies and splake Norway Lake in the same area as Harris is another good option. Dan Lake near Greenstone would be a good lake if you are looking for just brookies. Again, access pretty much precludes motors.

There's a few options. The Sportsman's Connection Minnesota Arrowhead Region Fishing Map book has a lot of maps with lakes that you might be interested in.

There are also some lakes in state parks that might fit the bill for what you are looking for.

[Chode2235]

DNR web site has some great information on river paddling. With info on some of the campsites and different stretches. Look to go south (Canon, Root, etc) you can get away without putting nearly as many miles on.

I love going down to SE MN on Friday, everyone else is going the other way.