BWCA trips for '08

[Quetico]

Watch out Quetico is much more expensive then the bw. I've made some awesome trips up through there hence my screen name. Also the campsites aren't marked on maps. Talk to some guides about campsites. When you find sites mark them on your maps.

[trock84]

I guess I will have to stay in the US. I guess canada doesen't like my buddy

[analyzer]

yeah, canada doesn't take folks with a DWI or any sort of marijuana conviction. You better be completely clean. You also have to be careful what sort of bait you bring into canada... I'm not real up to date on the rules, but they're picky.

I've been on that loop from mudro to crooked and back... through gun/fourtown etc. We went a week, and I kinda wish we went a bit longer. There's a lot of water in crooked to explore... fishing is suppose to be great, but I'd have to go for a few years to figure it out.

If you go to the boundary waters section of this forum and post, you'll get some good feedback from a few very experienced crooked lake guys.

I really liked the campsite just below the falls. There are quite a few portages to get there, but you shouldn't have any trouble making the trip into crooked in one day, provided you get started early.

[analyzer]

I have my trip slated for 7/19... I just haven't decided whether to go to fourtown through mudro, or to the west end of sag... I like the drive up the north shore, grand marais, and the gunflint trail, a little better than the drive to ely. But the waves on SAG can be awful some years. I'm kinda leaning towards a trip into fourtown/gun.

I'm thinking maybe I'll go twice: a late may trip to sag, and the july trip to fourtown/gun.

[Tippman]

Gun is a nice lake also. We had great smallmouth and walleye fishing there. Bullet lake next to it was choked full of northerns. There were also many moose in this area.

[Powerstroke]

I too love the Gunflint area. This will only be my second trip out of Ely in all my years of BWCA. I like that there are very few crowds on the Gunflint.

[Stick in Mud]

A buddy and I have a trip planned from Mudro (entry #22, I think) the last week of May. It'll be my first trip into the BWCA, though I've spent a lot of time paddling on the rivers up near Winnipeg. I'm insanely excited to get up there--though I do have one question about the fishing.

How much experience is needed to catch fish on these trips? I'm a good river fisherman, but I'm pretty reliant on a depth finder to catch fish in lakes. Can two good fishermen rely on catching enough fish to eat? How hard is it to catch walleyes without a depthfinder? Pike? Smallies?

Sorry for the noob questions, but I really want to catch fish!

[Tippman]

Do you know your route yet carmike? I know this area pretty well. I've been going up to the BW for many years and rarely have we not been able to catch a meal of fish each day. You can almost always at least catch small northerns if you don't mind them. We usually fish with jigs or slip bobbers this time of year for walleyes with some lindy rigging. You'll get smallmouth this way too but bring tube jigs for them otherwise. Its basically as simple as fishing good looking shorelines and current areas. Also fish the trees and logs in the water and be ready for lots of pike this way.

[analyzer]

That time of year, I would just look for current. The water will still be cold, and the walleyes will have just finished their spawning run, they'll be dispersing from the mouth's of rivers, or any current. Check the first break outside of a river mouth, and you'll be in business. The big females may be still recuperating though. If you happen to catch them right after their week long recuperating session, you'll have a blast. They put on a pretty serious feed bag.

The walleyes and small mouth will both be relatively shallow that time of year. You'll probably find eyes in 4-12' of water. Go shallow in the evening especially.

You might be a week or two early for real good smallie action. They usually turn on in early to mid june.

I typically work the shore line structure with a floating rapala, within inches of shore, brush, or rocks and do well. Toss your floating rapala right up near the structure, let it sit for a second or two, give it a twitch, and "boom"... they'll hit it.

I know lots of guys look for the side of the islands with a gradual slope and a combination of sparse weeds, and fist size rock for their small mouth.

AS for the walleyes, if you don't have a depth finder, usually the shoreline will give you a clue what the depth is nearby. If you see rock faces jutting straight up out of the water, it's usually deep straight down into the water... that's not usually a good situation. Look for more gradual sloping points, and work the wind blown side.

One guy likes to put out 3 or 4 slip bobbers around camp at different depths. When he figures out which depth they're biting at he works that depth.

Personally, i just throw a floating rapala out the back of the canoe, and paddle around. When I catch fish, I work that area a while.

It's almost impossible to paddle for any length of time in 6' ft of water, with a floating rapala and not catch fish. Just put it back about 50-75 feet behind the canoe, loosen your drag, and follow the shoreline around for a while. Keep the lure off the bottom, but stay relatively close to shore, you'll pick up small mouth, and an occasional walleye that way.

If you're going in may, you might find some Lakers too, but only in certain lakes.

I caught quite a few eyes and smallies with floating rapala behind the canoe, in both Horseshoe, and in crooked, especially by tablerock.

You can pick up a battery operated depth finder for canoes for about a $100 at gander mountain. I have one, they work great. But I catch just as many fish with out it. It just helps me find mid lake humps, and in the BWCA, almost no one fishes the mid lake humps... so when you find one, the fish are stacked up.

My live bait of choice is leeches, they keep well, and eyes and small mouth both seem to like them.

[Powerstroke]

I totally agree that little experience is needed to catch fish. I fish similar to analyzer. I troll rapalas and spoons along shorelines and vary my distance from the shore. I also use inline spinners.

When I'm thinking walleyes I usually troll with smaller raps or use lindy or spinner rigs with leeches. If I find a spot thats hitting I may switch to a slip bobber, but I find that the trolling with spinners works really well.

Its true I pass by a lot of mid lake structure. I fish islands or any reed piles I find cause you know there is something there, but I typically stay near shore.

To be fair, my 2 biggest northerns have come by trolling large spoons in the middle of deep water looking for Lake Trout. I got a 42" 21# nort two years ago and a 34"'r last summer. Same lure.

That early in the year the lake trout should still be shallow. Try casting spoons in silver and blue or use similar daredevils. Lake trout over the fire is one of my new favorites.

You may catch some food to eat, but do not plan on making it your source of food. I don't even plan a meal around fish because it kind of unreliable. We still eat fish on our trip, but I prefer to rely on my skills for a meal. It does make a great nighttime snack as the sun's going down.

[Stick in Mud]

I know we enter at #22 and then head north, completing the circle by coming back down south. I don't know much else--I'm kind of bogged down at work, so my buddy is taking care of most of the plans. I know that our entry point forbids us from camping on one lake, but I forget the specific name.

And thank you all for the advice! I'll probably be back on here in a few months asking more questions about baits, lures, and such, but it's a bit too early for me to start thinking summer fishing. I'm already so excited I can barely sit still, and the lake I fished yesterday had 37'' of ice! Needless to say, I should probably wait a while for getting all geared up...

[Maximum12]

Hey carmike, when are you going in exactly? We're headed into Mudro on Memorial Day, 5/26/08. The plan is to go north into Bear Trap & spend some quality time with our aching muscles in the Sundial PMA.

[mnfishingal]

Although I generally check out the womens fishing forum, this one has caught my eye. I'll be canoeing the BWCA and Quetico for the first time this summer. My brother who is a Boy Scout volunteer in PA brings a group of boy scouts to the BWCA every few years. I've dreamed of going for more than 20 years and although we've tried to plan a trip a few times, we just never got it off the ground. This year its about to become a reality. I think about it daily.

Our route is out of Prairie Portage to Bayley Bay,Burke Lake, Basswood Lake, Isabella, north to Kahshahpiwi and Trant and then SW to Silent, Lake Agnes, Louisa Falls, Sunday lake and back to Prairie Portage. We have a five day trip planned.

If anyone has taken this route, I'd love to hear about your experiences and any tips that might come in handy.

Thanks!

[Powerstroke]

mnfishingal-welcome to the motorless forum!!

It sounds like you've got a fantastic trip planned. I've never done Quetico before but it sounds amazing. I'm still trying to see as much of the BWCA as I can.

Good luck on your trip I can't wait to hear a report.

[Quetico]

mnfishingal- I took most of that route last year. Instead of going thru Trant Lake we went all the way up to Kawnipi. Trust me this is not a route for first timers. I have been leading trips through the BW for 8 years. It was me and two greenhorns, not good. The terrain is rough and the portages will really test you. The water gets big quick on this route.

My advice:

Beware of low water levels. This route is heavily dependent on tight river passages. If levels are low be prepared for longer rockery portages and lots of mud.

Hit Bayley Bay as early as possible. It gets windy quick. One of my greenhorns nearly rolled the canoe on Bayley multiple times.

An avid guide in Ely told us to avoid going thru Isabella and Side Lake. He said those portages are rarely passable and would never recommend anyone use them. He told us to enter Kahshapiwi from McNiece. These portages weren't too bad. McNiece has some fire damage thats interesting to see.

Burke Lake has a beautiful island campsite right in front of the portage to Bayley Bay. On the wrong day this area is heavily traveled late in the day.

Sites on Agnes are a bit tough to find on the northern end. But there are tons on the southern part. Especially near Louisa Falls. Everyone says the fishing on this part of the lake is horrible, I tried hard and couldn't get anything.

If your thinking heading to South Lake, the river from North Bay was completely dry and over grown with weeds. Other way north from North Bay had beaver dams blocking the river, so be prepared from lots of mud and drags over high beaver dams.

Quetico maps dont have the sites marked. No map has accurate locations of campsites so check with guides for locations. We marked every site we saw on this route so let me know if you want site locations.

Have a great trip.

[Maximum12]

Sounds like you'll have plenty to be concerned about, but I suspect that low water levels won't be a problem.

You didn't mentio a departure date, but this spring the water levels are likely to be very high. We were up the first week of October & the rivers were roaring like it was early spring. With the snow they've received unless there's a long dry spell, the rivers should be full well into June at least.

We'll be in on Memorial Day & I suspect there are going to be a lot of buggy, muddy, wet portages. Fun fun fun!

[Quetico]

I haven't decided if I am going back thru the Prairie Portage Area again this August or heading for Isle Royale.

If I go up there this August we will loop over to Birch, Knife, then hit Cache Bay on Sag. Then head for the falls chain and McEwen Lake, then down through Louisa and Sunday. Then catch a ferry from Prairie Portage back to the Moose Lake landing.

Anyone up for a trip like that?

[Moose]

Hey all,

We're taking the Snowbank to Parent to Dissapointment and around to Moose loop. We're looking at 5 days starting on the 19th of June. Has anyone done that trip @ that time of year. Do we need to pull camp every day to make that loop in 5 days? How's the fishing that time of year? Any other input would be appreciated.

[Quetico]

My limited experience on Moose says the sites fill up quick. Its a busy lake. Hence why my experiences there are limited.

[mnfishingal]

Hey Quetico,

Thanks for the great information on the Quetico route. We aren't going all the way to Kawnipi, I think we are turning turning southeast? after Trant. I was worried that it would be a tough route for a first timer and I am a little scared but incredibly excited. I think about it every day and have been reading the Quetico and beyond book. To be honest, this will be my first, and sadly probably my only trip such as this as I have Young Parkinsons Disease and my mobility is creating some challenges for me.

I think I mentioned that I've been wanting to do this trip for many years. My brother asked me last fall about planning a trip and I told him that I didn't think I would be able to manage it physically any more and it would be just one of those things in my life that was left undone. My brother decided that he really wanted me to have this experience so gathered some friends together from the east coast and they have agreed to just go with the flow in terms of what I need in order to help make this trip a reality. Isn't that beautiful?

Although I asked him to make it an easy trip, I have canoed for many years and he was hoping to take a little less traveled route, something that might offer a little challenge and awesome scenery - it seems a little more challenging than I had hoped but we will plan to do what we can do. I'm not worried about the canoeing but am more concerned about the portages. Although I won't have to portage the canoe, I will have to manage the uneven terrain, the rocks, the muck. Sounds like my brother has reviewed the route with the guide service we're renting the canoes from.

I have gathered many things already for the trip. I'm curious about boots/hiking boots? I would think that they would get wet, full of mud, etc. How does it work to hike in wet boots during portages? Do you have suggestions about any type of boots that work better than others?

Thanks again for the great route information.

[Quetico]

My only concern with your situation on this route is going between North Bay and Kash. The shallow passages with deep mud and beaver dams make the only reliable route through this area tough. This is a lightly traveled passage. Its a tough one but we didnt see any sign of anyone until we got part way down Kash. I was told that the passage between Kash and Agnes via Trant is the same way. Tough and rarely traveled.

My recommendation would be to spend your first night on the north end of North Bay. Theres a great number of sites in this area. Between North Bay and Kashipiwi sites are few and far between. I think we saw a total of 3. We stayed on the island in Shan Walsh Lake, the site is on the east end of the island. Its a nice site, best of the slim pickings.

For foot wear, I play a bit risky. I wear sandals until I get to longer portages, anything over 500m. On this route it pays off. The shallow passages are perfect for sandals. I change into boots when we hit the longer tougher portages and put them on when we are done going in the lake. Wear the Chaco's until you get your gear out of the water then put the hiking boots on for the boulder field portages Quetico is full of.

Make sure you get good camp site locations for the guide service. Be warned the portages between North Bay and Kash are the worst I've ever heard of. They beg for ankle breakings with their huge numbers of VW sized boulders.

[mnfishingal]

Thanks again for the great info and suggestions!!!

I think we will have to re-think part of our route (North Bay and Kash). I've read that the boulders are big and the portages tough. Sounds like a recipe for disaster for me and especially since we are out in the middle of nowhere (albeit God's country), with potentially limited contact with others on the route. I'll have to let my brother know that not only will he be portaging the canoes, but will be carrying me as well My brother has been on part of the route with the scouts but its all new to four of the six of us that are going.

Thanks also for the ideas on footwear. I just pictured getting my hikers wet and then hiking in them and ending up with blisters and the like.

Your information is very helpful and greatly appreciated!

Thanks again.