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I'm heading into the BWCA with my wife and another couple soon. Has anyone ever fished Big Moose lake? The DNR report on the lake looks promising, but I'd love to hear from someone who has been there.

Thanks,

Grouser

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With this drought your biggest concern isn't going to be finding fish in big moose but in having enough flow in the moose river to get in there. you might be dragging your canoe, not paddling. If I were you I would look at getting a permit to another entry point. I am not trying to keep you away from a secret hotspot either. There is good fishing in big moose, but there is good fishing in most of the lakes in the bwca. If you are taking your wife or children, expect everyone to be in a very foul mood by the time you wrestle your canoe through the muck into there. now, if we were to get 3 inches of rain it might be a different story. If you do go to big moose, good luck!

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i second fishane points. Never been to Big Moose, but a buddy of mine went there in a normal water year and according to him it was not easy with pullovers and low water due to beavers. He said he would "rather go somewhere else next time".

Be prepared.

Muddy

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Quote:

Do not take the river, take the portage into Big Moose.
tongue.gif


This agrees with everything I've heard. And I've walked the portage into Big Moose. Once you get through the old logging cuts, the last portion is beautiful.

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What portage? Are we talking about Big Moose Lake that you get to from the Moose River South? Any portqage off the Echo trail must be very long indeed.

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It is a pretty long portage. I forget the actual distance. When you take a left onto the Moose Loop off the Echo coming from Ely, about half way down the loop there's a left turn and you drive a ways into the portage trailhead.

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Stfcatfish, I wish I'd read your last post before I went in. I got the advice from a baitshop in Ely to take the Big Moose trail as it was about a 1/4 mile from where you parked to the lake. Of the five of us on that trip there was no consensus on the actual distance, but much more than a 1/4 mile. We're thinking somewhere near 2-2.5 miles in. Not ideal the way my wife packs. tongue.gif We did shuttle the trucks so we could take the River out. The river was rough too. For lots of it I just walked through the knee deep muck and pushed the canoe.

Now, onto the important stuff. The Smallies in Big Moose were out of this world. Aggressive as all getout. As only Smallies can be. The walleyes were cooperative. I think we boated 8. But they were all nice fish. 17-19 inches! IF you go, bring perch colored shadraps and fish the weedline near the sand beach in the northeast corner. However learn from my mistakes and leave the kitchen sink at home!

Grouser

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Grouser, thanks for the report. I've walked that trail several times and once you take a left off the Moose Loop road and drive in to the entry point parking lot, it's about 1.5 to 2 miles from the parking area to the lake. Only the last 1/4 mile is through picturesque country, too, because that's when you cross the wilderness border. Glad you made it through OK and that the fishing was good.

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If you take a closer look at the DNR info (survey,etc.) you will find out how long the portage was. By the way, I warned you about the river.

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I don't know if you were in my shop, but we don't know the distance from the portage start to the lake, and we tell people that. It used to be rather short, then the FS started digging up roads, which made it longer.

I think the BWCA starts about 1/4 mile from the lake, and you could drive to that point in earlier times.

Sorry if it was us. crazy.gif

I tell parties NOT to take the river, it can be brutal.

Glad to hear you had good fishing. grin.gif

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Some of the maps I have indicate it's a forest service road in off the Moose Loop for nearly a mile and the that portage itself is only about a mile. Wrongo. Some of those maps just haven't been updated for quite awhile. I looked over a map closely before the first time I walked in and, after wondering if I'd lost my mind, finally figured out what had happened.

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Stevo,

We're in total agreement for once, you have lost your mind! tongue.gif

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Jim, at least once in your life it was bound to happen. If you're not OK with it I can change my position. Wouldn't want to send you to therapy on top of Justin's calling you fat. grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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