BEARS?

[NateEboy-1]

We will be coming up to kab on 6/11 and we plan on camping at one of the sites on the lake. We would like to stay near the ash river visitor center on the east side of kab or on the west side of namakan on one of the islands. Are there any good sites that anybody out there would recomend we go to or stay away from? I read some postings last year on this forum that warned of bear problems. We didn't have any problems last year when we came up but we stayed on the west end of kab and motored to the east to fish. This year we would like to camp closer to the places we like to fish. Any info is greatly appreciated, Ken

[Xplorer]

NatEboy,
I was one that posted last year. There was a very large (@350 lb) bear roaming both Namakan and Kubel islands raiding campsites. This bear was not afraid of humans, came in to camp in the middle of the day and knows how to open coolers. He also jumps into boats pulled up on shore. The DNR tried to trap him for the rest of the summer (we were there over July 4th) with no success, told me he was "crafty"!! He tore 4 holes thru our screen tent, nearly broke my windshield on the boat, and put several large tooth holes in a rubbermaid bin. I keep a clean camp and all food etc is stored in the bear box, he just knows the routine and went from one campsite to another. Have camped on the islands about 25 times and this is the only time we had any trouble at all.
Check with the park service headquarters in I'Falls for any recent complaints/site closures just prior to leaving.
Xplorer

[slotfish]

Funny story to add to this. A few years ago, my friend and I were camping on Rusty island on Namakan Lake. After a full day of fishing we were preparing dinner and having many beers. Of course when you're camping a flashlight is always nearby and while cooking dinner at night you are always forgetting to grab ketchup, a can opener and whatever else- you know the drill. Well, while making a trip to the cooler the outside edges of the flashlight beam picked-up two very large white marbles of light about 40 feet away in the woods. It was a full grown black bear that was not intimidated by us in the least. We banged pots and pans, yelled at him and everything else we could think of on the spot, and all it did was seem to encourage him closer. Thankfully, my siberian husky was sound asleep after a full day of playing. I leashed the dog and grabbed two lawnchairs while my buddy grabbed the cooler of beer and the lantern and we ran for the boat. We navigated a 16 foot alum boat with no lights, completely drunk at about midnight out to Pat Smith island, which is in about the dead center of the main part of Namakan lake. Attempting to aquire our gear would be the next part of the story but I have to get back to work. Bottom line: Pat Smith island is free of bears and with even the slightest wind very close to bug free. Not to mention the decent smallie fishing right off shore!
Good Luck!

[Guest]

2 yrs ago, my fishing party had a radio-collared black bear wander into camp during our afternnon break. As All 8 of us thirtysomethings were boldly jumping around the roof our our houseboat, shouting & screaming at it while banging on pots and pans. One "rocket scientist" of the group kicked the plank off the entrance to the houseboat. Yeah, that will keep the bear from boarding! Anyway, after rumaging around my 16ft Lund and batting around my minnow bucket he eventailly wandered away. We all survived though and will be back the first weekend in June.