Flour Lake Campgrounds

[MNUser]

We are going up to the campground for a couple of days to camp and canoe. We thought it would be a nice place to camp from and take a couple day trips into the BWCAW for the little kids. Gives them a taste of what the BW is all about.

Anybody have anything to share about that area? We are planning on going into Moon Lake, Deer Lake and Caribou Lake.

Thanks for any help.....

[redhooks]

Hey MNUser- it might be too little to late but flour lake is supposed to have some great smallmouth fishing with lakers in it as well. There are special regs for smallies. It's super clear and my wife and I tried it the end of June with no success. It was early and bass may not have been cooperating then for us. We also tried trolling for lakers and marked a bunch but get anything. The lake splits into 2 arms and was told that bass hang out on the "Y" and that casting a bobber w/ bait wouldn't spook them as bad. I haven't been back but am not crossing it off my list yet.Good luck,

redhooks

[Darrin]

Moon (Sucker), Deer, and Caribou all hold smallmouth, walleye, and pike. Deer is very small-mainly a pass through lake to Moon (Sucker) and Caribou, but has good shoreline structure and some decent weedbeds. Moon (Sucker) can yield some walleye and nice northerns and has some nice bass in it. Caribou is a bigger lake and has some good reefs and points as well as some weedbeds. Good population of pike, walleye, and some nice smallmouth. Caribou also has a falls, that depending on how much water is dumping in can be a good spot to pick up a northern. You should be able to see some eagles on all of those lakes as well (if you catch a smallie with one around don't be afraid to kill it waive it around and toss it out...neat to see an eagle swoop for it).

FWIW from what I hear Flour is not the best lake to fish, but does hold a good population of small (likely stunted) bass.

Tight Lines.

[JBMasterAngler]

Darrin, I truely hope you were joking about the killing smallmouths comment?

That is a VERY illegal activity, and suggesting it to someone else is just plain bad ethics. I know that smallies aren't exactly the most popular fish to walleye anglers, but rules are rules and we all have to follow them.

I do agree though that it is pretty cool seeing an eagle or an osprey swoop down at a fish, especially a larger fish (12 to 16 inches or greater).

[gunflint]

I think he meant to say was "A gut hooked smallie"

[Darrin]

Sure I was-since when is it illegal to kill a smallmouth? Take it off the stringer or off your hook, slit its throat and throw it out for an eagle if you have one hovering around you or sitting in a tree next to you...if he/she eats it you count it towards your limit, if not you go pick it up and put it back on the stringer. FWIW-I don't even target walleye for the most part...I'd rather catch a smallmouth that fights back and tastes just as good.

[ditchpickle6996]

Wouldn't catching, killing, and tossing a smallie out into the lake "assuming" that an eagle is going to eat it be wanton waste? If so I think it's very illegal. And you had to be kidding about the smallie tasting as good as a walleye right?

[Darrin]

I and anyone I've done the "Pepsi Challenge" with has a tough time telling the difference between a fried smallmouth fillet from the BWCA and a walleye from the same water-you can throw pike in the same boat (or pan as the case may be)...and for the slight difference there may be I'll take the fight of a smallie over a walleye anyday.

Disregard my comments on feeding the eagles, legal or not...didn't mean to ruffle up any feathers, was just trying to share some info.