Fall Lake ice?

[Fry Daddy 1]

Could anybody tell me if truck travel is ok on Fall lake and what are the access points? thanks fry daddy

[Steve Foss]

Fry Daddy, travel should be no problem. There's only at most a foot of snow on a lot of the lakes up here except where there's been some drifting.

I've never boat/ice fished Fall, but my lake map shows three public access points, two off Fall Lake Road, which you get to by driving through Ely and Winton on 169 and turning left on FL Road after crossing the bridge between Garden Lake and the power dam. One of those two is at the new Kawishiwi Campground at the end of Fall Lake Road (double concrete ramp). There's also an access next to the Long Branch in Winton.

[finnbay]

Just a reminder that if you decide to go onto Fall Lake, give the power dam a WIDE berth. I've not heard of much driving on Fall Lake, except near Winton, since the days when you could drive across the Four Mile to Hoist Bay.

[Jackpine Rob]

Not much car/truck driving done on Fall, except down by the Longbranch. Up by the campground landing, you are pretty close to the BWCA line.

Fall has a few bad spots, in addition to the Power Dam area.

[jslytlemn]

I drove on Fall Lake this past Sunday. Went on at the access by the Longbranch. Didn't go much past the first bay, but the ice was plenty thick to drive on there.

[Fry Daddy 1]

Thanks to all for your input, I will keep the power plant in mind. Fry Daddy 1

[rascalP]

Quite a few years ago(8 or 10) we drove onto Fall - with a whole lot of others and parked at the line marking the BWCA. Kinda funny looking, 20 or so trucks all lined up at the line, in the middle of the lake. Crappies were the target at the north end of the lake and success was good. About 5 years ago we were there again, though we were the only ones - slush was a factor then and we could only use a snowmobile, still got some nice crappies and perch. This past weekend some of those same buddies went there for crappies(got an interesting response from a local when they said they were going there for cappies) Same area they only got one, a biggie though, about 15". Any thoughts on the fishery? Crappies still there? Just wondering.

rascal

[finnbay]

Used to fish crappies in the deep water in front of the Fall Lake end of the 4-mile portage. Can't say we ever killed 'em there, but would pick up a few. Like you, it's been awhile since I've fished that spot.

A story about driving on Fall Lake since this is how the thread started.. When you could still drive up to Hoist Bay across the 4-mile, a couple of buddies of mine went with a couple of other guys up to Basswood to fish northerns. Went in a V-Dub Bug. When they hit Fall Lake on the way out, the wind whipped up and they got caught in a white out. They kept driving for a few minutes and decided they better check where they were, stopped the car and got out. They were right above Newton Falls heading for open water! Another 100 yards and they'd have been history!

[Jackpine Rob]

Its a classic case of over-pressure. Fall has nice-sized crappies, but for many years they weren't targeted by many people, mostly because guys were spearing northerns and going after lake trout in the winter.

I remember the "early years" when the crowds came racing out to get the hot bite on late-ice crappies. The fish got hammered. Really hammered. All the way from the little island with the BWCA sign to the 4-mile, the ice resembled swiss cheese. Naturally, the population of big crappies dwindled, and the numbers of guys chasing them has dwindled as well. Of course, the rusty crayfish were overtaking the lake around the same time, and we have no way of knowing what effect the rusties had on crappie spawning, so that is an unknown variable.

We used to have crappies hanging around our dock post-spawn, and a guy could sit there with a bobber and minnow and catch them all day. We always tossed them back in - preferring to eat smaller walleyes instead. Haven't caught a crappie off the dock in over 5 years. In my opinion, the numbers just aren't there anymore.