Burntside Lake

[MuntzAngling]

I spent an hour on the Superior National Forest website looking for a map of the campsites on this lake. It does not exist. There are said to be 6 'rough' campsites here. Can anyone point out which islands/points these may be near?

[tonkapat]

i believe a couple are in the north arm

[yukon]

Check out mckenzie maps online I think that you can order online. Burntside is map 16. A couple of the campsites are up the channel to the north arm on the left side as you are heading into the north arm. They are both pretty nice.

[Steve Foss]

There's also a campsite on the right heading up the North Arm. It's on a point to the right just after the NA opens up into the big bay.

There are a couple more than those mentioned, but the one or two others I know are literally too hard to describe a location for, and a map is necessary.

One in particular toward the west end is so out of the way and little used that I'm not sure if I could actually find my way back there, and I've camped on it twice.

You also could call the Forest Service in Ely and inquire there. They might have them mapped out, and if not they may have GPS coords for them. That number is (218) 365-7600.

[MuntzAngling]

Thanks guys. No luck on the GPS coordinates there at the office. I'll probably go in at the North arm or consult a map.

My friends aren't setup with dipsy divers. can they still pickup trout with just deep divers this time of year?

[Steve Foss]

Yep, if they can get down 20 feet or so it should be no prob.

I haven't been on Bside in a couple weeks so don't know surface temps, but a smaller but still deep clear lake had surface temps of 60 degrees yesterday, and lakers like it in the 50s.

I'll post surface temps after I hit Bside tomorrow. Likely if they can get down even 10 feet on Bside they'll be OK, though I prefer to put the lures in front of the lakers' noses in deeper water instead of having them come up for it.

That being said, I've caught plenty of lakers in the early part of the season trolling fairly shallow over much deeper water. We know that very active individual fish will come up a long way to smack a lure.

Also, the North Arm public landing is only good for smaller boats, generally. It's unpaved and very steep. If you have a bigger boat or are towing your boat with a vehicle that has power issues, the Van Vac landing is the better choice, with an easier incline, paved landing and dock. Van Vac is fairly centrally located, and at a bit under 7,200 acres Bside isn't so big that it takes too long to get anywhere.

For lake maps, the giant one of Bside at the U of M bookstore is the best, but for more widely commercially available maps the one in the Sportsman's Connection book of maps for St. Louis County is best. Bside is spread over several map pages. You can get those in almost any bait/tackle store in the northern third of MN. Avoid at all costs the single plastic map of Bside you find in some Ely stores. It's just too large a lake to be expressed on a single piece of plastic.

SS, shoot me an e-mail, will you? Tell me when you're going in and how many boats/tents you'll have. Do you have GPS? As always, my e-mail addy is in my sig below.

[caseymcq]

Fisher's Maps F2 & F9 should have Burntside covered. You may want to check those out.

[chunkytrout]

There is also a nice one on the northern tip of School Section. Very secluded and sheltered.

[MuntzAngling]

Sorry STF, didn't get your message before I left. We got the site at the Crab Creek on tuesday night. Fished out from the Van Vac launch Wednesday and got 1 laker about 3 lbs in 84 FOW on a dipsy setup with 195 ft of 12lb test out. Only took 20 minutes of trolling for him, then no more takers the rest of the trip. We left friday morning due to my friend's foot swelling up from too many skeeter bites.

Otherwise fishing was slow, a couple decent smallies and 1 largemouth at the mouth of Shipman Bass channel, but too many people traveling through to keep them biting.

Unfortunately it was pretty disappointing there.

I may try again in the winter.