bwca canoe trip

[GiantJackpot]

Hello all, My wife and I are planning a canoe trip this summer ( mid-july) and we are wondering where to go to have some good walleye and pike fishing. We have never been to the area and don't know where to start. We are planning a 3 day trip. not sure about a starting point,we are looking to avoid crowds. thanks for any help.

[caseymcq]

Where are you planning on entering from? Ely Area? Gunflint Trail? Crane Lake? Isabella Area?

How much paddling do you want to do? Long? Short?

There are endless options so I will just throw out a few.

If you are looking at avoiding crowds that will probably eliminate the Lake One, Two, Three area. That is a pretty popular entry point. Moose Lake is fairly popular but isn't too bad. The further you paddle the more secluded you will likely be.

If you don't want to paddle to terribly far and want some decent walleye and pike fishing Ensign is a good option. That would be a trip up Moose, Newfound, Splash, Ensign. There are several lakes that you could day trip into for other species (trout).

Isabella Lake is another good walleye lake that is easy to get to. It is basically just a portage into the lake and you are there.

Brule is an excellent walleye fishery. It can be a little busy at times but isn't too bad. If you wanted to look for some big northerns you could head from Brule north through the Cones (the three Cone lakes) into Davis. Davis has some nice pike and isn't fished much. I think after the Famine fire, there may only be one campsite on the lake but it would be easy to day trip into from Brule or the Cones.

If you headed out from Mudro up into Horse or Fourtown there is excellent walleye fishing. I am not sure about pike. That is a little more paddling and portaging but it would also be more likely to get you away from the people. You could head even further up and go to Crooked. Crooked would have excellent walleye fishing and some decent pike. It would be a fairly good haul up to Crooked though.

Once you figure out where you want to go be sure you pick up Fisher Maps to cover the areas you will be going to. The maps are an excellent resource to have for your trip. You may also want to check out the MN DNR's Lake finder and print out contour maps for the lakes you plan on fishing. Some of the lakes on the Fisher Maps have contours but most don't.

I don't know much about the lakes on the Gunflint Trail side so I am affraid I can't be much help there.

[Mike Stark]

and check this out. you will want to check the avalability of permits before you get your heart set on a lake. i know mudro is a very popular put-in and permits can be hard to get at times. i would try to get your permit as soon as possible.

[GiantJackpot]

Thanks for all the info. I don't mind paddling too far, just not all day. I will go the extera mile to find good fishing. I guess I don't want to start at the most popular starting point. I am looking forward to the trip and again, thank you for the info.

[mrfish1991]

I agree with casey, the cones and brule are excelent fisheries but i have only ever caught small mouth out of them, but there are a lot of them in there.