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how is the water level and temps right now? Coming up Thursday night for 4 days, cannot wait. Say hi if you see an inboard lund tyee

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Birch Point is by far the nicest campsite on the lake that is not in a campground. I am not as familiar with the sites off Forest Road 429 but I think you are probably right, it is likely a foot path.

There is a "campsite" that you could drive right up to in Bob Bay. It isn't marked on the map and doesn't have a fire grate or a latrine but has an area that is cleared out more than well enough to camp. There is actually an old foundation (small maybe a cabin) there. The road can be pretty rough at times but if you have the right vehicle it shouldn't be a problem.

The campgrounds, Birch Lake and South Kawishiwi, aren't terribly expensive, $10 - $12.

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i am going to be on birch next monday- friday. never been there before. going on house boat out of timber bay.have read most of this thread(impressive). trip is for me and son who is entering the army the week after. would appreciate any and all info. thanks in advance email is username at yahoo

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Will you have another boat in tow or will you just be using the house boat?

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how is the water level and temps right now?

I would say the water level is above normal right now. Water temps were around 50 when we were out Sunday. I think it got close to 70 today so I am guessing the water temps have increased a good bit since Sunday.

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i will be towing a rental fishing boat. not sure trolling with a houseboat would work very well.

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I plan to get up there at least one weekend this summer. Just hope I can find a campsite thats NOT a camground.

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was out on the south kawish for about an hour last night...caught about 20 walleye...might have kept 2 if i was keeping fish..lots of little ones...muddy bottom in about 10-14fow...was in a canoe so no temp reading.

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Birch point usually is good to pick up a few walleyes. There is an Island just east of Norway Point (north of Birch Point) That is a decent spot to pick up a few fish too.

You could also use the fishing boat to cruse up to the mouth of the Stony River. There is a deep hole out from the mouth that will usually hold walleyes. The south shore near the mouth had a trough running along side of it. If it is warm enough there may be a few crappies in the trough. There is a fair amount of structure in that bay that you could hit along the way.

There is also a trough along the point south-west of Klobuchar Bay. That will hold walleyes from time to time.

Any point with a little wind blowing up against it or sweeping across it would be good to try. There is a fair amount of structure that doesn't show up on maps so keep an eye on your sonar.

There's a few areas to try. Good luck.

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Hey guys like Idapaul, i too will be up at birch launching out of timberbay but I'm coming during memorial weekend thurs to monday. This will be the 4th year up there usually i bring spinner baits and done really well with northerns but never had much luck with walleyes what would you guys suggest?

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Rigs or jigs would be what I would suggest for walleyes. If it is warm and windy starting out with rigs may be the way to go. Cool and calm, a really slow presentation with a jig could potentially work a little better. I have also seen a number of people using bobbers lately. The water is pretty dark so either bright colors or multi-colored jigs would be another recomendation. I have bought jigs that are black and white(pearl) with a little red dot on the top of the jig that seem to work well. I think the color change almost acts as a bit of a "flash" and may help draw attention. Another color combo that has worked well for me is orange / chart. As usual chart. especially a "super glo" chart has also worked well. Bait might be a bit of a crapshoot by that time; minnows, leeches, crawlers. It maybe a good idea to start out with some of each and then go from there. I have heard some say that time of year may be to early for crawlers but we have caught fish as early as opener with crawlers.

I can't stress enough to keep an eye on your sonar because of the structure that doesn't show up on any maps I have seen. Stony River Bay is a prime example. There isn't any structure that shows up on any maps I have seen and the bay has quite a bit in all actuallity.

If you don't mind, report back as to how you did. Good luck.

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There are 4 of us coming up on the 23rd for a week on a houseboat. We will have a small boat with us. Have read the suggestions on this post and have a couple of questions. Is there a map we should have? Is there anywhere to buy minnows in the middle of the week if we need more? We are starting on the west end and going where ever we think we can catch fish. Have the walleye moved back in the deeper water yet?

Thanks

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Every map I have seen of the lake is the same. The smaller hard plastic map has the South Kawishiwi beyond the Hwy 1 bridge mapped to Outward Bound.

There are bait shops in Babbitt. Just Bite Bait has a good selection of minnows and they are pretty knowledgeable if you need some advice.

The water is pretty stained; walleyes could be anywher from 6 to 20+ feet so keep an eye on the sonar. I would recomend starting 20+ and working up.

Good luck.

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3 more days....cant wait....will post a report of how we did when i get back...

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well just got back and the folks at timber bay were very accomodating,WEATHER SUCKED and so did fishing. i've caught more fish in death valley.weather was very bad and after 3 days i quit with a couple of hammer handles and 1 walleye.

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We stayed at the Birch Lake Campground out of Ely from Monday through Saturday of last week. We caught lots of 10-12 inch walleyes. There were some keepers in there, with the largest fish we caught being 19, 18, and 16 1/2 inches. It seemed the only place to catch them was at the stony. We tried a few other places but could not get anything to bite.

We were astonished on Friday to see a house boat all the way up by the big underwater rock at the stony river. 6 or 8 boats of people watched closely as that big boat tried to maneuver around in the shallow water. We were not sure how they did not hit the motors on the shallow rocks or even how they did not get hung up with their pontoons.

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just got back, fishing was sorta slow for us manage a few northern, a couple slabs and a smallie overall very fun week of relaxing, ron and his staff at timberbay were awesome as always.

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Spent tinme on Birch over the weekend too..did pretty fair. We managed some keeper 'eyes and and good stringer full of crappie. One nice Northern at 36 inches and we also had some good smallie action Sunday morning. Being new to Birch for the most part can be tough. The lake is a good source of fish but w the dark water and size of it the fish can be tough to find at times. Ya gotta move around and a good locator for structure is a must have. One thing of note.. on the bait shops suggestions we bought our minnows and purchased a "mix" ..its a mixture of all sizes/kinds. IF we hadnt done that there would have been no crappie minnows with us. We basically stumbled on the crappie and in short order had some good 'uns! Gotta give props to theresa at the bait shop. She has put us on fish once again.

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well the family left today after a week of fishing. fishing was spotty...sometimes real good other times nothing..lots of smaller fish but towards the end of the trip the bigger fish started to become more active. fished both birch and the south kawish. all fish came from a jig n minow. 6-25fow. biggest fish was a fat 28incher out of 17fow on a muddy bottom caught by my dad in the kawish..his personal best. my family took home their limit of walleye and pike. it was a great trip with great weather and great fishing. the fishing seems to be on the up swing.

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We fished Birch Lake for the first time the week of May 24th. Had a houseboat from Kinsey. I was a good time-weather was ok and we caught some fish. Got into the big crappies and mostly small walleye. Did have a 24 inch-took pictures and let it go. Most of what we caught was on minnows slow trolling. Had a few northerns also. A lot of followers and hard to keep on.

The water temp. was about 60 most of the week.

This form was a lot of help for not knowing anything about the lake.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Taking the wife up to Birch this weekend. This will be our first time there. We're staying at the birch lake campground. I've gone back and read through this forum for hints, does anyone have any advice for this weekend? I'm just looking for some action for her. She's never caught a walleye before.

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stony river is close to the camp ground..lots of good water up the river..look for the deep holes....there is a rock with a big steel ring on it where stony opens up into birch lake...fishing can be good there...if you head up the river..fish around the hwy 1 bridge...fish wind swept points...reefs and humps...jig and a leech has been working for me. use bright colored jigs as birch is stained tea colored water.

hope that helps.

good luck.

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That is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you. My plan is to rig her up with a Lindy rig and I'll try to jig. Just trying to get her some eyes then maybe bust out the musky lures and try for some northerns ive been hearing about.

If your out we'll be in a green/white procraft, stop and say hi.

Thanks again

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stony river is close to the camp ground..lots of good water up the river..look for the deep holes....there is a rock with a big steel ring on it where stony opens up into birch lake...fishing can be good there...if you head up the river..fish around the hwy 1 bridge...fish wind swept points...reefs and humps...jig and a leech has been working for me. use bright colored jigs as birch is stained tea colored water.

hope that helps.

good luck.

Did you mean Stony or South Kawishiwi River? The Hwy 1 bridge is over the South Kawishiwi. Either way Stony or South Kawishiwi can be good.

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i was talking about both..sorry for not being clear...hwy 1 bridge is on the south kawish..stony river has the ring rock.

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There is a Hwy 1 bridge over the Stony, but getting there from Birch Lake could be a bit challenging laugh

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  • 3 weeks later...

Any new reports? Thanks for all of the info this thread gives. I amd going up to Birch Lake Resort for the 1st time this Saturday, looking forward to the week.

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Was on Birch this weekend..fishing was pretty good for us anyway...all the stupid weekend boaters out drove me nuts..Idiots REALLY need to be a bit more considerate..plow by you full throttle while your anchored slip bobber fishin..then crowd the landing...ugh why cant they teach their wife to back up a boat trailer? The wife holds the boat they go get the truck etc.takes forever...I idle in, drop off the wife and back out to let other boats in..she backs trailer in, I load and we leave...I waited forever for folks to get done..oh well...sorry for the rant...back to the fishin...it was a bit slow to start off. I went in for bait and Theresa at Millers in Babbit said to try bottom bouncin leeches ..troll from rock bank points straight away out to deeper..kept doing that and got some decent fish..She has always been pretty good at lettin us know whats been workin for her. Nice to have a bait shop where the owner actually fishes the water and doesn't lie to ya!

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