Back Bay & Basswood Falls

[Walleye #1]

Hey--
I was wondering if anyone is familiar with Back Bay and Basswood Falls? I was looking at my map and Back Bay looked a bit shallower and figured it my be a good early season spot? Has anyone fished this area of Basswood. I am also planning on hitting Basswood Falls. Does anyone have any advice for this area as well? We are heading up the last week in May. I can't wait!!

Keep those lines wet
Jason

[Guest]

Have caught a lot of nice northerns in Back Bay. It is not real deep. There are some walleye spots in the bay also. Best spot I know of for northerns is in the middle of the bay about 100 to 150 feet out from the island. You can catch walleyes there also, but I have not gotten any big walleyes in Back Bay yet. Good luck!

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[Walleye #1]

Bill--
If you don't mind me asking. Were you just using typical spinnerbaits and spoons or livebait? Do you think that by the time we are up there, their will be some vegetation growth in the bay? Also when you talk nice northerns are you talking anything over 10? Anyway, thanks for the info so far. I love talking fishing. Hope to hear from you soon.

Jason

[Guest]

Walleye#1...Early season can be very good for pike in back Bay. Many of the resident fish that hang out in Back Bay also spawn in the shallow vegetation that surrounds the first portion of the Bay. I have done well in Hoist Bay in May and then the fishing has picked up in Back Bay around June. Some of the larger fish that reside in Back Bay and the larger portion of Basswood around Skidway and Canoe Islands, migrate into Hoist to spawn, then retreat back to there own niche.

The Crappie fishing and Bluegill fishing can be fantastic in back Bay early and late season. Don't forget to bring some beetle spins as well as your larger spinners for pike. White is my favorite color for Pike in that area.

[Walleye #1]

alaskander--
Is Hoist Bay and that group of islands located near Back Bay? You have me very interested now? What is your biggest Northern up in the Boundary Waters? I just think trying to pull in a 15lb fish in a canoe would be a blast!! Any info is appreciated.

Thanks
Jason

[Guest]

Walleye#1....Hoist Bay is the Bay just South of Back Bay and if your heading West from the main body of Basswood you have to travel through Hoist to get to Back Bay. Hoist bay is much shallower than Back bay and it's a great rearing bay for Juvenile fish. I catch lots of one to three year old walleyes and pike in Hoist.

This portion of Basswood is open to motors 25hp or less. I would recommend if your going to fish this portion of Basswood to Rent a boat or haul one up yourself! You could use portage wheels and go into Back Bay from Fall lake--Newton lake--and then Pipestone Bay of Basswood. From there you could portage a square stern or a small boat into Back bay. This tends not to be worth it if your coming in from Pipestone, your better off entering Basswood from Praire Portage on the canadian Border and motoring from there into Back Bay. Your entry point would be Moose Lake!

I have caught several Pike in the Boundary waters from 30-40 inches with my largest being 44" out of basswood.

If your interested in doing a canoe trip in that area, I would recommend not canoeing on one of the 5 motor routes within the BWCA and picking an alternative route that is canoe only! There are too many other lakes with great fishing. If you really want some good pike advice! Hire a guide out of the Ely area preferably Bill Slaughter from Ely and have him take you into Basswood in Early May when the Pike are spawning in Rice bay or Wind Bay! Lots of big Pike and lots of fun!

Here are some of the best guides in the Ely area: Bill Slaughter, Todd Larson, Rob Nelson, Ross Peterson, Ken Hoopila.

Good Luck!

[ludy]

That time of year I have done well for walleyes by the narrows coming out of Jackfish.
Also have fished Backbay several times; CRAPPIES, smallmouth & northern (my biggest ever 16 - 18 LBS) alaskander 70 sounds like he knows the area very well.For northerns take in the biggest minnows you can, alaskander is absolutely right about a boat & motor, for that area I use my gruman sport canoe and a 4.5 mercury. I can portage with wheels & be comfortable. First time in Backbay 1970, a lot of memories. It is a beautiful place. Its not far from where I live now and a couple of sons getting old enough where I might get there again. Stories I could tell but don't want to bore you.
Wish I was there

[Walleye #1]

Ludy--
Hey I am willing to listen to those stories and talk some fishing with you. If you don't mind me asking, what is your email, maybe we could talk a little bit. I love to talk fishing with anyone. Thanks to everyone else who has helped also. Keep the posts coming because I am starting to get that Boundary Waters fever!!

Jason

[fleeced]

Walleye#1,

Do you plan to fish North of the Basswood Falls or do you plan on fishing only in the motor routes?

[Walleye #1]

Fleeced--
Possibly both, I don't know for sure right now. I am just looking for some advice for that area. Are you familiar with it at all? Which one do you reccomend I have heard that some real lunkers get pulled out of there. I have also heard that if you venture back past the falls, there is a few places that don't get fished very often and hold some big fish. This is from a person who works at an outfitters in the summer. We are in the midst of planning our route, so any advie is appreciated.

Bring on the open water
Jason

[fleeced]

I would agree with alaskander70, the first thing you need to do is decide if you are going on a motor route or a canoe route.
The falls area is canoe only, but still sees a fair amount of traffic. There are some great campsites close to the falls and the fishing can be terrific, (eyes, smallies, pike). The water flows to the North from the falls. Just find the fish either in the main channel or close to it in pockets of structure.

Be careful around the falls, the current can flip a canoe in short order.:

[ricbak]

Hey guys the info in these posts is just what i have been lookin for. me, my three brother inlaws have been up to that area fishing and canoeing a few years back and this year we are planning a trip back up there, but this time we are bringing our (10 year old) sons with, we are coming up on the end of july and will be coming in on moose lake, with the young guys along we probly wont get to far into basswood, also hows the fishing on the end of july on moose,newfound and sucker chain of lakes? we have had pretty good luck with the pike and smallies up there but the walleye action has always been kinda slow for us. thanks for any info guys cant wait. ricbak

[Guest]

Ricbac...Are you going to be staying on Moose Lake? The chain of lakes is good, but here's my advice for the best fishing opportunities off the Moose lake chain:

Walleye...Ensign Lake

Pike...Wind Lake

Moose, Newfound, Sucker can be good for lots of small smallies and some nice pike and walleyes. The only problem is the fishing pressure has seemed to lower the quality of size on these lakes. I always do fairly well for all species on these lakes, but I would recommend doing day trips into Wind for pike and Ensign for smallies and walleyes. The 10 year old would have a much better opportunity to catch more fish on these systems. Splash lake going into Ensign is lots of fun for pike and walleyes. What time of year are you going to be heading up there?

[ricbak]

alaskander70 our entry date is july 25, we are only dion a 4 day trip to see how it goes with the young ones, our plans are still open as to where abouts we end up stayin, we think we will bring 2 boats and a canoe, we will try and keep it simple for this trip. the last time we were up to the bwcaw was the year of the big blow down so it will be interesting to see how it looks now. we have been on both Ensign and Wind so this may be a good place for a day trip, thanks and will keep checking in on this post for more info. ricbak

[Guest]

Ricbac...Where were you when that storm hit? I was managing Canoe Country Outfitters on Moose Lake when it hit. I had a full campground with about 200 people. What a mess that was. Here's some pictures of the damage at Moose Lake.

http://www.msnusers.com/OutdoorAesthetics/bwcawstorm1999.msnw

[TimC]

Alaskander,
We were on the chain 2 weeks before the big storm. We are glad that we just missed it. We have come up every year since and seeing some of the damage, it is pretty amazing. We will be fishing the chain again this year the last week of June. Any tips or hotspots that you can help us out with? We are thinking that the humps should be pretty active this time of year, especially at night. Any tips will help though. thanks,

TimC