Meads / Winchell Lakes- South of The Gunflint

[Casaloma]

Memorial day weekend will be my 1st time heading to the Meads / Winchell area of the BW off the Gunflint Trail. Please share your experiences with the fishing in that area. In my FM / DNR searching I see there are quite a few walleye lakes & Winchell holds Lakers as well as some sizeable Nor-Trons.

Also I'd be happy to find out if there are any 4-Star Campsites, Vistas, Logging Artifacts etc. that we should not miss.

I'm willing to make a trip up Twig way & buy a couple of rounds to hear in person what the local FM Fountain of Fishing Fun has to say about this area.

finsnfriends@hotmail (Contact US Regarding This Word)

Thanks -CLoma

[nofishfisherman]

I haven't fished any of these lakes but spent some time on Winchell last summer. It is a beautiful lake with some nice campsites, and some cliffs that are fun to paddle along.

I have heard rumors of some big toothies in Winchell not sure how numerous however.

We entered Winchell coming up from the Brule entry point. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to make it from Brule to Winchell. We didn't get to Brule to drop our canoes until really late, its was after 5pm and we had to do the portages to Winchell before dark. There is one long portage that really wears you out when you are trying to push yourself. I think me and my canoe mate made it from the Brule entry to the farther end of Wichell in about 4 hours. We had to double portage everything so that really slowed us down but we were absoutley exhausted once we set up camp. It really didn't help that we were at the start of the trip and our food packs still were totally full.

We were still awake enough though to appreciate how nice of a lake Winchell is however.

[thistlekicker]

The campsites on Winchell are located in great spots but get some hard use. The one I like has a big rock slab jutting out towards the west that has a little "private" bay. It's the first site to the east of the bay leading towards Omega.

Wind can be an issue. Last time we were travelling W to E and had a 15-20 knot wind pushing us along. Would have hated to be heading in the opposite direction. We hooked up with a big pike while trolling a husky jerk deep off a 3-way swivel and had it turn the canoe completely broadside, which was very interesting in that wind. Too much pressure and broke off next to the boat. I'd guess it was close to 35".

I test netted some of the lakes in this area for the DNR in the late '90s:

Henson is long and deep like Winchell but doesn't have much for fish populations

Allen is smaller, shallow and had some decent walleyes.

good luck!

[fishane]

I have spent some time on Winchell camping early in the year. We would primarily do it as an early trip to fish for trophy pike, which can be a rare creature in minnesota these days. The fishing was never fast or furious, but the size was exceptional. The largest we ever landed was 43", with a few lake trout and whitefish thrown in to eat. Wind can definately be a factor on Winchell. Any east or west wind can make the lake very difficult to canoe. If you come at it from Brule, the landings at the portages are all tricky. You can trim 50 or 60 rods off the long portage by paddling to the end of the channel, rather than using the official portage, which is under water as often as not early in the year. By the way, we always found snow at the end of the last portage from Brule if we went the 1st or 2nd weekend. You know what that means, ice for your drinks! By the way, please practice catch and release on the pike.

[Casaloma]

Thanks for the posts, I'd like to continue this thread though. I know there are quality experienced minds that want to check in.

CPR, Fishane, stands for Catch Pike Release right??

Thanks for keeping with the FM CPR attitude, I believe that an easily accessible wilderness lake like Winchell will need to depend on the ethics of its fishers. As the popularity of our sport grows, our kids should enjoy the same wildness ( and more ) our Dad did.

Next breath: Boy do I enjoy a good fish dinner after a day in the woods.

Later-CLoma

[outdoor ran]

Greg, hows the daddy life treating you. When are we going to get you out on the big lake? Give me a call and we will put something together.

[Surface Tension]

I've gone into Winchell from Brule and Poplar.

Definitely take the time to fish eyes in Caribou and Horseshoe.

Depending on the wind you might want to base camp there, as others have said Winchell can turn into Windhell with strong E W winds. Winchell is OK as far as fishing goes. My trips there are more of a traditional thing.

Winchell has nice Pike. Yes the bay on the north side next to the palisade is a likely spot but its not very big, I think the pike move in there to digest whitefish. If you can figurer out where the whitefish are you'll find pike.

If you have a lake map look at the contours off the camp sites. Its easy to see which sites offer nice points and or shallow water. Its no secret the Pike cruise those areas.

Both ends of the lake offer most shallow pike water, warm winds pile up the water and brings in forage. Those are perfect places to cast spoons and or what ever you favorite pike baits are. Problem is the lake's length, it gets rough and its a long ways to run in a canoe.

Smelt will do double duty on the pike and lake trout when soaked off the camp site.

Lakers during Memorial weekend should still be somewhat shallow in that lake. Drift the North shoreline with jigs or troll it spoons and stick baits.

[trock84]

I have been to winchill three different times. We usually stay on the campsite that across the lake from the south west portage. Very nice campsite with nice big rock sticking way out into the lake. Fish the bay where the stream flows into next to the southwest portage. We have landed a few pike in the 40" range. My brother's group caught a 46" a few years ago. in front of that bay we caught a few lakers and a few whitefish.

[Casaloma]

All the Info. I got here was true!

Memorial Day weekend saw more swimming than I can remember, fishing was good too, although the lakers eluded us. Caught lots of eater eyes, nothing over 19 inches though. The regular run of BWCA smallies & Pike also kept us busy. All in all the area is nice once you get into Gaskin & Winchell, the other lakes are a little too shallow/ muddy for my camping taste.

Highlite of the trip was my paddling partners 44 inch Pike while jigging for lakers. Still swimming, the rangers did ask us if we ate it..

Oh what fun!

[Surface Tension]

Nice Pike!

[wyldewal]

Glad you guys had a good trip and it's nice to see somebody can catch big fish.

[fld&strm]

Great fish. The ironic thing is I had the chance to see it in person. I was one of the dads that was at that site for lunch when you and your buddy caught that awesome fish. One of the larger fresh water fish I have seen in person (the only one larger was a 53" Musky on LOW) and you caught it minutes after my 25". The boys are still talking about the fish and the trip - that reminds me we have some more pictures of it that I would be happy to send your way. We never did have the luck as you did with 'eyes, but we also had to many mouths to feed. One of the boys did land a nice laker after we left the point and fished the opposite shore. Let me know if you are interested in more pictures and I will send you my email. Tight lines!!

[Casaloma]

Fld&Strm, cool! Its either a small world or a big internet.

Yeah, that was a nice weekend on Gaskin. Hot & Buggy, Stormy, it seemed the 'eyes were coming up to 5 ft. or less every night. I bet you wore the kids out. How was the fishing in the small lake north of Gaskin?

Please do send the photos. My paddling partner will be glad to hear about this, but it will have to wait for Monday when he gets back from the BW. Some people just know how to plan!

Thanks -CLoma

finsnfriends@hotmail dot c o m

[Surface Tension]

fld&strm, welcome to HSO/Fishing MN.