This is my first go at planning our tip this year myself and although others have failed before me, there is still a lot of pressure to find a successful fishing hole. Any recommendations for a base camp in late August/early September with good overall bite. Pike, smallies, walleye, anything? Thanks

Not much info to go on, but Agnes (EP16) might work for you.

Here's one of many, many options: basecamp on Gull for walleyes, day trip into Pietro for northerns and smallies.

Otherwise, I suggest picking an area you're interested in seeing (Gunflint, Ely, Isabella, Tofte, etc). Then use the MN DNR lakefinder online to browse the fish populations in the area lakes.

While there are many awesome lakes that would meet your needs. I would reccomend these:

Iron lake. For my money, it's the best lake I have been on. The kind of fishing that is just plain silly good!

Malberg. good to great fishing with tons of other good lakes around it. Easy to get to also.

Alice. I have not personally been to Alice. Everything about this lake tells me that it is much like Iron in many ways. Alice is next on my list. Not the easiest lake to reach in one day.

One thing to consider is your own abilities. If you just plain stink at fishing then it really want matter where you go. In August I would find moving water ie. rapids, river current. Fish with leeches and hit the moving water. You'll catch fish. My best August fishing for walleye has been mid lake reefs in 15 to 20 feet of water

Stan- If you can provide a little more detail on your trip requirements, we could point you in the right direction. How far do you want to paddle? What's your tolerance for long portages? I agree with Snakecharmer - Anges is a real good choice to basecamp plus you can add big crappies to list. If you ok with a long portage Crab/Crummings would be good. If you want the easy route, get a tow across Moose Lake and setup on Birch. You can day trip into Ensign, Carp and Knife.

Have caught big smallmouth on Indiana Lake in August...Wood Lake EP.

Cummings for bass and northerns. I was there early August once after an awful heat spell that sent temps into the high 90's and did well on the smallies with a bonus 10 lb northern. You could also try Lac La Croix. Outlying lakes like Gebeonequat and Pocket make for interesting day trips.