Have you found any lakes that you believe to be complete duds in terms of fishing?

This may not answer your question very well, but...I remember when I assumed that walleye were native to all the bwca lakes and looking at all the little lakes that fill up pages 42 and 43 of my outdoors atlas of northwestern Minnesota I wondered about the endless walleye fishing opportunities that awaited me in all those little lakes...turns out there are many of them that have not as yet had walleye introduced to their waters. Those very small lakes filling up the interior of the bdub tend to only support northern pike, white sucker, and maybe perch.

alot of lakes (both stocked and non-stocked lakes)can go through cycles. 1 lake that does come to mind is jasper, it always was kind of sub-par for fishing and the fire did some good destruction there but it s getting greener. and most people will pass through that lake but in time it could become a nice fishing lake.

quote Hawkeye2010: "Have you found any lakes that you believe to be complete duds in terms of fishing?"

Always look here first if your fishing a Minnesota lake Lakefinder

quote Basspro69: "

quote Hawkeye2010: "Have you found any lakes that you believe to be complete duds in terms of fishing?"

Always look here first if your fishing a Minnesota lake Lakefinder "

Right on Bass Pro . I spend hours looking at that site , I know that sounds CRAZY but when you drive 23 hours to a place it's nice to know what your getting into.

Lakefinder is a great resource, but bear in mind much of the info for the BWCA lakes is old and outdated...a lot can happen in 20-30 years as far as fish populations...not to mention strong year-classes of fish species can make one year a bust and the next year phenomenal! I try to go more by word of mouth or researching other people's trips like on here.

To answer the question...Mud Lake up the fourmile is one lake that comes to mind...use to be big pike but now nothing more than hammer handles...Ella Lake just west of Sawbill is another one that fits in this category. If peace and quiet is your goal you will like these lakes; if a lunker pike is your goal you will wish you went elsewhere. I don't know if it's lack of food or fishing pressure, but these two lakes just don't seem to want to give up a decent pike any more.

I can't speak to walleyes, because in mind they are either fun to eat (small) or fun to catch (big). Never had a walleye trip go bust on any lake I've fished in the BWCA...so far!