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BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 19 2024

Entry Point 23 - Mudro Lake

Mudro Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 19 miles. Three accesses into Mudro Lake involve portages ranging from 20–185 rods.Easiest access is from private la nd with parking fee.

Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1166 feet
Latitude: 48.0356
Longitude: -91.8301
On the Water- Monday July 20th-
On the water late considering how far we need to go today. Up the Horse river to the falls by 6pm. Started raining and NO campsites available. Mudrow-Alruss-Tin can Mike-Horse Lake-Horse River-Basswood. 13 miles by water. (not counting portages)

Tuesday July 21st-
Rain all night, all morning and all day. Went north by petroglyphs, table rock and the the Crocked Lake Narrows across Thursday bay to campsite. Basswood-Crooked Lake-Wednesday Bay-Thursday Bay. 11 miles in the rain.

Wednesday July 22nd-
Up early and calm winds to take advantage of, considering the big water we have to cross. Found beaver dam to lift over and did a portage from hell between Pandos lake and Chippewa Lake. VERY steep and slippery after rain. Many mud holes. Then the mile portage after Wagosh Lake to Gun Lake. Never saw another soul in a canoe or campsite the entire day! Thursday bay-Friday Bay-Pandos Lake-Chippewa Lake-Wagosh lake-Gun Lake. 11 miles by water.

Thursday July 23rd-
Finally had a dry night. got everything dry!!! A few portages today to Fourtown Lake campsite. Easy day by comparison. Gun Lake-Fairy Lake-Boot Lake-Fourtown Lake. 6 miles. Put the long miles at the first of the week for a buffer for contingencies!

Friday July 24th-
Last day. Stormed last night bad. A few portages today with one bad one between Fourtown Lake and Mudrow lake. To entry point by 1pm. Ready for a hot shower! 4 miles

Total-
45 miles by water
13 miles by portage (3 trips each)
58 miles total.

Easter Week Border Water Walleyes

by Kidd1991
Trip Report

Entry Date: April 04, 2012
Entry Point: Mudro Lake
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 5

Trip Introduction:
Since the ice went out so early in 2012. I got some friends together and made the trek into Crooked lake to fish border water walleyes since the border lakes are open to walleye fishing into mid April.

Day 1 of 4


I left Grand Rapids, MN around 4 P.M. after my last class. I got to Ely around 6 P.M. Went to my parents house and packed up all my gear. We all met in town and made the drive up to Mudro. Finally got on the water around 7:30. We went up into Fourtown into Boat, Fairy, and finally Gun. Thats when it started getting dark. Had to make the mile long portage and the rest of the trip into Crooked in the dark. We were most likely the first paddlers of the season to go up this way. Navigating in the dark was hard since the moon was out. We finally got into the bottom of Friday bay. Right when we got into the main part, the northern lights came out and guided us to our campsite. Got camp set up and got ready for bed about 1 A.M. Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake, Fairy Lake, Gun Lake, Wagosh Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Papoose Lake, Crooked Lake 

 

Lakes Traveled:   Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake, Fairy Lake, Gun Lake, Wagosh Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Papoose Lake, Crooked Lake,


Day 2 of 4


Thursday morning we slept in a little. Ate breakfast and probably got onto the lake around 10. The canoe with 3 people took off for Thursday Bay. Me and the other guy tried fishing Car Narrows. We got skunked there and took off for Big Current a few hours after we started fishing. Our crew met up in Big Current at the same time. They tried another spot in between Friday and Thursday bay as well and were skunked. We ate lunch at the campsite in Big Current and then went out fishing. Right when I dropped a jig to bottom a walleye slammed it. I started the battle and my buddy from the front yelled out doubles as he had one on as well. Pulled up a pair of 20s. That was a good way to start the new spot. We stayed there all afternoon and picked through the hundred some walleyes we got. Also got one 36-38 inch pike(just guessing, we didn't have a tape). We kept only what we were going to eat that evening. We got back to camp cleaned some fish and fried them up around 7. Then sat around the fire and had some cocktails.  

 



Day 3 of 4


Drank a few too many cocktails the previous night so we got another late start. Got to Big Current around 10. Started right where we left off catching walleyes left and right. We were leaving the next day so we were fishing for a limit to bring out with us. We threw all the females back since the did not spawn yet and kept the males that were under 20. That took us a while but we got our 30 walleyes we were looking for.  Went back to camp and cleaned all our fish and put them in the cooler. We fried up venison steaks that night for dinner.    

 



Day 4 of 4


We ate breakfast and packed up fairly early. Started heading back the way we came and when we got to the the bottom of Friday Bay the wind picked up. It wasn't bad until we got back onto the bigger lakes like Gun, Boot and Fourtown. We had water pouring in the front and back of canoe on Fourtown. That was not fun, but we made it out with no incidents. Had a great trip! 

Has anyone else seen this? Its on the American side of Big current north of the campsite on a rock wall. What is it??? 

 


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