Hello there! I will be heading up to the bwca in about a month and will be camping out near the ensign area and was woundering if there are any lakes around other than snowbank that hold lake trout that would be a little closer to camp. It wouldn't be that bad without all the stuff to head down there but wouldn't want to do it more than twice and will be up there for 8 days. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-

Knife is a very good trout lake & is two portages away. Both are tough portages.

Anywhere from ensign to fish lake trout will be lots of travel. Besides knife you could fish snowbank or even ima. The route from ensign through ashigan to gibson (heading to ima) i have not done, but after gibson the portages and very easy. The trip to ima could be enhanced by the pictographs, narrows, and cattyman falls.

Neglige has Brookies...... not sure if I would day trip, and back.....the Vera portage is kinda rough, and the going into Neglige does not get much traffic.

This is a bit of a tricky one as there are no options real close to Ensign. I've never fished the lakes south of Ensign but have fished most of them to the north and east. The portage from Ensign to Vera will get you prepared for the Vera to Knife portage, both are above average for difficulty.

Knife would be your best bet for quality and quantity and overall success but is probably the toughest to get to from Ensign.

Neglige will take 3 portages to get to. It does have some brook trout in it but be prepared to spend some time trying to figure out what the fish are doing.

In the same area are Missionary and Explorer. We've caught a couple small lakers in Explorer, and while I've never fished it, another member mentioned catching lakers in Missionary.

Thank you! Your help is very much appreciated. That is what I figured I am going to put in some work to get on some trout. I will report back after my trip and let you know how we do

quote Bullzeyez61: "Thank you! Your help is very much appreciated. That is what I figured I am going to put in some work to get on some trout. I will report back after my trip and let you know how we do"

Im looking forward to the report back. I might be heading into that area a couple days after you come out.