BWCA Sawbill to Alton June 4th Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
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rcraven1224
member (16)member
  
05/30/2017 06:20PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Heading in for a week for the wifes first ever trip.. Our group is 6 total 3 boats. Normally take the shuttle out of Crane into Iron but wanted to try something new. Any reports on the Sawbill area is much appreciated. Don t want to end the trip in a divorce, lol.
 
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smokechaser
member (24)member
  
05/30/2017 10:59PM  
You've picked just about the perfect entry point for a first-timer to go on a trip. I've visited that area maybe a dozen times over the years so I'll put out there a few options for you and you can decide what sounds good.

Alton Lake base camp - this lake has a lot of great sites on it, and the lake has a lot of great views plus it's centrally located for day trips to surrounding lakes. It's a deep lake that gets a lot of wind because of it's north/south orientation. You don't want to get stuck out on this lake if the wind gets too crazy. Walleyes can be found by the islands near the south end of the lake and where it gets shallow near the west shore.

Kelso Lake - it's a small lake with a lot of little pike in it but your best chance of finding moose near the Sawbill entry. I like the site that sits above the south end of the lake - good fishing from shore.

Wonder Lake - similar to Kelso but this one is the most remote lake you're going to find in the area. It doesn't receive a lot of visitors and honestly after a day or two down there you run of out of real estate to explore.

Smoke / Burnt / Flame - awesome lakes with great fishing in them (honestly, check out http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html for info on what fish are in each lake and to find depth maps) and I've seen moose over here occasionally. These are either a great day trip from your base camp in Alton or great base camps by themselves.

This whole area gets fairly busy so you'll see others around but it's a great spot. Sawbill sees a lot of traffic through it heading up to Cherokee and Frost area but it's worth your time. It's also possible to have few portages so you can bring a few more luxuries on this trip than most.
 
Johtyll
member (15)member
  
05/31/2017 09:25AM  
If you are looking to find a relatively large amount of fish Beth lake is FULL of small mouth bass, water temps might be warmer since it is a smaller shallower lake and not too hard to get to. I believe the word to describe the number of small mouth was best described as "infested". Last trip though there was nonstop top water action and lots of fun! Just an idea.
 
Johtyll
member (15)member
  
05/31/2017 09:31AM  
Oh and Ella lake was full of hammer handle pike too. Its a tiny lake that gets very little traffic but its was fun to fly fish for the little slime darts.
 
Guest Paddler
  
05/31/2017 09:58AM  
Thanks for the ideas!
How is the bear activity on Alton Lake Area?
 
smokechaser
member (24)member
  
05/31/2017 10:24AM  
As far as I know, there isn't a resident bear problem like Polly Lake or other areas have, but it's a popular area and the bears know that popular campsites = food. I've never had a bear encounter during my visits to that area.
 
Savage Voyageur
distinguished member(14414)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
05/31/2017 10:59AM  
You picked just about the easiest route there is. Just a short paddle to the portage. The portage is an old railroad grade and is flat and short. Then you are at Alton. There is many good sites there. Only bear activity I remember is at the campgrounds at the entry point.
 
Guest Paddler
  
06/02/2017 11:22AM  
quote : "Thanks for the ideas!
How is the bear activity on Alton Lake Area? "


They're biting!

J/K, but they're there...very popular lake with the bears through the years.
 
06/02/2017 06:22PM  
Had the scariest bear encounter of my life at the south end of Alton lake about 12 years ago. My wife and our two young children were camped on the far SE end of the lake and I was awakened shortly after sunrise by my wife asking what the sound was outside the tent. I jokingly said, "probably a bear." "Well", she said, "go find out". So I did and it was. A big cinnamon colored black bear right in the middle of camp. Armed only in my birthday suit, I "hey bear-ed", waved my arms (probably waved some other stuff too), and banged a couple of pots together. The old fart swung his head back and forth and was undeterred, just looked at me irritatingly. Me yelling got my 18 month old son to crying in the tent and the bear walked off into the woods only to reappear closer to the tent and interested in the wounded prey sounds emanating from within. At this point I took off running right at the bear and screaming and throwing rocks and wood and whatever I found as I charged towards him. I went up on hind legs when I was about 8 yards from him, hit him right in the head with a piece of wood. He turned at that point, only slightly, just enough to see our food pack hanging from it's tree. He ambled over to a neighboring tree, climbed it, lept off the tree landing on our food bag. Bear and bag went crashing together to the ground and the big boy opened our pack like it was a banana peal and proceeded to munch on our munchies for 35-40 minutes while we packed up camp and high tailed it out of there and back to the truck. We managed to get one bag of cheerios from the remains of our food pack before departing and the kids munched on these on the way back to the truck. Can you believe that my wife didn't want to buy more food and go back in... :-)

Stayed in contact with the Sawbill Ranger District that summer and early fall. The bear had been hitting camps all summer long. We scheduled a bear hunt for the fall, any bear that brazen was going to hurt someone sooner or later. We get there the fifth day of the season and when we checked in to Sawbill to get our permit, we found out the bear was shot on the third day of the season when it came in to raid a bear hunters camp. 375# cinnamon colored black bear. RIP good friend. Sorry you learned to frequent camps.

I have spent over 60 weeks camping in the Northwoods and had only two negative "bear-in-camp" situations. After the trip described, I do now take bear spray into camp.

Tight lines and brightest blessings!
 
06/05/2017 08:41AM  
^^^ very good reading , thanks for sharing your story beeeye , another great reminder why not to bring any type of food into your tent.
 
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