BWCA EP- 49 Base Camp on Banadad Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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03/05/2018 08:48AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hi everyone!

A buddy and I are heading into entry point 49 for our 6th trip to the BWCA, with plans on basecamping Banadad in mid to late July. Trip will focus on day trips to some of the smaller lakes in the area with an emphasis on fishing, targeting smallmouth. Can anyone speak to fishing in this area? Particularly on Banadad and the smaller lakes around it (Sebeka and Ross)? I have read Rush is a great smallie lake as well. Looking for any and all trip advice for this area!

Thanks in advance!
 
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03/05/2018 09:19AM  
My wife and I did a 4 day basecamp trip at Banadad a few years ago in August and we loved the area. We had Banadad to ourselves and only saw 1 canoe on our entry day and 2 on our exit day. We stayed on the western island site and caught smallies from shore and paddling around the island. We also caught smallies in the northeastern bay past the campsite in that bay. We didn't fish Rush but I've also heard really good reports about it. If you like hiking, the Banadad ski trail crosses the portage between Rush and Banadad.

When looking for the portage between Skipper and Little Rush it's actually a small boulder filled stream that you walk the canoe through if the water isn't deep enough to paddle.

Also, when you get to the portage from Little Rush to Rush make sure you take the one on the right/North. They are only about 20 yards apart and the new one to the right goes up and over some high ground and the old one is often flooded out by a beaver damn and that's why the forest service made the new one. It was finished about a week before we did our trip.
03/05/2018 09:34AM  
Awesome thanks for the info, especially about the portage into Rush! Hopefully will be able to get the western island site on Banadad.
TuscaroraBorealis
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03/05/2018 12:13PM  
I'll second what ducks said, Banadad is a beautiful lake.

We did a trip there a couple years back. this trip report
treehorn
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03/05/2018 12:40PM  
Spent 3 days on Banadad in September of 2015. We had very little luck with the fish. Couldn't get anything at all to bite in the long skinny portion of the lake. I think the island on the west end and areas around there should get you some fish though.

It's an awesome lake - very pretty and has a true wilderness feel to it.
treehorn
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03/05/2018 12:40PM  
Spent 3 days on Banadad in September of 2015. We had very little luck with the fish. Couldn't get anything at all to bite in the long skinny portion of the lake. I think the island on the west end and areas around there should get you some fish though.

It's an awesome lake - very pretty and has a true wilderness feel to it.
treehorn
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03/05/2018 12:40PM  
Spent 3 days on Banadad in September of 2015. We had very little luck with the fish. Couldn't get anything at all to bite in the long skinny portion of the lake. I think the island on the west end and areas around there should get you some fish though.

It's an awesome lake - very pretty and has a true wilderness feel to it.
treehorn
distinguished member(715)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/05/2018 12:40PM  
Spent 3 days on Banadad in September of 2015. We had very little luck with the fish. Couldn't get anything at all to bite in the long skinny portion of the lake. I think the island on the west end and areas around there should get you some fish though.

It's an awesome lake - very pretty and has a true wilderness feel to it.
03/06/2018 07:16AM  
Thanks everyone for the info! The other route I was thinking about was to head in through EP 33 and head to Pietro or Gull for a basecamp. Can anyone speak to how the regrowth is from the Pagami Creek Fire? Also is this entry point a lot more busy? Any info on this area would be appreciated! Thanks!
03/06/2018 04:05PM  
Haven't been there since the fire but we basecamped on Bald Eagle once and daytripped to the other lakes. Bald Eagle and Gabbro were very busy and we saw more people on our daytrip to Gull than we did the whole 4 days of our trip to Banadad. I've heard Pietro has great smallie fishing but if I had the choice to repeat 1 of those trips I'd definitely pick Banadad. I've heard and seen picks of Pietro sites after the fire and they don't seem very appealing especially for a basecamp. But I don't have 1st hand knowledge on that.
myceliaman
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03/06/2018 05:48PM  
I've paddled that area multiple times. The first camp site on Rush offers great views and is a personal favorite. I've pounded smallies on Rush, I've been there in June and Sept with great success. Very quiet the portage from poplar seems to weed many a folks out. Spent 4 nights on Rush and Banadad and saw 1 canoe the whole trip and that was the one I was sitting in. Great area enjoy!!
TuscaroraBorealis
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03/06/2018 06:36PM  
Agree that Gabbro area will likely be much 'busier' than Banadad area.
tomke17
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03/07/2018 08:34AM  
My dad and I did the loop into Gull, Pietro, Clearwater, and Turtle last year. I have never been to EP 49, but I can tell you Gull and Pietro were busier than I expected. We planned on staying on Gull our first night, but all the available campsites were taken. We pushed on to Pietro and camped on the only site on the lake. There used to be more, but after the fire this is the only one that really exists. The site was well used and full of trash and fish remains in the shallow water. Fishing was good for numbers of smallies, but they topped out around 15-16". It was a fun trip, but I kept thinking what if that Pietro campsite had been taken? We would have had to push to Clearwater after a day that had already been pretty long. Just my experience from last year, good luck on your trip!
Love2fish
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03/08/2018 04:42PM  
No fish at all on banadad or rush. None at all. You might wanna find another lake. I’ll be going in to rush and banadad again this year for the 3rd trip in a row. I’m determined to find a smallie. Lol.
treehorn
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03/12/2018 01:15PM  
Damn, the dreaded quadruple post.

Sorry about that all!
03/13/2018 08:25AM  
Has anyone ever portaged into Rush/Banadad starting with portage lake and coming in through One Island? Looking for info comparing the portage from portage lake to the mile long into skipper. Theres some info on it when looking at the maps here, but looking for a little more! Thanks.
03/14/2018 05:31AM  
I have not but here's a trip report by Bannock........



Portage Lake Entry
03/30/2018 03:41PM  
Thanks everyone for the info! I have a follow up question, has anyone fished/been to Lum lake? Wondering if it is worth a day trip over there. Thanks!
 
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