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lundojam
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07/08/2018 08:01AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hey all. We are looking at a no portage trip here in a couple weeks due to some health issues.

Question: between Brule, Sag, and Seagull, which lake offers the most opportunity to paddle sheltered water in the case of significant wind?

We are also considering some of the smaller entry lakes/areas, but are curious what folks with experience on these bigger lakes have to say about avoiding the big winds.
 
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bruleman
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07/08/2018 09:05AM  
lundojam: "Hey all. We are looking at a no portage trip here in a couple weeks due to some health issues. Question: between Brule, Sag, and Seagull, which lake offers the most opportunity to paddle sheltered water in the case of significant wind?
We are also considering some of the smaller entry lakes/areas, but are curious what folks with experience on these bigger lakes have to say about avoiding the big winds."


Having fished and camped on Brule for many years, beginning in 1957, I can only recall one time that we got stranded by wind on a island campsite. Of course, we often had a boat and motor and mostly, in the early part of June. We mainly fished in North Bay and Cone Bay and around the islands at the landing. There was always some location to get out of the worst of the wind. I fully understand the concerns of many canoeists that report on this site, about the windy Brule Lake conditions, but it just wasn't much of a problem for us, over all those years. You may not get your choice of fishing locations, but by using good common sense and evaluating the wind direction and severity, you will find a place to fish.
bruleman
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07/08/2018 10:43AM  
We are headed north on Tuesday morning, four nights and 3 days guided fishing on the Gunflint. Staying at the Cross River Lodge. Today would not be a good time to be on the Canadian border with the severe storms coming through. The extended forecast looks OK. The weather means almost everything for a camping trip. Cone Bay has been a good place to fish walleye in early June. The Cone Lakes are not very large and conducive to staying out of the direct wind blow. We have had success fishing South Cone for Walleye. The night bite is the best and the wind usually subsides in the evening. If it is up during the day, get your camping chores in and fish late. I have seen some good walleye populations in Echo Lake, on the DNR site, but that was some time ago. It is a long narrow lake with no campsites, to my knowledge, but easy to stay on the shoreline and a short carry over portage from Brule. South Temperance is a small shallow walleye lake. Vernon is very accessible and an interesting portage along the cascading stream, which flows underground from Brule into Vernon. There are some other small lakes, just a short portage off of Brule. I haven't fish them for many years and can't attest to the fishing.

Seagull is a beautiful lake and good fishing. There is a lot of traffic going through. I have seen many fish on the locator, around the lake. We fished it in 2013 with a Gunflint guide, in the unrestricted area and had good success on walleye, lakers and smallmouth. I talked with a Gunflint Lodge guide the other day, and he had just come back from Sag. They had some good luck, but the fishing has been down on Minnesota side of Sag, according to a number of those posting on this site.
Walley_hntr
Guest Paddler
  
07/08/2018 01:05PM  
You could take your boat to Sag. Bring your canoe along if you’d prefer to fish from a canoe. Red Rock, Tenor, and the no motor zone of Sag all offer good fishing without portaging.
TuscaroraBorealis
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07/08/2018 08:55PM  
In my experience - Sea Gull
pswith5
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07/08/2018 09:05PM  
I agree with Seagull. Particularly the east side. Many islands you can scoot around. Then hug the north shore. Several sites on seagull too. Never checked acreage but I am pretty sure Seagull is a fair piece smaller too.
07/08/2018 10:14PM  
I've camped Brule a couple of times and Seagull once. No wind problems at all those times on Brule. The time I was at Seagull I went to the far (west) end and would have had a tough time coming back against the wind a couple of days earlier than when we ended up leaving. If you choose Seagull, it probably is a good idea to stay towards the eastern end. Guess you're likely to get as many opinions as replies given the vagaries of weather. Good luck and have a great trip.
Miholic
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07/09/2018 01:07PM  
Not sure on the others, but on Saganaga you could coordinate for a tow out and also a pickup. If health is an issue it might be nice knowing you don't have to paddle far to a pickup spot.
07/09/2018 02:54PM  
Easy enough to stay out of the winds on Brule if you stay on the east or north side of the lake. If you go west you are more exposed to the main body of the lake with less shelter options.
lundojam
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07/09/2018 08:12PM  
thanks all. We are going to combine walleyehunter and miholic's advice and get a tow to Red Rock.
 
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