BWCA Looking for Route Suggestions To Basecamp Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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Jerlane
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07/27/2018 10:26AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hi there,
We are a group of five guys planning to go in for three nights at the end of August. For the last several years we have gone to the same spot on Vernon (through Brule). This year we would like to try something new.

We enjoy fishing from shore at night. A hike nearby might be nice. Cliffs or waterfalls nearby might also be cool.

We tend to pack a bit on the heavy side, so probably no more than one or two moderate portages would be about right. I think 3-4 hours of travel would be good. We are relatively young and fit and move at a decent pace.

I think something from Brule, but a different direction would work, but we'd consider somewhere else if there are good suggestions, like something out of Ely.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Jeremy

PS: two of us sleep in hammocks and likely 1-2 tents in addition for the others.
 
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treehorn
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07/27/2018 02:25PM  
Jerlane: "Hi there,
We are a group of five guys planning to go in for three nights at the end of August. For the last several years we have gone to the same spot on Vernon (through Brule). This year we would like to try something new.

We enjoy fishing from shore at night. A hike nearby might be nice. Cliffs or waterfalls nearby might also be cool.

We tend to pack a bit on the heavy side, so probably no more than one or two moderate portages would be about right. I think 3-4 hours of travel would be good. We are relatively young and fit and move at a decent pace.

I think something from Brule, but a different direction would work, but we'd consider somewhere else if there are good suggestions, like something out of Ely.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Jeremy

PS: two of us sleep in hammocks and likely 1-2 tents in addition for the others."


Your group sounds pretty similar to mine....5-6 guys, packing pretty heavy, willing to travel a decent amount on way in, base camp 3 nights, exploring and fishing and busting each other's balls all day while you're there....

We've gone 6 years in a row now so I'll just walk you through each spot we've gone in...

1) EP 33 to Little Gabbro/Grabbro. This could be a 1-portage trip...go in through a pretty long but very reasonable 250-rod portage to Little Gabbro and can access about a hundred sites between Little Gabbro, Gabbro and Bald Eagle. We stayed at a really nice site in the channel between LG & G and pulled about as many fish as we wanted out of that channel that connects the two lakes. Lots of other nice sites on Gabbro as well. Alternatively, but similarly, you could go EP 32 and go up the Kawishiwi River toward Clear Lake - before you get to Clear there are lots of cool areas of rapids and some real nice campsites. You might struggle to find privacy in these areas.

2) EP 49 to Skipper/Rush/Banadad...we went to Banadad, which is reachable in 4-5 hours from Poplar. I LOVED that lake, but it is not known for great fishing. You can pull some smallies out of it, but it won't likely be memorable for the fishing. It's kind of a dead end lake, so you could end up with lots of solitude...very few people "pass through." There's really only one nice site on the lake, but I'd say you have a 50/50 chance or better of getting it, and could make do with one of the others. It felt like we were alone for 100 miles when we were here.

3) EP 14 - Little Indian Sioux River to Lynx...lots of options besides Lynx if you go in here but that's where we headed. It's reachable in 4-5 hours. Loved that lake, and there are at least 3 top notch sites on it. We did not do so great with the fish here, but I think it holds plenty of fish - other people report good success.

4) EP 62 - Clearwater...again you have lots of options....we took a tow across the length of Clearwater, portaged into Caribou then Little Caribou and got the much-coveted lone site on LC. You can't really count on that as I think it's occupied probably about 95% of nights. You can go to West Pike or down to Pine, but I can't really report much about those lakes. Johnson's Falls is in this area, which is a cool spot to visit.

5) EP 4 - Crab Lake & Cummings...spring for the tow across Burntside and push for Cummings. One really *really* long portage into Crab, but it's not really hard, just long. Cummings has a grouping of about 5 different 5* sites on its east end, and tons of small smallmouth and some nice northerns. We found plenty of solitude and privacy on Cummings.

6) EP 38 - Sawbill....you have lots of options from here, but we chose to go west down Alton to Beth/Grace. I think if you make it to Grace the crowds thin significantly. Most of Beth was full, but Grace was completely empty. We camped on the north side of the lake and had non-stop Smallmouth action pretty much any time we tried. That site was just OK, and the only other site we visited on the lake was also mediocre. The river leading to Phoebe from Grace is a cool day trip.

Out of all those, they all had their charm and drawbacks for various reasons, but I'd probably recommend EP14 to Lynx or EP 4 to Cummings. Both are out of Ely so it would be something different for you guys.

Ok, now that I just re-read your message I guess all these trips probably feature more portaging than you guys are used to. If you've been going to Vernon that's just one 50-rod portage out of Brule. But there are options closer to the EP at all these spots, and hey, maybe you'll find you like travelling a bit...that first cocktail after you've put in some hard work to get to your site is a real treat ;-)
carmike
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07/27/2018 11:24PM  
Uff, that's some good advice there, treehorn. I can't think of many better.

One option would be to take a tow across Vermillion to Trout, and then head to Pine. Good fishing, decent solitude, and if you get adventurous on a day trip, there are some lakes within a day's travel that have a fish or three.
07/28/2018 11:36AM  
Here's a thought...Go in at Homer Lake and make your way across a couple short portages to Vern Lake. Two campsites there, both pretty good. The easternmost one is right across the lake from the mouth of the Vern River. We had decent luck fishing from camp , day and night. Walleyes, smallies and pike, some real nice smallies. But...take a daytrip up the Vern River for beautiful scenery, some big rocks and very good fishing. The river narrows in a few spots and we fished around there and caught some very nice smallies and eyes. The river itself is nice and wide and water level shouldn't be an issue. It's a great day trip.

There are other options for camping in the area with little to moderate portaging too...over on Pipe Lake or up to Juno...neither are very far. We found Vern to be a great location for fishing and daytrips. Heck, you can even camp on Homer and not portage at all...there are 3 sites on Homer and two of them are not in the BWCA. Those two are both very nice. The one at the west end of Homer Lake is in the BWCA and is okay. We just got back a few weeks ago and I did write a trip report with many photos.

Good Luck
07/28/2018 11:36AM  
Here's a thought...Go in at Homer Lake and make your way across a couple short portages to Vern Lake. Two campsites there, both pretty good. The easternmost one is right across the lake from the mouth of the Vern River. We had decent luck fishing from camp , day and night. Walleyes, smallies and pike, some real nice smallies. But...take a daytrip up the Vern River for beautiful scenery, some big rocks and very good fishing. The river narrows in a few spots and we fished around there and caught some very nice smallies and eyes. The river itself is nice and wide and water level shouldn't be an issue. It's a great day trip.

There are other options for camping in the area with little to moderate portaging too...over on Pipe Lake or up to Juno...neither are very far. We found Vern to be a great location for fishing and daytrips. Heck, you can even camp on Homer and not portage at all...there are 3 sites on Homer and two of them are not in the BWCA. Those two are both very nice. The one at the west end of Homer Lake is in the BWCA and is okay. We just got back a few weeks ago and I did write a trip report with many photos.

Good Luck
TuscaroraBorealis
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07/28/2018 03:52PM  
 
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