BWCA Camping/fishing outside the BWCA Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Fishing Forum
      Camping/fishing outside the BWCA     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

thegildedgopher
distinguished member(1659)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/14/2018 11:52AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Curious to hear some of the favorite spots people have -- not looking for specific sites, just bodies of water or parks. Specifically interested in lakes that allow motorized boats. Bonus points for ideas outside of MN!

One of my favorites is the islands on the St. Croix river upstream of Stillwater, MN. Free, no reservations. Very much NOT a back-country type experience, but a great option closer to the twin cities.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
12/15/2018 03:46PM  
Boat based camping in the VNP is right up there with BWCA trips for me. It’s the same beautiful landscape as the BWCA, camp sites are just a bit more civilized but not enough to detract too much from the experience, I mean a nice bear locker isn’t the end of the world, I don’t always enjoy hiding food in the woods or stringing a line. The fishing can be phenomenal and it’s nice to have a cooler to bring a few walleyes home for the wife and kids. I like to go up in early June before the season gets fully underway, I like using Crane for my entry point and camping on Sandpoint so I have easy access to Crane, Sandpoint and Namakan as well as the little Vermillion River. A cunuk license would open up even more territory on Nam and Sand Point.
 
SaganagaJoe
distinguished member(2113)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/16/2018 07:47PM  
Hiking in the Cascades or Olympics of Washington State. I'll just post a few teaser pictures and a link to my page on WTA (Washington Trails Association.) Many of these could be trout fishing trips in high mountain lakes.

My WTA Page









 
12/16/2018 11:36PM  
SaganagaJoe,

Those are some awesome pics !
 
old_salt
distinguished member(2547)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/17/2018 12:11AM  
Alaska is pretty good.
 
12/17/2018 08:58AM  
When I used to live in Kentucky, and before my ex had my bass boat burned, I used to camp and fish Dale Hollow a lot.
 
12/17/2018 11:11AM  
SaganagaJoe: "Hiking in the Cascades or Olympics of Washington State. I'll just post a few teaser pictures and a link to my page on WTA (Washington Trails Association.) Many of these could be trout fishing trips in high mountain lakes.


My WTA Page














"



Very Cool, there are roads and boat launches to those lakes?
 
thegildedgopher
distinguished member(1659)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/17/2018 11:53AM  
Awesome feedback so far, thanks very much to everyone.

Ragged -- can you recommend an area of VNP that would have decent fishing and also be suitable for an older, shallow-V 14-foot boat with a 6hp motor? Or is the entire park kind of "big water?"

SaganagaJoe! -- Those pics from WA are just gorgeous!

Parkermag -- Great suggestion w/ Dale Hollow as I'm really looking for places outside the midwest to expand our adventure territory. I'd pose the same question to you as I asked Ragged above, re: ares suitable for my small boat ?

Thanks again!
 
old_salt
distinguished member(2547)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/17/2018 12:02PM  
A few Alaska fish from my last trip.
 
12/17/2018 12:07PM  
thegildedgopher: "Parkermag -- Great suggestion w/ Dale Hollow as I'm really looking for places outside the midwest to expand our adventure territory. I'd pose the same question to you as I asked Ragged above, re: ares suitable for my small boat ?"

Absolutely. That's a kind of nice thing about most of those southern "highland reservoirs". Despite their huge acreage, they fish/boat much smaller. Dale Hollow is close to 40,000 acres, but there's nowhere on the entire thing where you're not within 1/2 mile or so of shore.
 
thegildedgopher
distinguished member(1659)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/17/2018 12:18PM  
ParkerMag: "
thegildedgopher: "Parkermag -- Great suggestion w/ Dale Hollow as I'm really looking for places outside the midwest to expand our adventure territory. I'd pose the same question to you as I asked Ragged above, re: ares suitable for my small boat ?"

Absolutely. That's a kind of nice thing about most of those southern "highland reservoirs". Despite their huge acreage, they fish/boat much smaller. Dale Hollow is close to 40,000 acres, but there's nowhere on the entire thing where you're not within 1/2 mile or so of shore."


Awesome. Thanks!

And FWIW, I have an ongoing list of maybe 10-15 spots that I want to hit around the country. I will post them here when I can find them in case others are interested.
 
tarnkt
distinguished member (366)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
12/17/2018 01:44PM  
Lower Wisconsin river is pretty cool. Float your way down and camp on sandbars/islands. Without much knowledge or effort we managed a shore lunch of saugers and walleyes on the one day we fished.
 
12/17/2018 02:02PM  
thegildedgopher: "Awesome feedback so far, thanks very much to everyone.


Ragged -- can you recommend an area of VNP that would have decent fishing and also be suitable for an older, shallow-V 14-foot boat with a 6hp motor? Or is the entire park kind of "big water?"

Thanks again!"


Honestly I think the Fishing is pretty good just about anywhere up there, that big eye was caught on Crane. The 14foot would be fine but man.... that 6hp is a killer lol Its about 12 miles from Crane to the north end of Sandpoint. Once you got to the North End of Sandpoint you would be perfectly happy in the smaller boat, crossing the main part of Sandpoint might seem bigger but most of us here have done bigger water in canoes so a motor boat should be fine. All the islands on each side of the Nam narrows are fairly sheltered and productive, Nam proper might beat you up a bit if the wind is up.

You should look into a motorized BWCA trip, I've had tons of great trips on Saganaga with my 14 footer.
 
Basspro69
distinguished member(14142)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
12/17/2018 07:42PM  
thegildedgopher: "Curious to hear some of the favorite spots people have -- not looking for specific sites, just bodies of water or parks. Specifically interested in lakes that allow motorized boats. Bonus points for ideas outside of MN!

One of my favorites is the islands on the St. Croix river upstream of Stillwater, MN. Free, no reservations. Very much NOT a back-country type experience, but a great option closer to the twin cities."
There are many picturesque lakes and campgrounds just outside the Bwca that accommodate boats .
 
Basspro69
distinguished member(14142)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
12/17/2018 07:45PM  
old_salt: "A few Alaska fish from my last trip. "
Awesome
 
Basspro69
distinguished member(14142)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
12/17/2018 07:46PM  
SaganagaJoe: "Hiking in the Cascades or Olympics of Washington State. I'll just post a few teaser pictures and a link to my page on WTA (Washington Trails Association.) Many of these could be trout fishing trips in high mountain lakes.


My WTA Page











Gorgeous


"
Gorgeous
 
Basspro69
distinguished member(14142)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
12/17/2018 07:48PM  
Ragged: "Boat based camping in the VNP is right up there with BWCA trips for me. It’s the same beautiful landscape as the BWCA, camp sites are just a bit more civilized but not enough to detract too much from the experience, I mean a nice bear locker isn’t the end of the world, I don’t always enjoy hiding food in the woods or stringing a line. The fishing can be phenomenal and it’s nice to have a cooler to bring a few walleyes home for the wife and kids. I like to go up in early June before the season gets fully underway, I like using Crane for my entry point and camping on Sandpoint so I have easy access to Crane, Sandpoint and Namakan as well as the little Vermillion River. A cunuk license would open up even more territory on Nam and Sand Point. "
Very nice
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
Fishing Sponsor:
PackSack