After 50ish trips I have never entered from LIS #14 so I think we might give it a try. I have this idea in my head that Lynx Lake is a beautiful place with good fishing and nice campsites and a good place to enjoy the BWCA. Also intrigued by Heritage Lake as a place to explore or possibly camp on the northern campsite. Thinking late may for 5-7 days. Any thoughts or comments on this area as a destination? About how long would it take two aging but experienced BWCA trippers to get to Lynx Lake from the entry at a moderate pace?

Would love to hear any info you might have about the area - fishing, solitude, scenery, portages, campsites or general thoughts. Is it a good choice? (are there bad choices up there?)

What would you recommend instead (if I have not already been there). Planning another trip for late August or early September - would this trip be better then for any reason?

Appreciate any comments.

My wife and I stayed Lynx once. We had the SE campsite (66) that is elevated. Beautiful spot with a great view, but if you have kids you might not like the potential to fall of the edge of a small cliff. The water is crystal clear. When it's in your bottle, it's perfectly clear. We only fished it the one evening. In the adjacent bay my wife had about a 7 or 8 lb walleye up to the side of the canoe, before I accidentally knocked it off with the net.

We were on a big clockwise loop, having gone up through Slim, North, Gun, Pocket, Gebe, Oyster, Hustler etc. When we left Lynx, we paddled and portaged all the way out. I think we probably left camp around 7 or 730 am (I don't recall exactly), and were in ely by 3 pm if memory serves. And that's with load up and drive time. The portage out of Shell to little indian sioux, was mucky on both sides, and had a little beaver pond in the middle of the portage, that I found you can't wade. Funny, I thought maybe I could wade through, and next thing I knew, the water was up to my arm pits, with a canoe on my shoulders. I had to back out, and put stuff in the canoe. The rest of those portages where relatively easy. I would definitely go back to lynx. it's a pretty lake, and interesting trip getting there.

I don't think I would recommend a day trip into Ruby/Hustler. There is a hill when you're headed east across that portage that would be brutal going that direction. Many people have posted about good walleye fishing on Shell. Seemed like a lot of traffic on that lake. I've heard people catch alot of eaters on Upper Pauness.

My wife and I aren't fast, and not particularly strong. We double portage. I think you could do it in 6 hours.

lindylair: "After 50ish trips I have never entered from LIS #14 so I think we might give it a try. I have this idea in my head that Lynx Lake is a beautiful place with good fishing and nice campsites and a good place to enjoy the BWCA. Also intrigued by Heritage Lake as a place to explore or possibly camp on the northern campsite. Thinking late may for 5-7 days. Any thoughts or comments on this area as a destination? About how long would it take two aging but experienced BWCA trippers to get to Lynx Lake from the entry at a moderate pace?

Would love to hear any info you might have about the area - fishing, solitude, scenery, portages, campsites or general thoughts. Is it a good choice? (are there bad choices up there?)

What would you recommend instead (if I have not already been there). Planning another trip for late August or early September - would this trip be better then for any reason?

Appreciate any comments. "

Love that area. The campsite mentioned above is an excellent choice. Heritage is fun to fish for both smallies and walleyes.
I think that north campsite on Heritage could be buggy if there during a wet season. Looks like a very “moosy” area.
I’ve got pretty good marked up maps of that area.
Email me if you’d like them

Lynx is one of my favorite lakes. I can make it to Shell in about 3 1/2 hours double portaging. It will probably take another 30 minutes to Lynx. There is a short portage in Little Shell and the channel between Little Shell and Lynx is usually navigable. Most traffic on Lynx is day trippers so you shouldn’t have trouble finding a site.
Lynx is a very clear lake so fishing can sometimes be a challenge. I’ve had days where I’ve caught over 20 walleye and days where I’ve caught none. The wind can be a good indicator as to where the walleyes might be. Also, late evening has also been a productive time for me. I’d definitely spend an entire day on Shell as it’s been a little more consistent. I’ve also caught several 40” northerns on Shell too. I’ve only fished Heritage a few time so I can’t give any advice there, but I’ve heard Walleye fishing can be good.
All three lakes are places I’ve seen moose and wolves. I’n fact I had a moose almost crash through my site on Lynx during the middle of the night before I scared it off.

Thanks Garrett, Dave and Ethan. Becoming convinced that this is a place I need to go to. Love to hear more if anyone has information or opinions.

Photography is a major activity for us on these trips . Although we are not on your level Ethan we enjoy it and get some decent results. How would you rate the area for photographic opportunity?

Definitely thumbs up! Right off the bat you’ve got Elm Portage, followed by Devil’s Cascade which should be flowing high at the end of May. I usually back track in the evening and photograph DC which makes for additional opportunities for moose.
There’s a creek that flows from Yodeler Lake into Lynx and also offers some small falls opportunities for photography. If you’re up for a little adventure, portage into Yodeler for largemouth bass.
I’ve photographed moose in the bay on Lynx where the portage to Heritage is located. Many opportunities to photograph eagles on Shell and of course loons. Also, beautiful white pines on the portage from Lynx to Ruby.

Yeah, that beaver dam on portage into shell is a fine piece of engineering. You could wade through it 10 years ago but it continues to grow. As far as Heritage goes; the one time I fished it I was just going to check out the portage. Grabbed my rod ( just in case) caught and released 3 bass before losing my lure on a rock. Nice sized too. No stringer so they went back in. Butthead and I did hear some dopes shooting at trees on that north site on Heritage. We packed out their brass. Idiots. Enjoy the area though.

pswith5: " Butthead and I did hear some dopes shooting at trees on that north site on Heritage. We packed out their brass. Idiots. Enjoy the area though."

Spent brass, empty shotgun shells and cigarette butts are not considered litter by avid outdoors people.

We did this trip this last May. Fishing was rough on Lynx, I was however able to get a 30" eye in the boat.

Fish the points on Lynx, the NE corner has excellent structure.

OH yeah, we didn't see a soul for the entire week which was pleasant.

Lynx and Heritage are two of our favorite lakes. Love this area for walleye, smallies and wildlife sightings. One of our fondest memories was witnessing a black bear chasing a cow moose in the shallows of Heritage. The moose made it by swimming across to the northern campsite while the bear stayed on the opposite shore. Quite a sight!

I entered EP14 in June 2016, so it's been a while, but I really liked the area. Much different than the Gunflint side, which is where I usually go. Double portaging, we made it to Hustler by mid afternoon. We were exhausted, but we made it.

I really liked Hustler. Good pike and smallmouth fishing. We took a day trip to Oyster and my partner caught a few lake trout. If you are going to Lynx and have 7 days, you might want to spend a couple days on Hustler.

We camped on Little Shell on the way back. The elevated site on Lynx was taken, but we fished all around the south end Lynx. Only caught small walleye. Beautiful lake though.

We exited from Little Shell with minimal effort. We spent the morning on Shell on our way out. We caught some fish, but it's a crowded destination lake. You will see others there. Still a nice lake.

As others mentioned, be careful on the Shell-Pauness portage. I sunk up to my waist in the muck. The beaver dam on the portage was quite the site to see.

LIS river is a serene paddle.

LetsGoFishing: "I entered EP14 in June 2016, so it's been a while, but I really liked the area. Much different than the Gunflint side, which is where I usually go. Double portaging, we made it to Hustler by mid afternoon. We were exhausted, but we made it.


I really liked Hustler. Good pike and smallmouth fishing. We took a day trip to Oyster and my partner caught a few lake trout. If you are going to Lynx and have 7 days, you might want to spend a couple days on Hustler.


We camped on Little Shell on the way back. The elevated site on Lynx was taken, but we fished all around the south end Lynx. Only caught small walleye. Beautiful lake though.


We exited from Little Shell with minimal effort. We spent the morning on Shell on our way out. We caught some fish, but it's a crowded destination lake. You will see others there. Still a nice lake.


As others mentioned, be careful on the Shell-Pauness portage. I sunk up to my waist in the muck. The beaver dam on the portage was quite the site to see.


LIS river is a serene paddle. "

The beaver dam blew out last spring and I was able to walk the entire portage without a problem mid June.

Hi lindylair,

The time I tried to camp on Lynx, all the sites were taken. We spent the night on Little Shell. After sleeping in and stopping for lunch and a coffee break on Shell, we also stopped to do some fishing on Lower Pauness. We reached the parking lot in time to change a flat tire and make it back to Ely in time for dinner. We double portage and take our time.

When I went through in June 2020 we had to float the beaver dam and named the portage from Shell to Pauness the double feature portage.




-rdg

I've done Lynx in August in 2017 and in early June in 2021. Both times were buggy and gorgeous, but the only time I camped there was in August. We really loved the site to the right of the Ruby portage. It has a sandy, shallow launch area and is only 3-4ft deep until you hit a drop off 30yrds from shore. In my opinion, the nicest site there. Plenty of tent pads/trees for hanging, awesome kitchen area, nice long path on the shoreline to fish from. August is definitely better for bass fishing and its a great walleye lake if you can get into them. In 2017 it took us about 5 hours to paddle out of lynx back to the EP and in 2021 it took us about 4 hours, mostly single portaging. It's only about 8 miles so it's a very doable distance in 1 day if you get an early start.
We came into lynx through heritage in 2017 and I have to say that personally it wasn't a very memorable lake. We are also looking at staying on heritage next August and giving the pike fishing a go as it's supposed to be pretty good there. I Read that the northern site was best and a great site for hanging. Ruby also has a lot to offer as far as scenery and water clarity if you have an extra day and the motivation to do that long portage.
My advice regarding ep 14 and routes would be to take the northern portage into lower pauness if you go in August as navigating through the lily pads is pretty difficult. If you go in may, the southern portage is very steep but very short and if the water is high enough you could potentially just walk the canoes through.
Good luck and happy planning!

Lynx is probably my most favorite lake in the BWCA. We had awesome fishing there and its beautiful as well. We stayed on Shell on the site that is closest to Little Shell.

"Love that area. The campsite mentioned above is an excellent choice. Heritage is fun to fish for both smallies and walleyes.
I think that north campsite on Heritage could be buggy if there during a wet season. Looks like a very “moosy” area.
I’ve got pretty good marked up maps of that area.
Email me if you’d like them""

preacherdave, I would love to see your maps of this area but there is no envelope below your name so I don't know how to email you. Feel free to send them to my email and much obliged. Any other comments other recommendations from you or others are much appreciated.

I have base camped on Shell a few times and really like the area. The campsite on the north side of Con Island is very nice and large. Fishing in the area is pretty good. Walleyes, smallies and pike on Shell. Pike caught in Heritage, and smallies caught in Little Shell. Did a daytrip over to Lynx but didn't fish it. It looked like a beautiful lake though. I echo the comments made by others on the portage from Lower Pauness to Shell - watch out for the connection at the beaver pond. It's deep. My buddy went in up to his chest in muddy waters first time through there.

Here's a few photos of the Con Island campsite and some fish tacos made from the eyes caught on Shell.

I’ll also be in that area in Late may. Thank you to everyone for all the excellent information!

Our group of three went into Lynx last year, week prior to Labor Day. Second time in and just as nice as the first. Not able to score the campsite El Supremo, but scored another just across the inlet. Fishing was a bit slow, owing to the weather and our general ineptness, but did manage fish tacos nightly.
Previous trip, and our first time on Lynx, we did get campsite El Supremo… it’s magical. Fishing was better (June), and did a couple explorations to Heritage and that little lake to the South who’s name escapes. Not impressed with Heritage.
The paddle in is uneventful, portages aren’t too difficult and Shell wasn’t too windy. Little Shell is a cool little lake with only one site IIRC.