Hey guys it’s been about 5 years since I’ve been to the BWCA and I’m thinking about returning in late may or June 2023. Looking for a low traffic base camp with great fishing no particular species just love fishing! Would like to leave out of ELY , 5-7 day trip , long day or 1 1/2 day paddle to base camp ok. Thanks in advance

Seclusion and fishing cannot be guaranteed but, I'll say Buck Lake from the Crab entry point.

Another lake in that area is Coxey Pond. Only one campsite with good bass and northern fishing.

One long day to a secluded area and great fishing?! We all wish it was that easy. Head to Quetico for better chances at those requirements


That said, I guess I'll throw a vote in for something in the Isabella area if you don't mind burn scar. Easy to get to, not very busy due to the burn. Quagda and those areas

I have taken trips with this criteria several times and the good news is you can’t go wrong.

With 1.5 days of travel you have pretty much the entire BWCA available to you.

Seclusion is likely given the distances you are willing to travel but is ultimately a crapshoot. I once had to take the last campsite on a fully occupied Adams lake. Or your target lake could have a single occupied campsite and you have to change it up.

Pretty much anywhere that deep in will offer good fishing. Check MN DNR lakefinder and search this board to confirm species and techniques.

Good luck and have fun!

P.S. - Beartrap Lake

My opinion is look to the west side. EP 16 is good if you stick to the inner lakes to the northwest. We spent 3 or 4 days in that area and only saw one or two other canoes. Gebe was a beautiful lake but probably more like a day and a half paddle.

In looking for solitude it might seem strange to propose Mudro Lake which is one of the busiest entry points. But it feeds a lot of different routes/trips and if you are willing to travel a bit you may find what you are looking for.

If you head west from Fourtown Lake to Boot and then north from there it leads to three potential basecamp spots that offer good fishing and are generally pretty quiet. Beartrap Lake has one campsite, a very nice one at that and if you get that you will have a lake to yourself. Just before Beartrap is Thunder Lake with a couple campsites and I think this is mainly a pass through lake for most folks. The DNR census numbers for walleyes are really good. South of there, if you head east on Gun down the long finger, throgh Bullet and go over to Moosecamp Lake I also think you may find solitude and good fishing. This is kind of off the beaten path but has good campsites and reportedly decent fishing. There is an adventurous trip option from here heading down the Moosecamp River which many say is pretty cool if water levels are good. Then head out through Fourtown which is a beautiful lake but busy.

If you go in this way be prepared to see people the first day but you will pass most of them by heading to the lakes I have proposed. No guarantees of course, but I think your odds of finding peace and quiet and decent fishing are pretty good here. It's a popular entry and area for a reason. Going in late May or early June will increase your odds, just before the summer rush starts.

I'll echo what Lindylair said in the previous post. I was thinking the exact same thing. To add: don't overlook Gun lake. You'll see a few people, but usually in the distance. I've spent a few nights on Gun over the past few years and have had good fishing and enjoyed good camp sites. I'd suggest sites 1083 and 1086. Both of them are good sites and are out of the way of most travel routes so if you do see people, they're in the distance a bit. Probably not as high up and secluded as you're asking about, but in my opinion, it's far enough in and serves as a fairly quiet lake with a few good camp sites and good fishing. As a major bonus, you can access 1-2 good fishing lakes from every portage out of Gun making for great day trips. Best part is, you're only going to travel a half day in to get there and a half day out to leave - allowing more time for fishing!

Hope this helps. Have a fantastic trip!

Building on both lindylair and PointMe2Polaris, you can keep going north to Crooked and there's lots of space up there with few people (although this was a trip we did 10 years ago). The Gun/Wagosh portage is long enough to keep the crowds away but not really bad. The final portage into Crooked is no fun if it's been raining. Entry day was Mudro to Gun, second day we made it to campsite 1855 on in the little bay between Thursday Bay and Wednesday Bay. Great site and we saw no one for two days in the first weekend in June. From there we went to Lower Basswood Falls for the last night and then back to Mudro on the way out through the Horse River. It's a big loop for just 5 days, if I did it again, I might want to do 7 and explore more of Crooked Lake.

We had decent fishing but we never catch a ton of fish.

Little Saganaga Lake - 1.5 to 2 days from several entries (55, 51, 52, 37, 38) . Lots of fishing species. Not many people willing to work to get there. Great campsites. Not going to feel crowded. Day-trips available to several other fishing waters.

I agree with Kalvan. If you're up for a bit of a loop trip and satisfied with a 3 night base camp on a 6-7 day trip, his route is excellent! Did almost Kalvans exact trip with 4 other guys in 2020 and we all agreed that it was our favorite trip, even though we are typically more base-campers as opposed to loopers. We layed over one night on Gun, then went up to crooked on day 2 and base camped on it's northern edge for 3 nights on site 1873 (A very good site we called the Crab Claw Site as you'll see why if you search for it on a map). We then traveled down to Basswood falls and stayed a night. Then through Horse River to Horse Lake for 1 night and out the next day. I think Kalvan would agree. You can't go wrong with this route!

Note: The only change to this trip I would make is to reverse the route. The water runs north, so this would make your 10-12 mile paddle from basswood falls to upper Crooked Lake (IE. Thursday or Friday Bay) much easier. Day one, stay near basswood falls, Day's 2-5 stay on crooked and then spend the next 1- 2 days working your way out via Gun and Fourtown Lakes.