We are making our first trip to the BWCA and our plan is to base camp for four days on Knife lake. We hope to spend most of that time fishing. I have seen from other reports that this lake seems to support most all of the species. We will ge going the 2nd week in September. Can someone tell me what we can expect from your experience in this area.

this is the little map I made up from trips in june usually, but have been in sept several times and the fishing is good too, look for underwater humps for decent walleyes and smallies.

I have found that most of Knife is good, i dont know if it matters where u go specifically but find what is working and you should do well. I have never been there (in 7 trips) in Sept so i dont know what to tell you about that time of year but in June, Knife can be real good.

I would focus on the bays and points...deep drops for Walleye...so on.

Thanks The advice and map will help. Even if we didn't catch any fish the trip will be great. Just being there is what it's all about.

Lots of fun water to fish on this body of water! Some of this water can be too deep with fast drop offs...look for the more gradule humps, drops, and points....preferably the ones with softball to basketball sized (or bigger but not too big) rocks and boulders. This should be the areas you will find the walleyes and smallies. If you stick a walleye note your setup and duplicate it. Every time I have fished the lake one specific setup/blade color out produces the others.

Magic

Thanks Magic I will make a note of your advice. Finding the fish is fun but catching them is the ultimate goal.

Any chance you have a map with information on the North end of Knife? i'm looking for big smallies, should I target weeds and vegetation?

What entry point will you utilize to get to South Knife? If seagull lake is the entry, does anyone know how long approximately it takes to get to south knife? THanks!

Done it about a dozen times. About 8-8.5 hours double portaging. What I like about this route is once you get Seagull behind you, it's all nice paddles and fairly short portages, but seagull does not always cooperate.

From landing to Alpine portage, 1 hour 45 min. is a good time. Ogish, the 2nd longest paddle, is always 1 hour 10min.

One year we came out of the SAK in 6 hour 20min. (lighter and it was the coldest opener I've been on (the snow was flying sideways) and part of my group was from Texas as they wanted to see their vehicles ASAP. LOL.

Anyone have any lick near dorothy's house?

mcsweem: "this is the little map I made up from trips in june usually, but have been in sept several times and the fishing is good too, look for underwater humps for decent walleyes and smallies. "

Just a friendly reminder that you can't use bluegills for bait in Minnesota.

ngd573: "Any chance you have a map with information on the North end of Knife? i'm looking for big smallies, should I target weeds and vegetation? "

No at that time of the year I would be focusing on mid lake structures. Get a topo of the area you want to base camp and key on the sunken island and then work those areas from the top of the reef all the way around to the deep water located near the reef. At that time of the year don’t be afraid to try 30 to 40 feet deep near the reef.

Looking like I will make my first trip to knife lake for my first BWCA and I loved that on your map it points out where you saw a lot of bears . haha! I love bears from a distance of course and seeing them in the wild does not bother me. Have you been up to knife recently and is there still a lot of bear activity?

Knife and Kekekabic are popular destination lakes. Campsite bear visitations are not uncommon on either lake and have happened for years in this area. Keep a clean campsite and hang your food. I usually just stash my food but on these lakes I do hang.

Mike any suggestions on yellow perch on Knife? Would love to get in a mess of those
Thanks
Bulldog

bulldogtwo: "Mike any suggestions on yellow perch on Knife? Would love to get in a mess of those
Thanks
Bulldog"

they (DNR) have netted perch on knife lake , but the population is extremely low , not worth the effort to target perch.

The water is clear so, you may want to fish deeper than you are used to.

With a west north west wind did great off Robbins island ( west end)

scoobe421: "Anyone have any lick near Dorothy's house?"

I have gone with my girlfriend a few times but I'm not gonna say what we did.

KarlBAndersen1: "

scoobe421: "Anyone have any lick near Dorothy's house?"

I have gone with my girlfriend a few times but I'm not gonna say what we did.


"

High five brother!

I made my first trip to the Knife two years ago around the same time you are going. The Knife Lake water is clear compared to the tea colored water of many of the other lakes. That can make walleye fishing a challenge. The second week of September the walleye are down deep. We found then off islands at 28'-30'. Without a depth finder it will be hard to locate the right depth. Our group got 20 walleye trolling with a Little Joe yellow and hot pink speckled spinner with a night crawler. Put 2 to 3 sinkers (1/4 oz) above the swivel for trolling at depths of 28'-30'.

Smallmouth were found off inlands and points. We used 1/4 oz unpainted jig heads with Zoom water melon seed twister tails. The color of these tails mimic a leech and are good for walleye too.

Good luck.

^^^ i like your adaptation adding 2 or 3 sinkers to your little joe rigs ,
i would often double-triple up on sinkers when shore fishing from camp when the wind would pick up.