Hey guys, I'll be up at Gunflint lake this coming Sunday - Thurs for my first time in the boundary waters. I hope to fish nearly the entire time and I'll be solo for most of it. Looking for anything that's biting, but I'd love to catch my first ever laker and some walleyes more than anything. Smallies would be a nice bonus for fun.

Which lakes would you suggest? Stay on gunflint, or maybe try one of the surrounding lakes such as Magnetic, North, South, Little Gunflint etc? Thanks!

where you can get a permit that busy week.

I'm staying at the Gunflint Lodge. They told me that they have permits that they give out to the guests who are staying with them at no cost. All I'll need to do is fill something out and sign it each day that I wish to enter from their property on to the lakes.

are you using a boat or a canoe? you could try round lake and/or portage to missing link lake; birch lake, loon lake, iron/little iron lakes; a few short portages will get you into ham lake.
if you are solo, you definitely want to be using a boat to get you to little gunflint and north lakes.
if you want to do a bit more work you could head to south via topper, fun times!

of the lakes i've listed, only missing link and topper/south are in the BWCA, so that day pass you're describing will be needed.

quote Portlis: "I'm staying at the Gunflint Lodge. They told me that they have permits that they give out to the guests who are staying with them at no cost. All I'll need to do is fill something out and sign it each day that I wish to enter from their property on to the lakes. "

Than your day tripping and you can see a lot of area in a day. Clearwater would be a good day trip also. They are all nice.

quote Mocha: "are you using a boat or a canoe? you could try round lake and/or portage to missing link lake; birch lake, loon lake, iron/little iron lakes; a few short portages will get you into ham lake.
if you are solo, you definitely want to be using a boat to get you to little gunflint and north lakes.
if you want to do a bit more work you could head to south via topper, fun times!


of the lakes i've listed, only missing link and topper/south are in the BWCA, so that day pass you're describing will be needed."

Thanks so much for the response.

I'll be using a canoe, but I don't mind a little work. So yes, I'll be day tripping each day that I'm there. I was actually planning on paddling to Little Gunflint and North. Bad idea? I realize they're a few miles away, but that doesn't seem so bad depending on the weather/wind.

Some of the other lakes you mentioned, such as little iron, Loon, and especially Topper and Missing Link actually seem more inaccessible to me, looking at google maps. I won't have a vehicle capable of hauling a canoe unfortunately, and I'm assuming that's how I'd need to get there. Even if I did have canoe hauling capability, how would I get to a lake like Missing Link? It looks completely inaccessible to me. I'm probably showing my newbie side right now...

portlis~ gunflint outfitters (across the road from gunflint lodge) would take a canoe to round lake so you could venture into missing link. you'd follow the driver to round lake, do your thing, then come back to the Outfitters and tell them you're done and they'll go pick up the canoe. same with Little Iron, Loon, Ham, and Mayhew/Topper. you really don't want to spend your preciouse time paddling 7 miles to the end of gunflint (that's with no fishing on the way) and then have to paddle back... your day trips can be kept loose and based on the wind and weather each day. ~ mocha

quote Mocha: "portlis~ gunflint outfitters (across the road from gunflint lodge) would take a canoe to round lake so you could venture into missing link. you'd follow the driver to round lake, do your thing, then come back to the Outfitters and tell them you're done and they'll go pick up the canoe. same with Little Iron, Loon, Ham, and Mayhew/Topper. you really don't want to spend your preciouse time paddling 7 miles to the end of gunflint (that's with no fishing on the way) and then have to paddle back... your day trips can be kept loose and based on the wind and weather each day. ~ mocha"

Awesome. See, this is the sort of thing that's incredibly helpful to a newbie like me. I didn't even know that was an option. I just want to catch some walleyes, smallies, and at least 1 lake trout. That's my goal. How I accomplish that goal has yet to be determined lol.

Is fishing gunflint lake itself a bad idea? DNR reports look promising at least, but there seems to be more positive reports from north and south.