The original plan was for me and the husband to go to Quetico in June... but we would like to take a BWCA trip with our kiddo. Yes. I know we could take her to the Q too... but for now, we'd like to go to the Q just the two of us....

Tentatively we plan to take our Quetico trip next October - over MEA weekend and ship MiniMN off to the grand parents.

So... that brings us back to the drawing board.
Main goal is fishing & relaxing. (We LOVE top-water SMB fishing in particular)...
Semi-solitude. We don't mind seeing people, but don't want to come to a draw in the middle of the lake with 4 other canoes all looking for a campsite... or have the portages completely BOMBARDED with people on them.

Thoughts? Please vote or suggest another ;-) We're up for maybe moving twice total over a week period.

1.) Crab lake - basecamp on Cummings, or Crab and take daytrips... yes I know the portage in is VERY long. I'd plan to motivate MiniMN with treats along the way. TBD on a tow.

2.) Gabbro - Either base on Gabro, or Turtle/Clearwater/Pietro etc... Yes, I've heard that Gabbro is like a state park in terms of being busy, but does the fishing at least compensate?

3.) Snowbank - Parent/Dissapointment/Ahsub/Jordan/Boot ? I hear this also is really busy....

4.) Sawbill - To the Fire Lakes

5.) Baker - Out and back to S. Temperance

6.) E. Bearskin to Canoe, or maybe up to Caribou and back around?

7.) Missing Link Lake and basecamp on Tuscaurora. yes - again I know. Beast portage to Tuscaurora but will bribe kid with treats on the portages ;-)

8.) Duncan Lake to Rose.

9.) John Lake

Okay.. I realized just now I could keep going on... lol.... So these are my top choices.... any top contenders, or any other ideas that I'm completely missing? I think I've posted enough on here that you know what my family likes and doesn't like etc to help form an opinion.

Thanks everyone!

to meet your goals of fishing and solitude.....I pick #1

Baker to South Temperance - Love the Lake. The issue is that there are only 4 campsites on the lake and that it is also easy access from Brule Lake. There can be an issue finding a site. There is also North Temperance that is only a 55 rod portage away and a couple of campsites on the west end of Brule.

Can I suggest a different direction from Sawbill? Go west to Grace Lake instead. It is about a half day travel to Grace and you will find good SMB fishing there. (Don't forget to fish Beth Lake on your way out for more SMB action.)

+1

I also like the Fire lakes to the east. I did a short solo trip over to Burnt and had a great time. Would be good for kids. Easy portages, good exploring, and decent fishing for both SMB and walleyes.

Personally, I can't offer much insight into many of these routes but, I'll enlighten you with my experiences on the Snowbank route.

Because this is notoriously a fishing route you're not likely to have much solitude in June until you're North and East of Jordan Lake. We spent 4 days in the area starting through Moose, Splash and Ensign Lakes and going south through Ashigan, spending two nights on Jordan then out through Disappointment exiting at Snowbank. At 6:00 am on our entry day there were four groups already waiting to cross the Splash lake portage when we arrived, by 7:30 am I counted 23 canoes in sight from the Ensign lake portage. Pretty much all of them heading East. There are only two directions to leave Ensign Lake so that does a lot in explaining where all those canoes were headed. As we paddled through Ensign I didn't spot a single available campsite.

On our exit route we'd planned to stay one day and night on the South end of Disappointment before exiting through Parent and Snowbank. There wasn't a campsite to be had on Disappointment by noon that day. We ended up sharing the last available site on Parent with a solo paddler headed the same direction. On the plus side, that 24 hours on Parent Lake is likely to be one of the best days fishing I've ever experienced. Catching plenty of Small Mouth for a good meal, and 30+ Northern Pike. Four of which were 34" plus in length.

So, in our experiences within the area during June is that you're likely to find Dissappointment completely full. Ahsub has one nice campsite that is regularly full. You'll find lots of traffic at portages throughout the whole route. Jitterbug lake is pretty much a weedy marsh with about 2 feet of water covering unknown depths of mud and crowded, muddy portages on both ends.

Jordan, on the other hand, is a pretty lake. If you happen to get the furthest south site (site 1201) you'll have lots of solitude, but there is a lot of through traffic on the main part of the lake it just doesn't matter because 1201 is secluded in a bay that can't be seen from the main part of the lake.

Cattyman Falls is worth a look, too.

I'd like to spend more time in the area, maybe in October, or late September, but not June if you're looking for solitude.

Out of Sawbill. Kid friendly area, nice campground for night before/after. You can walk down to the store and pick up a souvenir and anything you forgot. Fire Lakes = good fishing but more people. Head west to Beth/Grace = less people but long portage to Grace and great SMB fishing in Grace.

quote salukiguy: "Out of Sawbill. Kid friendly area, nice campground for night before/after. You can walk down to the store and pick up a souvenir and anything you forgot. Fire Lakes = good fishing but more people. Head west to Beth/Grace = less people but long portage to Grace and great SMB fishing in Grace."

Thanks for the ideas to head over to Grace. I'll have to read some trip reports.

Thanks also for your insight to Snowbank. Sounds like you said... a good October trip.

quote cowdoc: "to meet your goals of fishing and solitude.....I pick #1"

You know, I've almost gone this route 3 separate times.... This is always my go-to route, and then I bail and get swooned into another route ... perhaps its time to push on and try it out. ;-)



Love the insight and suggestions folks! This is the fun part for me. Three months of delicious planning on where to put in... and then come the end of January... I always get my permit on opening day/hour/minute.

quote MNLindsey80: "

quote salukiguy: "Out of Sawbill. Kid friendly area, nice campground for night before/after. You can walk down to the store and pick up a souvenir and anything you forgot. Fire Lakes = good fishing but more people. Head west to Beth/Grace = less people but long portage to Grace and great SMB fishing in Grace."

Thanks for the ideas to head over to Grace. I'll have to read some trip reports.


Thanks also for your insight to Snowbank. Sounds like you said... a good October trip."

I've camped for extended periods on Grace going out of Sawbill several times. The campsite at the far northeast end is good ( No. 865). I would give it a 3.5 - 4 because it has a large pretty flat area towards the east that is pretty flat, and it is a great area to suntan, lounge around, and swim. It is about a 2-3 rod walk through the woods shore from the main campsite. Hardly anyone goes that far east to get to that campsite on Grace, as it is a dead end, except for the Ella Lake portage, which is a nasty portage.

The portage to Ella from Grace is a very large ankle snapping rock garden for quite a ways. Poor landing too. Might be a decent day trip, if you are sure-footed. As I recall, there are some decent size Northern's in Ella. Ella is a very shallow lake. I camped on Ella once with my son, and it was people-free.

The campsites on the south side of Grace are pretty bad. I was stuck there for two days with a buddy during a multi-day cold drizzle. If it wasn't for the brandy and "other stuff" we would have had a bad time.

Tomster

My suggestion would be to go the last week or so of May, avoiding Memorial Day either before or after. Then pick the route you want to go on the most and enjoy it before the crowds are there. We have gone the week before Memorial Day 3 of the last 4 years and have enjoyed very nice weather, no bugs to speak of and very few people. If you can make it work, it takes "busy" out of the equation.

Of your routes, all offer something good. Baker to the Temperance lakes is one of my favorites. Just went to Gabbro this May and the beauty and the fishing were excellent. Had our pick of campsites on the way in too:) Going in May changes the question from what is the least offensive route to where do I want to go the most!!

quote lindylair: "My suggestion would be to go the last week or so of May, avoiding Memorial Day either before or after. Then pick the route you want to go on the most and enjoy it before the crowds are there. We have gone the week before Memorial Day 3 of the last 4 years and have enjoyed very nice weather, no bugs to speak of and very few people. If you can make it work, it takes "busy" out of the equation. "

This is usually our go-to week since our daughter is usually out of school the week before Memorial Day weekend.... Usually we have no bugs, snow somtimes, and not too many people.... unfortunately this year that is NOT the case... bummer....

I've addressed your possible routes by number. I'm not familiar with the Gabbro or Sawbill routes.

1. Done it as a solo. Portage is long, but no problem. Get a tow across Burntside, though. I did a portage clearing trip there once, also, in early May. Lots of possibilities, to include a loop daytrip.

3. Very busy. Disappointment is like Lake One…easy to get to, and it caters to paddlers with coolers, tarps and beer. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you'll have company. Going more north is a good idea, though it's a popular route. I can recommend several campsites for you in the area. Pictographs and Cattyman Falls are nice stopovers. I also know of a logging relic (not much of one) on Ima. We did this in mid-May last year and it was quite popular. And that was before school was out.

5. The small stretch between Baker and Peterson Lake can be a rock garden in low water, and a sporty upstream (albeit brief) paddle in the spring. It's basically the Temperance River flowage, so it has (conceivably) a bit of current. Good daytrip possibilities. Nice campsite on Temperance.

6. This is a nice possibility. Did it as a solo. Lots of long east-west water. Johnson Falls, I think it's a fairly bassy area. You'll have company though as it's a fairly easy route.

7. Portage is a beast, but worth the other side. Tuscarora is a beautiful lake, and Little Sag even more so. Lots of islands make Little Sag potentially fishy, though I'm not much of a fisherman.

The portages may be too much for the child, especially the Missing Link portage, which is hillier and rockier than the portage into the Crab/Cummings area. I think you'll probably have some solitude on the East Bearskin route, though others may have different opinions. Some of that area (Flour Lake) is open, at least part, to motors if I remember correctly. I know of some secret treasures in that area.

How about Bower Trout? I can discuss with you further backchannel or over lunch sometime?

Mike

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Alright.

Done.


I'm (I mean we're) going to Crab/Cummings.


I've wanted to go since end of 2014 - its high time I don't chicken out for the alleged 40+ wolf pack in the area.... Because... lets be honest. That's why I haven't ben yet....


I hear the fishing is legendary - and i plan to provide high bribery to the kid on the 420 ? rod portage from Burntside to Crab in the form of awesome suckers, and girl scout cookies! Will likely base on Crab, or nearby and daytrip all around from there.

Tow is TBD, but thinking of towing there, and on the out - if water is ridiculous we can always stay on the USFS campsite on Burntside just north of the portage, and take our time paddling back.....

YAY! Crossing off a bucket list item. Its not the Q.... but I'm really excited about this trip.