A buddy and myself are planning a quick trip to the BWCA next September. Planning to go in on a Friday morning, paddle a few hours, find camp early that afternoon and base camp/explore from there until Sunday. Not looking to cover a ton of distance, but a portage or two would be fine. Good fishing is a big part of the trip, targeting walleye and pike mainly, but catching a Laker is on my bucket list. Looked at doing the Duncan/Rose Lake area, which my buddy has done before, but he didn't think the fishing is all that great on those lakes.

So, any advice on routes/lakes/areas that are fairly short to get to, provide good base camping and good fishing for walleye/pike? Entry point number and lake name(s) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

BTW - new to this site/board and the BWCA. Learning a ton here, and totally jacked for next September!!

#16 Moose River North Entry Point
Travel to and camp on Agnes. Good fishing for Walleye and Pike. Good day trip options including Lake Trout fishing on Oyster.

You could go to Crocodile off East Bearskin and be in camp in a couple hours double portaging. Camp on west end and explore to east end. Not sure about pike or Lakers but you should see wallies and perch for sure. Easy short trip with one portage.

quote BigCurrent: "#16 Moose River North Entry Point
Travel to and camp on Agnes. Good fishing for Walleye and Pike. Good day trip options including Lake Trout fishing on Oyster.
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+1 - I agree - this is one of our favorite routes. If you have time, head north to Tiger Bay and the pictographs on the rock wall at Irving Island. Since your paddle partner has been on the east side - this might be a good time to try the west - Echo trail option.

Oh, and by the way - Welcome to the board!

quote BigCurrent: "#16 Moose River North Entry Point
Travel to and camp on Agnes. Good fishing for Walleye and Pike. Good day trip options including Lake Trout fishing on Oyster.


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By sticking to your desire to not travel too far in this would make a great option. The side trip over to Oyster to scratch your lake trout itch is also a nice option.

Another route to look at would be entering at #23 Mudro and camping on either Horse or Fourtown. Both lakes have decent fishing but you won't find any lakers there. A day trip up to Lower Basswood Falls and the pictographs just north of there would be a nice day trip.

Welcome to the site!

Knowing nothing about the fishing at all, Maybe entering at Brule and taking the Cone lakes route up to Winchell for your base camp would be a good option. Couple easy portages and you're on Winchell. Winchell is a nice long lake with lots of campsites but not wide... so it doesn't get as "big water" as Brule does, but it gives you a lot to day trip on by itself, and there are a couple other options easy to get to from there.

Like I said, I know nothing of the fishing there, so I can't speak to it.

The drawback is that being that close to Brule, you're probably not going to get much in the way of solitude (relative to the more remote areas) ... but in September you shouldn't see too many people anyway, especially if you go after Labor Day.