BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
Entry Point 20 - Angleworm Lake
Angleworm Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 18 miles. Access is a 640-rod portage to Angleworm Lake.
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1260 feet
Latitude: 48.0659
Longitude: -91.9303
Angleworm Lake - 20
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1260 feet
Latitude: 48.0659
Longitude: -91.9303
Angleworm Lake - 20
Crooked Lake 4th July 2015
by MDMark
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 30, 2015
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
10
Group Size:
5
Trip Introduction:
Our planning for this adventure began back in the fall of 2014 as my best friend Dan and I agreed the summer of 2015 was a go for another Boundary Water trip. It would be my second and Dan’s third trip to the BWCA. We were hoping on bringing some friends and family along for the trip. Our party ended up consisting of myself, my 12 year old nephew Nathanial, Dan, his wife Julie and their 9 year old son Tucker. With consideration to the group going I suggested a fun family trip; perhaps exploring the numbered lakes. Dan would have none of it; we were going to find a great remote fishing lake. We settled on a 10 day Crooked Lake loop. The planning went into full force throughout the winter and spring of 2015 as we combed over magazines, blogs and made way too many purchases on line. I am thankful for the advice given by Jason Zabokrtsky of Ely Outfitting Service, as well as many members of BWCA.COM including some great fishing tips from Quetico Mike and others.
We caravanned west from our home state of Maryland in two vehicles. We had a great trip through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan stopping in Marquette for a night. We arrived late the next afternoon in Ely where we would spend one night camping at Shagawa Inn Resort and the following night at the Ely Outfitting Services new bunkhouse. We really enjoyed spending time in Ely meeting some of the locals, making last minute purchases at goodwill, buying fishing licenses and leeches, and enjoying a great little town.
Day 2 of 10
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 Up early and on the road around sunrise we arrived at the entry point to find only mosquitos to greet us. We unloaded and shuttled down to the portage. Everyone seemed to handle their loads ok, which was good considering we had packed everything but the kitchen sink. We would not be starving on this trip. Down the creek and across Mudro in a nice breeze gave our paddle muscles a chance to warm up. We spoke to some folks headed in the opposite direction on Sandpit who had seen a bear on the previous portage. We would not have the same luck but did manage to catch the first fish of the trip near the landing of Tin Can Mike. My nephew Nathanial, who has an insatiable appetite for fishing, was the first to catch a fish. Back in the boat I had my nephew store the rods for the paddle. What a pretty lake this was; beautiful with good fishing to boot. Dan had not stored his rod while paddling across Tin Can Mike and caught a really nice smallmouth on a Five of Diamonds.[paragraph break] Nathanial and I paddle ahead, up Fourtown, to locate a good unoccupied site. We ended up with the island site at the far northern end. It is a beautiful site with multiple tent pads that looked south across the lake. We spent the afternoon fishing, swimming, eating and relaxing. 
Day 4 of 10
Wednesday, July 01, 2015 After a nice breakfast of fresh eggs and bacon we loaded up to travel again. We slowly made our way down the Horse River encountering a little traffic in both directions. As I paddled my nephew took the time to learn how to work the Zulu. He had great success catching a couple of nice bass in the 18 inch range. I finally got in on the action at a some of the landing pools and caught a couple of mid-sized bass. At the last portage I realized I had left my lifejacket up river. Our team split up. Dan, Julie and Tucker went ahead to find a good site near Lower Basswood Falls while Nathanial and I paddled up stream in an empty boat to retrieve my life jacket at the last portage. It was a very peaceful afternoon with many ducks and other birds quietly going about their business. I was a little concerned that we would not find a site close to LBF but was relieved when looking across from the Canadian side of the river I could see Dan and Julie’s tent perched high on a bluff at one of our favorite campsites of the trip. We enjoyed an afternoon around camp and went fishing near dusk where Nathanial caught another half dozen or so bass. Poor Tucker went out fishing with his dad and once again came back skunked. 
Day 6 of 10
Friday, July 03, 2015 The boys continued in the morning to try and catch the “camp bass” to no avail. We packed up the headed west towards our intended destination; Friday Bay. We experienced stiff winds for the first time on the trip as we paddled down the narrows towards Big Current. We stopped and fished from shore and from boat at Big Current. We caught a couple small bass but nothing to write home about. Finally, as we were getting ready to leave Nathanial caught a nice 24” walleye, which we keep for that evening’s first fish meal of walleye mac and cheese. The wind really challenged us as we rounded the bend and entered the top of Thursday Bay. After finding one camp taken and not thrilled with the site a the east end of ? island we settled on a nice site on the smaller island just before entering Friday Bay. It had a nice protected landing site with a great tent pad as well as a couple of smaller tent pads down a trail along the water. This would be home for the next couple of days. We proceeded to set up a proper camp with a hammock, rain-fly and a red, white and blue string of pendants my wife had sewn for me out of handkerchiefs to help celebrate our Nations birthday. [paragraph break] We went fishing again nearing dark. We caught some nice fish on the backside of ? island, including a 26” pike. We ended up in the far back corner where Nathanial caught another nice18 inch bass on a Baby 13 in frog pattern. Tucker was still skunked as the end of the day; he still had not caught a fish on the entire trip. 
Day 8 of 10
Friday, July 03, 2015 The boys continued in the morning to try and catch the “camp bass” to no avail. We packed up the headed west towards our intended destination; Friday Bay. We experienced stiff winds for the first time on the trip as we paddled down the narrows towards Big Current. We stopped and fished from shore and from boat at Big Current. We caught a couple small bass but nothing to write home about. Finally, as we were getting ready to leave Nathanial caught a nice 24” walleye, which we keep for that evening’s first fish meal of walleye mac and cheese. The wind really challenged us as we rounded the bend and entered the top of Thursday Bay. After finding one camp taken and not thrilled with the site a the east end of ? island we settled on a nice site on the smaller island just before entering Friday Bay. It had a nice protected landing site with a great tent pad as well as a couple of smaller tent pads down a trail along the water. This would be home for the next couple of days. We proceeded to set up a proper camp with a hammock, rain-fly and a red, white and blue string of pendants my wife had sewn for me out of handkerchiefs to help celebrate our Nations birthday. [paragraph break] We went fishing again nearing dark. We caught some nice fish on the backside of ? island, including a 26” pike. We ended up in the far back corner where Nathanial caught another nice18 inch bass on a Baby 13 in frog pattern. Tucker was still skunked as the end of the day; he still had not caught a fish on the entire trip.
Day 9 of 10
Saturday, July 04, 2015 Nathanial and I slept in late. Dan had woken up early and caught a few fish off the top of ? island, just across the channel. We had a nice lazy morning with a big brunch of pancakes and bacon. Nathanial had gone off exploring the island and fishing. He came back to report he had seen a big pike off the southern point. So I told Tucker to get his rod and let’s go. We had to bush whack through a lot of undergrowth to get to the point. I helped Tucker with his cast and swapped out a few lures. No sign of the big pike. I tied on a small gold rapala for Tucker and had him stand on a blocky bolder close to the water. As he reeled it in for the second or third time we saw a fish dart out and grab the lure. The little guy fought hard but soon Tucker landed his first fish; a nice rock bass. The only one we would catch the entire trip. His skunked streak was broken! He was a happy boy.[paragraph break] We all went out fishing in the afternoon trolling lures halfway down Friday Bay and towards Saturday Bay. We had a lot of success catching many walleye and pike. Julie also broke her skunked streak by catching a couple of nice fish. Again walleye for dinner along with some 4th of July moonshine to celebrate. [paragraph break] We all went out fishing again in the evening. One of our best outing. We caught many niced sized bass in the cove on the front of ? island. We all ended up fishing at a spot with-in view of camp where water moved over a shallow reef. We caught a few fish. Dan, Julie and Tucker headed back to camp first. I got my lure snagged and was struggling to keep from getting tangled when I hear Dan yelling from camp. I can see his boat drifting from camp is the fading light. Dan jumps into the lake and swims in all his clothing to rescue his canoe. Nathanial and I quickly head back to camp to find Dan trying to get into dry clothing in the worst swarm of mosquitos I had ever seen. We spent the rest of the 4th of July celebrating with a campfire, good conversation and more of Uncle Mark’s “ cough medicine”. 
Day 10 of 10
Sunday, July 05, 2015 Up late again. We are concerned about the weather report we here on the radio. They are calling for high winds, thunderstorms and a load of rain late in the day. Dan and I spend the morning making sure there are no dangerous trees limbs near our tents and better securing the rain-flys. Then we go fishing and exploring. We found the old car on the Canadian side of the lake. Tucker catches a 27” pike which ends up the biggest fish of the trip. The storm does not disappoint. It rained heavily from 4-8 pm with a lot of distant thunder. We were hearing reports of gale force winds to the south and west. Thankfully it was only heavy rain we dealt with. The lake rose at least a couple of feet before night fall. We had a late wet dinner. 
Day 11 of 10
Monday, July 06, 2015 We again wake up late and the crew decides to break camp and begin heading home. There was a strong cross wind out of the north-west as we canoed down Friday Bay. I caught a 23” walleye and Nathanial caught a 17” bass off a reef near the bottom of the bay. At the very bottom of the bay there was a small stream entering the lake. We dubbed it the “Bass Hole” after catch 6 nice bass on Zulus over the next 20 minutes. Dan ended up with a 19” bass, the biggest of our trip.[paragraph break] We then headed up out of Crooked on the muddiest trail I has seen in years. My poor nephew had been sent on this trip with what I call “water slippers” by my brother. Carrying the now lighter food pack which probably still weighed nearly 50 lbs., Nathanial got stuck in the mud multiple times losing his slippers. He wanted to bring a machete on the trip (I would not let him) but I bet next time he brings a decent pair of water shoes or boots. We cruise through Papoose, Chippewa and Niki; all pretty little lakes. We end up camping at the one site on Wagosh. It was a fair little site perched up high on a bluff but had the foulest latrine I have ever experienced. We did a little fishing around camp and on the lake. Nathanial caught a perch but Dan, Julie and Tucker had much better luck on the other side of the lake. 
Day 12 of 10
Tuesday, July 07, 2015 We headed up the mile long portage trail fairly early the next day. On the first trip across the trail, while carrying his three person canoe Dan’s back went out. I hurried back to help him but he soldiered on finishing the portage on his own. Julie, Nathanial and I divided his gear up for our second trip to give his back a rest. Although not back to normal his back did manage to hold up the rest of the trip. We worked our way to Fairy Lake where we took the nice camp site close to the portage. Nathanial and I fished hard that afternoon, working back up to Gun and even Gull Lake with mild success. Upon our return to camp we heard about the camp snake that keep aggressively chasing the crew. It was just a small garter snake but after moving it into the bushes three times Dan put it in one of our now empty leech lockers for the night. When we let it out on our departure in the morning it was supper pissed, rearing up ready to strike.
Day 13 of 10
Wednesday, July 08, 2015 We were faced by the strongest head winds of the trip upon entering Boot Lake the next morning. We were all now seasoned veterans that handled it with no problem. I actually saw Tucker lounged back with his hat covering his head totally relaxed as his parents were digging deep to forge ahead through waves and wind. [paragraph break] Entering Fourtown Lake and scanning it with binoculars brought us back to reality. There were more people on this lake than we had seen over the course of the last 9 days. We finally found an empty site at the far end of the lake. It was ok and had a nice view looking north. We fished and played a bit. There was a nice hill across a small bay that looked like it had a lot of exposed rocks on the top. I decided to go see if I could get cell phone service to give my wife a call. As I climbed the small hill I notice it was almost completely covered with ripe blueberries and other berries. I thought for sure I would come across a grazing beer at any moment. I was able to talk with my wife for a few minutes from the very top of the hill. It was also a great view of our campsite and the lake. We caught a few fish near camp that evening. The crew had a couple more games of Ono which had turned into a nightly ritual with Dan, Julie, Tucker and Nathanial. I mostly took the quiet time to read and listen to the laughter and the sounds of the wild. 
Day 14 of 10
Thursday, July 09, 2015 We head out early with a light fog rising off the lake. The portages into Mudro confirm our desire to return to civilization. We were back to Ely before noon where we enjoyed the simple pleasures of civilization before heading home the next day. 
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