BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
October 03 2023
Entry Point 23 - Mudro Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1166 feet
Latitude: 48.0356
Longitude: -91.8301
On the Water- Monday July 20th-
On the water late considering how far we need to go today. Up the Horse river to the falls by 6pm. Started raining and NO campsites available. Mudrow-Alruss-Tin can Mike-Horse Lake-Horse River-Basswood. 13 miles by water. (not counting portages)
Tuesday July 21st-
Rain all night, all morning and all day. Went north by petroglyphs, table rock and the the Crocked Lake Narrows across Thursday bay to campsite. Basswood-Crooked Lake-Wednesday Bay-Thursday Bay. 11 miles in the rain.
Wednesday July 22nd-
Up early and calm winds to take advantage of, considering the big water we have to cross. Found beaver dam to lift over and did a portage from hell between Pandos lake and Chippewa Lake. VERY steep and slippery after rain. Many mud holes. Then the mile portage after Wagosh Lake to Gun Lake. Never saw another soul in a canoe or campsite the entire day! Thursday bay-Friday Bay-Pandos Lake-Chippewa Lake-Wagosh lake-Gun Lake. 11 miles by water.
Thursday July 23rd-
Finally had a dry night. got everything dry!!! A few portages today to Fourtown Lake campsite. Easy day by comparison. Gun Lake-Fairy Lake-Boot Lake-Fourtown Lake. 6 miles. Put the long miles at the first of the week for a buffer for contingencies!
Friday July 24th-
Last day. Stormed last night bad. A few portages today with one bad one between Fourtown Lake and Mudrow lake. To entry point by 1pm. Ready for a hot shower! 4 miles
Total-
45 miles by water
13 miles by portage (3 trips each)
58 miles total.
October 2017- 3 Generations of Family
Entry Date:
October 18, 2017
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
3
Doug and my dad crawled out of the tent shortly after sunrise and I greeted Doug with a hot bowl of oatmeal and dad with a hot cup of coffee. After breakfast we fished at the bottom of the falls where dad landed a nice Walleye, probably 3-4 pounder, which we strung up to a bush at the shoreline. We all hiked back up to camp at the top of the falls to get the canoe so we could fish Crooked Lake a little and when we came back, Doug spotted two otter's fighting over Dad's walleye. I ran over, but it was too late, 3/4 of dad's walleye was gone and there was a family of 4 otter's spy hopping out of the water and hissing at us like we're the bad guys! I've been robbed by snapping turtles before, but this was a first for me. We fished from land a little and dad lost a big northern right at shore (it's my fault as she slipped away as I tried to grab her and cut the line). We fished some more in Crooked, Douglas and I each LDR'd (long distance released) one, but dad was able to eater sized northerns so the skunk was out of the canoe. I snapped a few pics of Doug by one of the International Boundary Markers. He thought it was pretty awesome to straddle "the border". 
After a snack lunch, Doug wanted to go hiking to explore our area a little so off we went while dad fished and relaxed at the bottom of the falls. I knew there was a USFS Ranger Storage Shed around here somewhere, but I wasn't sure where and Douglas led us right to it. The trail was getting really narrow, more like a game trail and I wanted to turn back, but Doug insisted we go just a little farther and we stumbled right into the cabin. It was cool and Doug was fascinated as he proceeded to ask me question after question about it. I wish I had more answers. We peeked in one of the windows and all I could see was lumber, some latrines, and a couple of wheel barrows. 
Back at camp we cooked up some Knorr rice/pasta blend and pan fried the northern for a delicious dinner and then we cleaned up and headed to the bottom of the falls to see if the evening bite would be better. It was slow, however, I was able to land a Walleye right at sunset that was almost a replica of my dad's in the 3-4 pound range so we strung that one up in an eddy just below the falls, close to our campsite hoping that the otter family wouldn't find it. We had a fire back at camp and Doug hit the wall and crawled into his bag at 8, dad and I sat by the fire sipping some whisky while we solved the worlds problems and set the agenda for tomorrow. It was another crystal clear night and we watched satellites and stars for a while. I think we made it until 9:30 again before turning in. Saw one other canoe today, they stopped for lunch at a site down stream from the falls and then headed down Crooked Lake. 
Today we paddled over to the Pictographs, fishing the American side along the way. The Pictos were gorgeous, some of the best I've seen, and the sheer number of them blew me away. There's probably a dozen drawings, some clearer than others, but it was fascinating. We took some pics and video and continued fishing and checking out campsites as we drifted along. I caught a perch which went back, dad pulled in two eater size walleyes and Doug had no luck. We paddled back for a lunch of bagels and peanut butter and some relaxation time. It is hot out today, lower 70's, unbelieveable.
After lunch we fished below the falls again as Doug didn't feel like sitting in the boat anymore today. That's when it happened, I was watching Doug and I's slip bobbers sitting in about 10 feet of water with jigs tipped with minnows when my bobber went down like a reverse rocket. I set the hook and at first thought I was on a log or rock, because all I felt was weight, no fight. Then my drag squealed so delightfully I just about peed myself as 30 yards of line was gone in about 5 seconds. I tightened up the drag a bit and told Doug to reel in. My dad was across a little cove from us and I motioned for him to grab his gloves and come over as I may need some help. What followed was 15 minutes of battle between me and the biggest northern I've ever hooked into. She made about 10 runs, each time I had to two-hand my rod to fight it. Finally, on the 4th landing attempt, we landed a monster pike, probably in the 36-40" range and weighing around 15 pounds. I wanted to get her back in the water so we didn't take any measurements.
For dinner we had Wild Rice Soup from Bear Creek with some buns and pan fried Walleye, and it was amazing and oh so filling. After a few Snickers bars we bummed around camp and had another fire as Douglas explored the area. I can't believe how warm it was today, I didn't bring any shorts, which I would have worn today. It's been tough locating the fish and Douglas has yet to land one so I'm discouraged by that. I consider myself a decent fisherman right along with my dad, but we're no pros and it's been hard finding a depth/presentation that is consistent. I think the warmer than average water temp has delayed the fish from strapping on the feedbag. We slept well, and I had my bag unzipped the majority of the night as temps were in the low 50's. We saw two other canoes today, one made camp at the site at the bottom of LBF, and another we saw while viewing the pictos...I believe they were Canadian. 
