BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 15 2025
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- !$BR!$ 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)!$BR!$ !$BR!$ Tuesday July 21st- !$BR!$ 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.!$BR!$ !$BR!$ Wednesday July 22nd-!$BR!$ 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.!$BR!$ !$BR!$ Thursday July 23rd-!$BR!$ 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!!$BR!$ !$BR!$ Friday July 24th-!$BR!$ 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!$BR!$ !$BR!$ Total-!$BR!$ 45 miles by water!$BR!$ 13 miles by portage (3 trips each)!$BR!$ 58 miles total.
Mudro to Crooked Big Fun One One
Entry Date:
June 08, 2011
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
After a fairly lackluster Thursday, we decided to fish our way back toward the falls and see if we could find some more active fish. Andy landed 18 pound pike top water which was his personal best, so the travel was worth it. We aimed for campsite 1865, but it was taken so we paddled on to the next available which was 1550. After eating a late lunch/early dinner we hit the water to do some more fishing.
The water was perfectly calm and begging to be pelted with top water lures. We arrived to our first bay and had a huge blowup immediately. Fish on! A little while later a 21” smallie would make it into our canoe. My new personal best! A couple high fives and some photos and she gave us a nice splash on the release. The evening produced a couple more bass and some small pike.
The first night was chilly and I was happy to have packed a stocking hat last minute. After a full night’s sleep, I left the tent at 5:30am and was fishing from camp by 5:40am. No bites for two hours from camp wasn’t the start I had hoped for, so I started to get breakfast ready. Nick and I enjoyed a great breakfast of pancakes with blueberry infused Craisins and then hit the water around 8:00am. Tyler and Andy decided to sleep in and missed out on a feast. Our favorite way to fish is with top water Skitter pops so we began the morning tossing at boulders on shore. With nothing really going for the first hour, I decided to go subsurface with a shallow running crank and was quickly rewarded with an 18” smallmouth bass. I decided to try slip bobbering a leech on the first break line and quickly landed smallies of 18, 19 and 20 inches. Things were looking up!
We spent the afternoon exploring near Thursday bay and caught more smallies and a handful of pike. Nick caught a nice five pound pike that we put on the stringer for dinner. It was delicious and was the perfect amount of food for us. Tyler and Andy came back for the evening empty handed, so they headed out with leeches to try and catch a couple walleyes before dark. They did just that and cooked dinner with their headlamps.
After a fairly lackluster Thursday, we decided to fish our way back toward the falls and see if we could find some more active fish. Andy landed 18 pound pike top water which was his personal best, so the travel was worth it. We aimed for campsite 1865, but it was taken so we paddled on to the next available which was 1550. After eating a late lunch/early dinner we hit the water to do some more fishing.
The water was perfectly calm and begging to be pelted with top water lures. We arrived to our first bay and had a huge blowup immediately. Fish on! A little while later a 21” smallie would make it into our canoe. My new personal best! A couple high fives and some photos and she gave us a nice splash on the release. The evening produced a couple more bass and some small pike.
Saturday would be another big travel day, so we packed up the rods after breakfast and headed for Tin Can Mike. It was another gorgeous day, mostly sunny with mild temperatures and we made great time paddling and portaging. We arrived at Tin Can Mike mid-afternoon, set up camp, ate lunch, and hit the water looking for dinner. Nick and I had three huge largemouths come unbuttoned before we could land them, but at least we were finding fish. As usual, a couple small pike made an appearance and provided some entertainment. I put a mid-20” pike on the stringer for dinner and decided to try my luck with a slip bobber and leech. Bobber down, hook set, fish on. A very pretty 20” walleye provided on a nice tussle on light tackle; on the stringer it went. After paddling across to a different point; bobber down, hook set, fish on, repeat. 21.5” walleye added to the stringer and we are set for dinner. We fish for a little while longer and head back to camp.
After having a great dinner, Nick decides to test the water and try and wash the grime off his legs. I opt for the swim trunks and a cannonball from the campsite provides a good splash and lots of laughs. After the initial shock of the cold water, my body was happy to get cleaned off a little bit. The other three followed suit and campsite 2095 provided us with some good entertainment. 
Sunday would be our exit day and Voyageur North was set to pick us up at 12:30 at the entry point. We broke camp, paddled across the lake, knocked out the 160 rod portage and decided to spend a couple hours fishing the deep and clear Sandpit Lake. I rigged up a tube jig for smallies and had one on almost immediately. A little 12” whipper snapper that caught the attention of a large pike. Next thing I know I am fighting two fish as the pike latched onto the smallie. Eventually I got the pike to let go and released to the smallie, likely to get lunched a short time later. A couple top water blowups but no hookups and our fishing for the trip was complete.
We packed up the rods, powered through the unpleasant 80 rod portage into Mudro and met the outfitter at the other end of the lake. Ice cold Hamm’s beer awaited us, delicious as always!
After getting cleaned up in Ely, we enjoyed a couple pitchers of beer and the Bucky burger at the Ely Steakhouse. The burger was outstanding! Although we had hoped to catch more fish, it was hard to argue the quality. I can’t wait to head back next year!
