BWCA Agnes - Kawnipi - Kahshahpiwi Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
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Vega
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05/03/2018 07:38AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hey all. First off, I want to say how much I appreciate this board. I've been lurking here for the past couple of months trying to get as much info as I can. My friend and I are going to Quetico on the 27th and spending 10 days going up Agnes to Kawnipi and then back down Kahshahpiwi. We've been talking about this trip for years, and it's finally going to happen! I've been obsessing over maps, videos, and websites recently trying to gather as much intel as I can, but as a couple of Florida boys, this is going to be a bit new to us, so I would love to get any advice you guys can offer. Specifically, I'm looking for fishing tips on these lakes given the late ice out, specific areas we may want to spend more time in, and also any guidance on good campsites. I know some are hesitant to post some of this directly on here, so I'm happy to take the conversation offline. Thanks!
 
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carmike
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05/03/2018 06:03PM  
Kawnipi is the best fishing of the three, in my opinion, so if fishing is your primary focus, I'd suggest spending as much time there as you can.

If you're from Florida, you might like largemouth bass...you can find them in Kash. Otherwise, another highlight of that area for fishing, apart from Kawnipi, is North Bay of Basswood.
cburton103
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05/04/2018 11:28PM  
Fellow out of stater here! I’m from Texas, so fishing up in Quetico was about as new for me as it will be for you. The good news is that you’re going early in the year when the fish are typically the easiest to find.

First, you need to decide if you want to specifically target any species or if you just want to catch the most fish you can. I’ve always found lake trout to be the most alluring species up there because they are such an icon of northern lakes - especially clear, deep lakes. At the end of May this year you should be able to find lake trout trolling spoons (1/2 oz blue and chrome little Cleo’s are my favorite) or lures that dive 10-20’. Good options are shad raps in size 7-9 or deep taildancers size 9 and 11. Silver/blue and purpledescent are my two favorites. Late May the lakers can be found anywhere, basically. Just troll around in water 15’ and deeper and you’ll find some. North Bay of Basswood, Agnes and Kahsapiwi have Lakers. Kawnipi doesn’t have a known lake trout population, so I personally wouldn’t spend time targeting them.

Next are walleye. This time of year the walleye should be fairly shallow - 6-10’ depending on time of day. You can troll around windswept points or reefs, or cast in weedy bays. I personally like using rapala stick baits (gold J-9, original rapalas, shad raps in size 6-9). Lots of people seem to like jigging for them, but i’ve never been patient enough to try jigging for long. Fishing moving water (in the slack water at the end of rapids) or any saddles/pinch points in lakes are good places to try.

Smallmouth may be shallow spawning, but are likely to still be pre spawn for most of your trip. They will likely be in 8-15 FOW. Your favorite soft plastics and many of the stick baits mentioned above should work for them. They’re frequently the least picky eaters in Quetico.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip! If you’re anything like us, it won’t be your last!
cburton103
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05/04/2018 11:46PM  
I would also second the notion of spending the most time in Kawnipi if fishing is your primary focus. We were there in June of 2014 and had a great trip. The outflow or Murdoch (and fishing in Murdoch itself) was where we had some of our best luck. We also had luck fishing most points in Kawnipi.

For scenic beauty, it’s hard to beat Kahshapiwi in my opinion. The water is beautifully clear and somewhat blue, which is unique up there. Lots of good campsite options on all the main lakes you’ll be on. Check out paddle pl anner for campsite ratings. Also, make sure to buy your maps ahead of time and mark down lots of campsites on them using a ballpoint pen. Most maps don’t have accurate campsite information for the Q, so best to use PP and mark your own.
Vega
member (6)member
  
05/05/2018 06:08AM  
Awesome tips, guys. Thank you. Yeah fishing is our primary focus. I'm really looking forward to crushing some walleye up in Kawnipi, but my buddy really wants to land some trout and northerns. Sounds like spending a couple days up in Kawnipi and then perhaps a couple in the Kash chain would be good.

Anyone been to the Poet's chain? My outfitter said we could try to make a day trip out there.

Also, any tips on camp sites? There are about a billion on pp, and it's hard to tell one from the other. I don't want to plan things out to the nth degree, but I would like to at least tag a few options so that we don't waste a bunch of time.
cburton103
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05/05/2018 12:29PM  
I haven't been to the Poet's chain, so I can't help you there.

Assuming you're getting a tow to Prairie Portage (highly worth the minor cost, IMO), then you'll have about four to five days worth of traveling to get through your route. It takes a good two days to get to Kawnipi, and a bit more work to get back through the Kahshapiwi/Sark/Cairn chain. For most groups whose primary focus is fishing and who haven't done a lot of trips up in Quetico, that will be enough traveling. So personally, I wouldn't plan on more than a day trip up into the Poet's Chain.

Here's about how I would plan your trip if I were the one taking it:

Day 1: Tow to Prairie Portage (get an early start so you don't have to wait long at Prairie Portage), then go through Burke and Sunday (easier portages to start off with), through the Meadows portages (fairly long and rocky, but not too bad otherwise in my opinion) and up into Agnes. I would take a nice break at Louisa Falls, clean off, have a big late lunch, maybe do a little fishing around there. Then I would aim to get to the middle of Agnes or a bit beyond. I think we stayed at 1HT, which is on the southern point of a medium sized island towards the northern end of Agnes. This was a bit much for my group as a lot of the guys were first timers. I would plan on stopping around the narrowed portion of Agnes about 1/3 of the way up the lake. This area has a lot of islands and I thought had an intimate and scenic feel to it. From looking at Paddle Pl anner, I would check out 1FK or 1FR for the first night. As a general tip, mark more campsites on your map than you think you'll need. It's much nicer to know where they are than to have to hunt around blindly for them.

Day 2: Head up to Kawnipi through Murdoch trolling some along the way for Lake Trout. We didn't have any luck at all fishing the river section, but did quite well each of the three times we spent time in Murdoch for smallmouth, northern and walleye. The flow into Murdoch and out of Murdoch into Kawnipi were both dynamite. We fished the eastern shorelines of Murdoch while traveling as well and did well there too. Camp wherever you want in Kawnipi - lots of good camps and good fishing in most places. We camped on 1R3 on a point not too far into McKenzie bay. Great campsite with nice views. The tent pads were back in the woods a little bit and a bit buggy, but otherwise the site was great. There are other good campsites in McKenzie bay as well as heading further north towards Rose Island.

I would spend days 3 and 4 fully on Kawnipi fishing, exploring and relaxing.

Day 5: Clean up camp and head to the Maligne River past Rose Island. I would personally camp on Metacryst or Cairn that way it's not too hard of a travel day and you'll have time to fish along the way to camp. I personally haven't been through that area, so I can't add too much more.

Day 6: Move camp to Kahshapiwi. We came in through the portage from Joyce and headed south. That area of the lake was particularly scenic with high cliffs on the shoreline and stunningly clear water. I would camp in one of the three or four star camps a bit north or south of the portage from Joyce. and spend day 7 there as well.

Day 8: If you're ready to move on from Kahshapiwi or want to fish another area, consider moving camp to somewhere around the North Bay of Basswood. Lots of good camps, and great potential to catch nice specimens of all species. We've stayed near Lost Bay a couple times. My favorite campsite there is YF - great multilevel large campsite, and since it's on Lost Bay it's still slightly tucked away from North Bay so you feel a bit more remote and have less exposure to the wind.

Day 9: Fish and explore North Bay.
Day 10: Head back to Prairie Portage and take a tow out. We like about a 4 pm tow. Still let's you take it kind of easy in the morning, and it's only 3-4 hours worth of travel back to Prairie Portage. You'll still get back into Ely with enough time to get all cleaned up and get a good meal.
Thwarted
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05/06/2018 08:07AM  
This sounds like a great plan for ten days. I would not add the Poet Chain into the mix because fishing is the main thing. The Poet Chain is a trip unto itself and you can only ripple the surface in a day. Spend an extra day on Kawnipi instead. You will love it all.
carmike
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05/06/2018 08:25AM  
If camped at the far north end of Kawnipi, you *could* spend most of a day traveling the Poets Chain. If you brought fishing rods, you could also catch many fish below the rapids. I'm not sure if there are lake trout in those lakes (I don't think there are, but don't quote me), but if you do want to track down the trout, and if you do spend a lot of time on Kawnipi chasing its 'eyes and pike and bass, then another day on the Poets Chain would leave you one less to focus on trout either on Agnes or Kash. It'll be a trade-off, and it's also one you can make on the fly, so to speak.

Also keep in mind that Kawnipi and Agnes are big lakes that get rough if a wind kicks up. A nor'wester will roll down Kawnipi and make paddling very difficult if not impossible. Agnes will funnel winds, too, so even if you are able to paddle, it might not be any fun--or fishable.

So be prepared to play the wind, too. On very windy entry days, I've had to portage to Poacher and then through the creek to Sunday in order to avoid Bayley. Or if the wind is good, you might consider pushing all the way to the north end of Agnes, where there's more protection and easy access to smaller lakes for day trips. Just my .02.
 
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