HI all,

First I want to say thanks for establishing such a sweet forum. I have been browsing for years in preparation for my annual BWCA trip and this site has a wealth of information so much appreciated.

My grandfather and great uncles have had an annual BWCA trip since the early 1970's "back when the Gunflint trail was gravel" and there are stories of brief encounters with old Benny Ambrose. My first trip with those guys was in 1996 when I was 10 years old. Since then I have traveled to the same lakes each summer almost without missing a single trip, and for the last 15 or so years my uncles and I have ran our own excursion which included college buddies, brothers in-laws and eventually some of their dads and family members.

I am now 32 years old and my June 9th entry date will mark my 20th or 21st BWCA vacation. 6 of us including myself, one of my best friends who is making his 5th consecutive trip, his cousin (3rd consecutive) and his 3 friends (2 years , 2 years and a rookie)

We have only ever used the 55EP and have only ever camped East of Monument portage at the 1st,2nd,3rd bay and Zephyr. Mainly because of the amount of gear we bring to base camp would be very prohibitive to making such a portage. I know many may frown down on this but it is what we like.
I have only ever had a boat in the water on Ottertrek and the lakes E of Monument portage. Swamp, Zephyr, Plume, Saganaga and the bays. Because of the constant injection of new blood into our lineup it has proved much easier to stick to what I've known while keeping in mind safety and preventing anyone getting lost. When it comes to fishing I have amassed passed down knowledge and know most of those lakes like the back of my hand. Leeches under slip corks and 2-3" twisty tail grubs behind roadrunner jig heads is all I really need any more for bass and walleye.

This brings me to the Crux of my question today.....
I am bored with the same of routine and the same old lakes. I must venture out to some new water and I really want to catch a Lake trout. Assuming we camp on 1st,2nd,3rd bay or Zephyr, if I left early in the morning could I make it across Monument portage, into Ester and then in Rabbit with enough time to troll for lakers effectively and return portage back to camp?
Also can someone explain to me (who has never fished for lake trout) what methods in detail you would start with considering the depth of these fish around the 2nd week of June. How would you adjust your presentation to nail down a depth?

Thanks so much for your time.

G

If we're talking about a day trip, single portage, you could be in Ottertrack in a very short time. The portage to Ester is fairly tough from the Ottertrack side, coming back it's just a matter of not falling down. I've been from the SK/Hanson portage through Ester, Ottertrack, back to Sag and all the way to Englishman Island, 2 of us, fully loaded, double portage in a day and had lots of daylight left. That was the last week of June so there was no shortage of daylight. I was 55, my son was 16, that helped a little. I'm gonna say you could do it but we're not factoring wind, mud, stuff like that.

maxxbhp: "If we're talking about a day trip, single portage, you could be in Ottertrack in a very short time."

Absolutely. You can cover more miles than you think if you're day tripping.

As for fishing for lakers, I finally figured it out a couple years ago after reading plenty of old threads here at BWCA.com. I shall summarize. I am an amateur, generally a horrible fisherman, and I had never caught a lake trout in my life before May of 2016.

Type "Lake Trout Fishing" here to start. I like to troll a keel weight with a swivel followed by a rod's length of fluorocarbon terminating at a big, shiny, lightweight spoon. In mid June, I would fish where the lake is between 30' and Infinity' deep. I would expect to catch fish with the lure between 20' and 60' deep. Vary lure depth by changing the weight and the amount of line you let out. With a heavy weight on most strikes will be barely noticeable and the fish might feel like dead weight until it decides to make a run which might start within a few feet of the canoe. Hopefully you set the hook at some point.

If you type "Lake Trout Saganaga" in the above link, this short thread is the first result and well worth reading. There are many more results, as well. Sag should have exponentially more lake trout of much larger size than Rabbit.

However,Rabbit should be immensely easier to fish, given it has one hole and a total of 104 acres.

I bet you've really slammed the walleyes and bass on Sag over the years. Don't expect to get that kind of action with lake trout. The fish are down there. You might be doing everything right, just be patient.

Even if you take extra care, catching and releasing lake trout is much more hazardous to the fish than it is to walleye or bass considering the temperature and pressure changes the fish must endure. In the summertime I choose to stop fishing after catching a meal. I love my ultralight rod with 6# but a heavier setup will result in shorter fights and greater survival for the larger fish.

Sounds like you might enjoy leaving two thirds of your gear at home and paddling a loop one of these years. Enjoy your day trip this year, I hope you catch your first laker.

I really appreciate the replies. This information is definitely encouraging. I will update this in a few weeks once I return. Thanks guys!