Hey guys - I am officially a week out from this years Bdub trip at EP19, and as usual, I can't really contain my excitement (work isn't exactly productive this week...).

I just wanted to check in and see if anyone had been in there yet this year and wanted to share any intel regarding water level, beaver dams, campsites, fishing, anything like that. My group of 6 is planning on doing a night on Stuart, 2 nights somewhere in Iron/Tiger/Boulder Bay area, and then the last night on Nina Moose before exiting EP16 Sunday morning. I did the EP14>EP16 loop last year by way of Hustler and am familiar with everything from EP16 to Boulder bay (stayed a night there too). We are planning on a layover day and i was trying to think of something fun to do if the weather is awesome. Maybe pictos by warrior hill, check out rapids somewhere, maybe the ranger cabin by the boulder bay portage? Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks as always for your help.

Cheers,
Atrain

Atrain,

My wife and I just completed an EP19 to EP16 trip up through Iron Lake last week. We went in after the weekend of hard rain so the portage was fairly muddy but manageable. At 450 rods the water was high enough to put into the creek and float Swamp Creek back to Stuart. All the beaver dams except for 1 we cruised right over with high water levels. The river was beautiful with lots of wildlife and wide sweeping turns.

We didn't have much luck fishing on Stuart after reports of great fishing the weekend before in the rains. I recommend going and doing a short hike on the Dahlgren portage on the west end of the lake. This is a great little hike with tall pines and a nice set of falls on the end, we also saw moose tracks near the Dahlgren River.

The portages up to Iron Lake were all in good shape, just a few muddy spots and a small creek crossing into Fox Lake. Bring your head net as the bugs were heavy in the portages.

I will post a trip report hopefully this weekend. Have a great trip, I am jealous as it was my first time going here but not my last.

Andrew

Andrew - thanks a bunch for the info. That is about as up-to-date as it gets. I do want to check out the Dahlgren portage, I have heard that is really pretty. Glad to hear river levels are good, although i wish the fishing is better. Maybe next week they'll be biting again!

Looking forward to your trip report!

Cheers,
Adam

Finished up the blog and YouTube video this weekend. With temps in the 90's here in South Carolina I just wanted to sit in the A/C all weekend are think back to our trip.



Blog
YouTube video

Atrain,

Just posted a video report of our EP 19 trip on YouTube if you want to check it out. Not much to report in terms of hazards...we had a bear encounter on Agnes, but other than tha, nothing worth noting. Portages were in good shape, walleyes were deeper (15-20 ft of water). Of course that could have changed by now.

Good luck, have a great trip.

Tony

Just got back last weekend from the area. Thanks a bunch to you both for posting your videos (we were able to watch them before heading out). We were greeted with hail on the way in and thunderstorms on the way out, but everything in between was beautiful. Hopefully, I can actually get a trip report put together once I catch up on stuff at the office. Thanks again for the intel, it was another great trip (minus losing my axe!).

Glad you had a great trip Atrain and got to take in the beauty of Stuart Lake. Look forward to seeing your trip report. Did you do a loop or come back out on Stuart River? How were water levels on the river going over the beaver dams? Too bad about the hail and lost axe!