I believe we can get a motorized tow up Moose, through Newfound and Sucker to the little portage into Birch? Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Then, take Birch along the border to Carp, then Seed, then onto Knife.

Is there something I'm missing? A different route we should consider if Knife is the destination and we want to get there on Day 1?

Also, regarding that tow I mentioned, and other outfitting services like a canoe rental and bunkhouse...I see LaTourell's, Williams and Hall, and Canadian Border are located right there and we could probably launch right from their location. Any recommendations among that group, or others where we could stay and launch right at the EP?

Thanks!

You have all the correct information. Taking the tow makes it the fastest route to Knife, and it's worth every penny both ways, IMO...
All the outfitters you mentioned are good choices. Depending on your groups experience, how you're packed, and wind....you should be able to make Eddy Falls of South Arm Knife in 6 hours, give or take (if that's your end goal). This is single portaging, not double portaging. You can certainly make it in less time but this is about the average from my experiences going at a decent pace.
Beautiful area and good fishing, have a great trip!

Williams & Hall was great for me both times last year. They did forget to put paddles and canoe seats in the tow boat though, that was a bit funny, 10 minutes into the tow... nice place though and you get a warm/hot shower plus a cold beer/soda after you get back. I would definitely recommend them and will use them again.

It took both of my groups last year almost 4 hours on the dot to get to Knife from the Sucker-Birch portage, double carrying and enjoying Carp falls/rapids. The area is beautiful and I will definitely go again whether it be for a short or long trip. This route is easily the quickest way to Knife.

I think 6 hours to Eddy Falls is optimistic, but doable if single carrying. I made it to the large island in the middle of SAK in about 7.5 hours in September, double carrying, stopping for a quick lunch on Knife, and checking a few campsites along the way. That was without any real headwind too. If I did it again I would have just pushed all the way down without stopping, except for a quick break from sitting or to "use the facilities".

Fishing is great all on Knife, whether the lower arm or NAK or SAK. Trolling spoons or crankbaits is guaranteed to get you some nice fish. I caught an 18" smallie on a firetiger diver while trolling on NAK in September, only fish of the trip too. I reckon a 5 of Diamonds would get all the pike and lakers you could want!

Enjoy. It's a great area and staying at an outfitter on the lake really provides that wilderness immersion. Wake up, eat a quick breakfast, then hop on the boat and head out!

Canoe Country Outfitters have a shop in Ely and a base on Moose with bunkhouse, etc. The tow and portages are as stated. It is not a bad paddle to the Birch portage or you can paddle around it going a little farther north of the portage. In the long days of summer I have headed out at dawn and arrived before most tows which often do not start until 7. But I like to paddle more than most and be ahead of the pack that can show up on these portages during busy times.

flynn: "Fishing is great all on Knife, whether the lower arm or NAK or SAK. Trolling spoons or crankbaits is guaranteed to get you some nice fish. I caught an 18" smallie on a firetiger diver while trolling on NAK in September, only fish of the trip too. I reckon a 5 of Diamonds would get all the pike and lakers you could want! "

We caught LT every day at the end of September all over Knife. They were all 60' deep.

AmarilloJim: "We caught LT every day at the end of Sept. all over Knife.
They were all 60' deep."

I didn't have any deep trolling rigs (3 way swivel + weight) to get my lures down that far. The deepest diver I have goes to I believe 16-20ft which is nowhere deep enough for lakers in September. Heck, it seemed NOTHING was shallow enough for my gear in September. Other people we ran into on our trip said the same thing, not even a casual bite here or there. Just seemed dead. I was thankful to get my smallie, which I didn't even think was that big at the time. GoPro footage later revealed it to be a bit of a hawg! But only just. :)

flynn: "

AmarilloJim: "We caught LT every day at the end of Sept. all over Knife.
They were all 60' deep."

I didn't have any deep trolling rigs (3 way swivel + weight) to get my lures down that far. The deepest diver I have goes to I believe 16-20ft which is nowhere deep enough for lakers in September. Heck, it seemed NOTHING was shallow enough for my gear in September. Other people we ran into on our trip said the same thing, not even a casual bite here or there. Just seemed dead. I was thankful to get my smallie, which I didn't even think was that big at the time. GoPro footage later revealed it to be a bit of a hawg! But only just. :)"

I was using a #11 DD Tail dancer with a 2oz snap weight and 120' of line out. Nothing big but all good quality 4-5 lbs.

treehorn: "I believe we can get a motorized tow up Moose, through Newfound and Sucker to the little portage into Birch? Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Then, take Birch along the border to Carp, then Seed, then onto Knife.

Is there something I'm missing? A different route we should consider if Knife is the destination and we want to get there on Day 1?

Also, regarding that tow I mentioned, and other outfitting services like a canoe rental and bunkhouse...I see LaTourell's, Williams and Hall, and Canadian Border are located right there and we could probably launch right from their location. Any recommendations among that group, or others where we could stay and launch right at the EP?

Thanks!"

I did this same route back in mid-June last year. We caught the first tow out from LaTourells (highly recommend them) and we had lunch at 11:00 on Isle of Pine across from Dorthy's place. We had a big head wind down the length of Knife and camped just north of the portage to Amoeber. I think we got there about 4:00 and we were pretty pooped....lol Head wind is what killed us. We double portaged everything.

Selfsuffi: "

treehorn: "I believe we can get a motorized tow up Moose, through Newfound and Sucker to the little portage into Birch? Correct me if I'm wrong on that.


Then, take Birch along the border to Carp, then Seed, then onto Knife.


Is there something I'm missing? A different route we should consider if Knife is the destination and we want to get there on Day 1?


Also, regarding that tow I mentioned, and other outfitting services like a canoe rental and bunkhouse...I see LaTourell's, Williams and Hall, and Canadian Border are located right there and we could probably launch right from their location. Any recommendations among that group, or others where we could stay and launch right at the EP?


Thanks!"

I did this same route back in mid-June last year. We caught the first tow out from LaTourells (highly recommend them) and we had lunch at 11:00 on Isle of Pine across from Dorthy's place. We had a big head wind down the length of Knife and camped just north of the portage to Amoeber. I think we got there about 4:00 and we were pretty pooped....lol Head wind is what killed us. We double portaged everything."

Thanks for the info!

Timeline sounds great....I know my group, and we do value our leisure time, so I'd bet we will be very willing to take a nice site if we happen upon one in the western part of Knife...an 11am stop sounds good to me...I can guarantee we won't be paddling 5 more extra into a headwind!

Thanks everybody else for all the info as well!

you can easily be to the Thunderhead by 2-3 even double portaging. I have been going to Knife since 1984, an outstanding fishery, big smallies, Lakers, walleyes and pike, throw in some decent bluegills every now and then and you'll have a great time. Take some leeches and dipsy divers with a flutter spoon for lakers, or use a rap taildancer they will get down to 25-30 feet if you let enough line out and troll really slow maybe .5 to 1 mph.

If I were you I would at least try to make it to the thunderhead, fishing is great around there. I prefer the north arm for fishing but both arms are excellent. Make sure you hang your food b/c bears are always around knife keep a clean camp and you'll be fine .

Here's a map I made years ago, if you want to shoot me a email feel free with any questions. I always use latourells they are a nice family

Here's an old video link too
Knife Lake

Hey, that's a nice map! Thanks for that! I can confirm the "small lakers" area on Kekekabic, but they're not THAT small. 18-20" isn't big by any means but they're not babies or anything. All that was needed was a chartreuse jig head and white twister tail.... though I did catch a nice 20 incher from our campsite landing (near that spot) using a firetiger rattling lipless crankbait (I think Rippin Rap). Was quite surprised that a laker came up shallow enough to snag it, but this was in early June when the water was still pretty cold.

The bay between Knife and Amoeber is an enchanting little place. One of the guys at W&H told us he had awesome pike fishing back there (as marked!) but we didn't wet any lines due to it being a travel day. That campsite marked as beary looks gorgeous though, with the fire grate out on a nice rocky point. Would have liked to have checked it out. Also, the area east of there, further back in that bay (northwest is Knife-Amoeber portage, shows as the east side on my Fisher map, yours shows it right in the center) is basically a bog with lots of smelly decaying matter that you get the pleasure of drudging up if you go too shallow. Just to confirm, that portage is actually to the northwest of where it's marked in that picture, where you wrote LB. My Garmin BWCA map shows it properly, and PP does as well, but it's mismarked on your Fisher map and my Fisher map (in different spots too!!).

flynn: "Hey, that's a nice map! Thanks for that! I can confirm the "small lakers" area on Kekekabic, but they're not THAT small. 18-20" isn't big by any means but they're not babies or anything. All that was needed was a chartreuse jig head and white twister tail.... though I did catch a nice 20 incher from our campsite landing (near that spot) using a firetiger rattling lipless crankbait (I think Rippin Rap). Was quite surprised that a laker came up shallow enough to snag it, but this was in early June when the water was still pretty cold.


The bay between Knife and Amoeber is an enchanting little place. One of the guys at W&H told us he had awesome pike fishing back there (as marked!) but we didn't wet any lines due to it being a travel day. That campsite marked as beary looks gorgeous though, with the fire grate out on a nice rocky point. Would have liked to have checked it out. Also, the area east of there, further back in that bay (northwest is Knife-Amoeber portage, shows as the east side on my Fisher map, yours shows it right in the center) is basically a bog with lots of smelly decaying matter that you get the pleasure of drudging up if you go too shallow. Just to confirm, that portage is actually to the northwest of where it's marked in that picture, where you wrote LB. My Garmin BWCA map shows it properly, and PP does as well, but it's mismarked on your Fisher map and my Fisher map (in different spots too!!)."

It is beautiful in there. So clear you watch your lure being hit and the fish coming up for it. We had a really nice northern on just off the point west of the portage to Amoeber right where the depth really starts dropping off fast again. We walked the portage to Amoeber just to look over and it is a beautiful creek dropping down from Amoeber to Knife. Next time we heading up through Ottertrack and back around through there.

I forgot to say that this map is from late may to mid june trips

mcsweem: "I forgot to say that this map is from late may to mid june trips
"

AWESOME map!

By chance do you have one for late July?? ;-)

But seriously, any general tips for that time of year on that lake are appreciated. I realize the lakers are going to be quite deep...probably walleyes as well.

Helicopter.