Hello all, this next week will be my first ever trip to Crooked lake although my dad has been there several times and will be tagging along. Saturday May 18th we will put in Mudro lake (EP 23) and travel from Mudro to sandpit to tin can mike to horse to the horse river into Wednesday bay and onto the north end of Thursday bay, planning on single portaging and making the trip in one day. Does anyone have any suggestions about this route this time of year?
Fishing is my next topic. We will be targeting about everything, hopefully walleye in the morning and evening and bass and pike during the day. What’s the fishing usually like at this time of year? Any suggestions on locations, depths, structures? Planning to vertical jig minnows for walleye and cast cranks for pike and bass. Any colors work better than others?
This will be my first trip so any advice is appreciated. We will be fishing hard the entire trip so I will follow up our trip with a trip report. Anything you feel like sharing would be awesome!
Thank you.

You have a great trip ahead of you! We exited through that way last year - Mudro, Horse River, Crooked. It will be a decently long first day, but very doable if you’re single portaging and not fishing too much along the way. That area is fairly popular, so keep in mind portage etiquette. There are a fair number of portages, so you’ll want to be packed such that you don’t have to hand carry much of anything at all - perhaps just paddles and fishing rods (if you even fish along the way). With lower basswood falls the portage entry will be along the right as you approach, which is on the Canadian side. The portage landing is wide and gravelly, and typically far enough up from the Falls for any current to be pretty minimal - this was the case in the middle of June 2018, anyways. Other than that, enjoy the journey!

Thank you! We plan to leave the rods in the rod holder strapped into the canoe until camp is set up, focusing on making distance only the first day. Hopefully, we can push fast enough that we arrive with time to drop a line after camp is set up:)

Single portaging, you could make lower basswood falls in 4.5-5hrs (depending on how the Horse River is and your paddling skills). After the falls it's all paddling; and you're with the current going up.

If you want to read my article Grand Slam Lures ( for the BW and Quetico ) send me an email - queticomike@yahoo.com - and request this article. If you want to read any of my smallmouth articles, let me know, I'm also sharing 4 of those. Good luck on your trip!

Got back last night from this same route. You are going to hit Crooked at the perfect time based on water temps. Fish the currents and you will catch monsters. Trust me...

Bdubr: "Got back last night from this same route. You are going to hit Crooked at the perfect time based on water temps. Fish the currents and you will catch monsters. Trust me..."

Bdubr--talked to your canoeing partner last night; heard it was a fun paddle in Thursday AM. I was on Basswood with some rooks, made smart decision.

I’ve done the route a few times. Always double portage, and would make Wednesday bay no problem. It’s a bit of a long day, but single portaging you’ll be fine. Since you’ll be right by it, I would try to fish Big Current. i hear it can be a bit tricky to fish. But known to produce!