BWCA Falls Chain Loop Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Quetico Forum
      Falls Chain Loop     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

MrBenji
member (20)member
  
01/23/2020 07:56PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hi all,
I am looking for some advice for a trip in early June on the Falls chain. My buddy and I are not afraid of some hard work, but our main focus is seeing the falls and getting into some fish. We would ideally like to have a couple lay over days to fish Kawnipi and a couple days on another lake TBD. We are planning between 7-9 days. We have talked about going up and back out the Falls chain, but we would prefer a loop. We are planning on portaging 1.5 to save some time. This is our first trip in the Q and looking forward to any advice that is out there. Thanks in advance!
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next
campnfish
distinguished member (487)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/23/2020 08:14PM  

Here is a loop i did a few times many years ago early 90's, Some great fishing, mack used to be a special lake. I dont think its what it used to be, but maybe others can comment.

Kawnipi we hit last year up falls chain and back out no loop, 7 day's total and fishing was pretty great 3 days straight on kawnipi, lots of paddle size smallies. On kenny lake we pulled a 36" and 39" northern from the falls.


http://tuscaroracanoe.com/canoe-routes/wawiag/
billconner
distinguished member(8607)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
01/24/2020 07:41AM  
First time I did Falls Chain to Kawanipi I came down Agnes and the Meadows portages. You could do same and I presume return to Cache Bay/Gunflint trail by either Mann Chain or border route - both nice routes. I'd guess three, possibly four days, but back out falls chain must be two or three?
cburton103
distinguished member(554)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/24/2020 01:56PM  
campnfish: "
Here is a loop i did a few times many years ago early 90's, Some great fishing, mack used to be a special lake. I dont think its what it used to be, but maybe others can comment.
Kawnipi we hit last year up falls chain and back out no loop, 7 day's total and fishing was pretty great 3 days straight on kawnipi, lots of paddle size smallies. On kenny lake we pulled a 36" and 39" northern from the falls.

http://tuscaroracanoe.com/canoe-routes/wawiag/
"


We did the same loop as campnfish in 8 days early June 2019. I really liked the loop with the exception of the Wawiag. It was moderately cold, drizzled all day, and the fish were non-existent for us on the Wawiag. I've heard it is usually good fishing though, so YMMV.

We liked Mack Lake quite a bit. I thought it was surprisingly scenic - perhaps amongst my favorite lakes scenery-wise I've seen in my 6 Q trips. It was a lot busier than what I anticipated, though. There were three other groups camped on Mack while we were, which is the busiest I've seen a non entry lake in Quetico ever. We had pretty good fishing for 16-21 inch walleye the 1.5 days we were there, and we caught a few really nice bass in the 19-20" range.

We spent 8 days and had three layover days - 2 on Kawnipi and one on Mack. We were pretty tired the day we got to Mack (from around Boundary Point on Saganagons), but none of the other travel days felt overly long. Definitely a great loop to consider.
cburton103
distinguished member(554)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/24/2020 02:13PM  
Another option you could consider that would involve less traveling would be coming in and out via the Falls Chain, but detouring to Wet and McEwen on the way back for a night or two. McEwen has a good reputation for Lake Trout and a few good campsites. Wet is a scenic lake off the beaten path as well. This option would involve 4-5 travel days for most groups.

The Saganagons/Munro/Cullen/Mack/Wawiag/Kawnipi/Falls Chain route is a moderately ambitious trip for your first time to the Q. This trip would involve 5-6 travel days for most groups. One or two portages are tougher to find, and they're all less frequently used portages since they skirt back and forth across the east side of the park's boundary. None of the portages are hard enough to say not to do the loop, but consider your experience and desire to take on tougher portages. If you do this loop you'll want to have your gear pretty dialed in and know how to portage efficiently. I wouldn't say any of the portages on the loop are the toughest portages in the Q, but the portage from Ross to Cullen is long with a lot of small ups and downs and Munro to Mack is long and has a really big downhill as you approach Mack.

Also, the portage around the rapids on the Wawiag has a really tough sloped dirt landing that will require good teamwork to manage safely. The rapids were surprisingly big to me, so definitely don't even consider running them. We had our only good fishing on the Wawiag below the rapids for Smallies.

Depending on your preferences, there are some areas of the Q that I consider more desirable than the Falls Chain, primarily because the Falls Chain area is pretty popular. I like seeing one group or less a day, and that's not typically going to be the case on this route. That said, the Falls Chain is pretty cool. I've been through there twice myself.
01/25/2020 12:22PM  
May be a little ambitious, but we really enjoyed this loop
MrBenji
member (20)member
  
01/26/2020 01:14AM  
CowDoc, this route seems a little heavy for our time frame, but i appreciate the trip report! The pictures were great, and a great story.
MrBenji
member (20)member
  
01/26/2020 01:14AM  
CowDoc, this route seems a little heavy for our time frame, but i appreciate the trip report! The pictures were great, and a great story.
MrBenji
member (20)member
  
01/26/2020 01:16AM  
cburton103: "Another option you could consider that would involve less traveling would be coming in and out via the Falls Chain, but detouring to Wet and McEwen on the way back for a night or two. McEwen has a good reputation for Lake Trout and a few good campsites. Wet is a scenic lake off the beaten path as well. This option would involve 4-5 travel days for most groups.


The Saganagons/Munro/Cullen/Mack/Wawiag/Kawnipi/Falls Chain route is a moderately ambitious trip for your first time to the Q. This trip would involve 5-6 travel days for most groups. One or two portages are tougher to find, and they're all less frequently used portages since they skirt back and forth across the east side of the park's boundary. None of the portages are hard enough to say not to do the loop, but consider your experience and desire to take on tougher portages. If you do this loop you'll want to have your gear pretty dialed in and know how to portage efficiently. I wouldn't say any of the portages on the loop are the toughest portages in the Q, but the portage from Ross to Cullen is long with a lot of small ups and downs and Munro to Mack is long and has a really big downhill as you approach Mack.


Also, the portage around the rapids on the Wawiag has a really tough sloped dirt landing that will require good teamwork to manage safely. The rapids were surprisingly big to me, so definitely don't even consider running them. We had our only good fishing on the Wawiag below the rapids for Smallies.


Depending on your preferences, there are some areas of the Q that I consider more desirable than the Falls Chain, primarily because the Falls Chain area is pretty popular. I like seeing one group or less a day, and that's not typically going to be the case on this route. That said, the Falls Chain is pretty cool. I've been through there twice myself. "


Chris,
Thanks for all the great information. I am leaning towards the falls-mcewan-wet due to the amount of possible layover days and trout potential. We mainly target walleye, but some lakers would be a lot of fun! I know it will open a whole list of options, but I am curious what you recommend for a loop/route with a little more solitude and good fishing. I originally chose the falls chain because it sounded like a total staple of the park, but seeing a ton of people kind of turns me off to it.
cburton103
distinguished member(554)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/26/2020 07:52AM  
MrBenji: "
cburton103:
Depending on your preferences, there are some areas of the Q that I consider more desirable than the Falls Chain, primarily because the Falls Chain area is pretty popular. I like seeing one group or less a day, and that's not typically going to be the case on this route. That said, the Falls Chain is pretty cool. I've been through there twice myself. "


Chris,
Thanks for all the great information. I am leaning towards the falls-mcewan-wet due to the amount of possible layover days and trout potential. We mainly target walleye, but some lakers would be a lot of fun! I know it will open a whole list of options, but I am curious what you recommend for a loop/route with a little more solitude and good fishing. I originally chose the falls chain because it sounded like a total staple of the park, but seeing a ton of people kind of turns me off to it."


You’re unlikely to see “tons” of people anywhere in Quetico, but the Falls Chain area is one of the busiest for sure. Each of my two trips through the area I’ve seen 1-2 groups on Cache Bay, 3-4 groups on Saganagons, 2-3 groups in the Falls Chain, and 1-2 groups on Kawnipi. That’s not crowded by most people’s standards, but it’s not like most other parts of Quetico where after the first day you’re likely to see 0-1 groups per day.

Some of my favorite trips have traversed the southwestern part of Quetico. We stay with Mark of Jordan’s Canoe Outfitters in Ely and have him shuttle us to Crane Lake for the tow boat ride to entry points on the eastern end of Lac La Croix. The shuttle is $150 total and the boat ride is around $150-200 per person. I find the options that the extra cost open up to me without having to backtrack to be worthwhile, but I know not everyone wants to spend that kind of extra money, so let me know if that doesn’t sound worthwhile to you and I’ll make other suggestions out of another entry point. I haven’t been to any of the northern entries, so I can’t speak to those.

Let’s say you do an 8 day trip - how many travel days and how many miles per day would be optimal for your group?
01/26/2020 01:16PM  
A “ton of people” is all relative, just get away from the actual falls area. We were there in July , and can count on 2 hands the number of groups we saw in 10 days. Go for it, it’s a beautiful area that you won’t regret
01/26/2020 01:20PM  
Bentpine
member (9)member
  
01/26/2020 03:25PM  
Kevin Callan’s book “A paddler’s guide to Quetico and Beyond” has an excellent chapter describing the Saganagons-Cullen-Mack-Wawiag-Kawnipi-Falls Chain route.
01/26/2020 06:47PM  
marc24: "A “ton of people” is all relative, just get away from the actual falls area. We were there in July , and can count on 2 hands the number of groups we saw in 10 days. Go for it, it’s a beautiful area that you won’t regret "


Well said. I have been through the Falls Chain 3 times, each time in mid June, and I would not consider any of those experiences to be ones with "tons' of people." Going again this June to fish Kawnipi, and I have no concerns at all about running into too many people.
01/26/2020 07:16PM  
Pending wind on Agnes etc, we should be on Kawnipi by June 12th/13th this year. Just me and my 70 + yr old father. I said 10 days, he said 12..... I said OK hahahaha
MrBenji
member (20)member
  
02/02/2020 10:15PM  
Thanks to everyone for the great information! We have decided to stick with the option of going through falls chain and bouncing over to Mcewan and Wet. I am really looking forward to this trip! It should be great sights and great fishing! Thanks again to all and enjoy your travels this year!
cburton103
distinguished member(554)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/04/2020 08:51AM  
MrBenji: "Thanks to everyone for the great information! We have decided to stick with the option of going through falls chain and bouncing over to Mcewan and Wet. I am really looking forward to this trip! It should be great sights and great fishing! Thanks again to all and enjoy your travels this year!"


You'll enjoy your trip a lot. Just a heads up, the 240 rod portage from Kenny to McEwen is supposed to be a real doozie. You could always do the few extra portages and go through Wet to avoid it. All worth it to get to such awesome lakes!
MrBenji
member (20)member
  
02/06/2020 10:26AM  
Thanks for the heads up Chris! Now I just sit and wait for June...
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next
Quetico Sponsor:
Seagull Outfitters