I took off a couple years and ready to go back to the BW. My group and I narrow it down to EP 14 Little Indian Sioux, EP 26 Wood Lake, or EP 47 Lizz. We've never been to these areas before. We plan to head out around Memorial week for 5 days to relax and mainly fish for walleyes.

The plan for EP 14 is to go and base camp in Shell and explore the surround lakes. How's walleye fishing in Shell compare to Little Shell or Lynx?

The plan for EP 26 is just to relax and fish if it holds walleye. Should be push in deeper? Do people usually stay Wood Lake from this entry point?

Then for EP 47 Lizz we plan to base camp in Horseshoe and do day trips to surround lakes. How is Vista, Gaskin and Horseshoe for walleye? Is it worth it to go to Winchell for lakers?

I've done pretty good on walleyes on Shell. Know nothing about 26. Horseshoe is known for walleyes....lots of eaters. Some better eyes in Gaskin. Don't overlook Caribou for walleyes or Meeds.

Gaskin walleyes

popin_popper: "Then for EP 47 Lizz we plan to base camp in Horseshoe and do day trips to surround lakes. How is Vista, Gaskin and Horseshoe for walleye? Is it worth it to go to Winchell for lakers?"

I've only been to the BWCA once (June of 2018) but it was in through EP 47. Fabulous area and I don't think you can go wrong going into that area. Vista and Caribou have that north country lake feel to them, while Horseshoe feels more like you're on a river. Plus plenty of moose sightings on Horseshoe. There are some really nice looking campsites on Horseshoe too. My only concern with Horseshoe...keep in mind this is just my opinion based solely on paddling through it on my way to and from Vista...is that it's a busy lake. Seemed to have a lot of traffic and most sites were occupied that week. I have a good friend who has been to the BWCA three times and each time they base camped on Horseshoe. He loves the lake and they seemed to catch walleye okay.

I spent most my week on the southern most campsite on Vista. I got totally lucky and it was open when I arrived. While I caught a good number of smallmouth and pike on Vista, the walleye seemed to allude me all week. It wasn't until my last night in the BWCA, which I spent on Caribou Lake, did I get into some walleye.

So that being said, when my son-in-law and I head up there to the same entry point this coming June, we'll either stay on Horseshoe or move into Gaskin. I'm leaning towards Gaskin, but we'll see how it goes on the way in.

Hope that all helps. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in soon.

We entered EP 14 last year and stayed on Shell during the third week of June. Fishing was good. It was a very busy area. By far the busiest that I have experienced in decades. I did enjoy the area.

EP26 to Good Lake is my go-to trip when I bring first timer kids. We have had good fishing on Wood, Good and surrounding lakes. Good could be my favorite lake but mostly due to the experience we have created there.
Best of luck with whichever EP you choose.

That campsite on Good Lake up on the cliff is fantastic. Great view, alot of space for 8 people, and plenty of options for hammocks and bear bags. One of the best campsite I've ever stayed at in BWCA.

I am partial to EP 14 any chance that I get. The whole area of Shell, Little Shell, Lynx, Heritage, Hustler are great lakes with nice campsites. I would recommend Lynx with the southeast campsite, middle eastern site and northeast sites being the best three on the lake with good fishing from all three of these sites.

You would also be only one portage away from Heritage which has a real adventurous feel to it. One time we were on Heritage we witnessed a bear chasing a cow moose and calf along the west shore and shallows. It was quite a site and somehow that mama moose kept that calf alive and away from the bear.

We have had good fishing on all the aforementioned lakes but again our best results have always been on Lynx. Any time we want a fish meal we get one on Lynx. We catch walleye, smallies and northern but only eat eater size walleye.
Our trips are always fishing focused and we go the last week of May or the first two weeks of June. This three week window has always produced.

I agree with papalambeau, Lynx is a great walleye lake.

I didn't see you mentioned a day/month you want to go?/

I have not been through EPs 14 or 26 but have been through 47 many times. Also accessed the same area from the Morgan Lake entry a few times if you want an adventure:)

Horseshoe is great, can be busy but a beautiful and unique lake known for moose sightings and there are plenty of walleye in there. Gaskin is beautiful and reportedly has pretty good walleye fishing and some very nice campsites but I personally have not fished it. Vista on the other hand, is one of my favorite lakes. Beautiful and in my experience very good fishing for smallies and eyes there. I have been there half a dozen times and have never had a problem catching fish. Of course any lake can be cold due to weather or the whims of the fishing gods but they are in there. And of course Caribou is a nice lake in itself with decent fishing and some nice campsites. I have had a few "bonanza" type fishing days on Vista where we caught a lot of fish and one time had repeated doubles for my partner and I...good problem to have.

I don't know that it is any better than the other areas but I would definitely keep it on your radar. EP 14 is a legendary area and I would love to get there some time, Lynx Lake sounds amazing. Do your research, mesh it with the goals you have for your trip and see if permits are available for the EP and date you want...and go for it. Can't imagine you regretting any of the choices.

We did Ep 14 to EP 16 a couple years back and it was quite memorable. That whole area is so different than the 'typical' BWCA scenery with its winding rivers. I highly recommend Oyster if you want solitude. The portages are a little more challenging with its length but we saw no one past Shell till we got to Agnes. We didn't catch any lakers on Oyster as we wanted but had success on the other lakes with other species. If you do make it to Oyster I would recommend the campsite (1773) on the narrowest part of the peninsula. Lake views on both sides with a beach on one end a huge rock boulder to hang out on the other side.

Thanks for all the info guys...I think we will be trying out EP 47 this year and head to Gaskin for base camp. Our last trip was through EP 16 to LLC, which was so packed that we couldn't find a place to camp until we get to LLC. We met so many people heading back out as we make our way in the first week of June thinking there should be plenty of site available, but we were so wrong. Hopefully Horseshoe, Vista, and Gaskin won't be as busy. We plan to head out Memorial weekend.

We have done entry point 47 two times, the first trip we did 3 nights on Vista and 3 nights on Meeds and slammed the walleyes on both lakes.

Last year we did 3 nights on Gaskin and 3 nights on Horseshoe and we did not catch a single walleye until we did a day trip to Vista where we slammed the eyes again.

We are heading back again this year and will probably redo our first trip. Although, we really enjoyed our camp site on Gaskin.

briwi, agree...two very good fishing lakes. Curious, where did you stay on Meeds and Vista?