Hey guys,

I'm planning on taking 3 guys up at the end of July. I'm interested in fishing mostly but the other 3 guys are bigger on relaxation and seeing some gorgeous wilderness. I know I can fish anywhere up there and find some fish. I've trolled the forums and I'm interested in the Kawishiwi-Lake Polly route. This seems like a good one because we're staying 3 nights and there's some variety for day trips. I was wondering if anyone had other suggestions. Is there anything that we could be too in no more than half a day that would have some pictographs/falls that I could also catch some walleye at. I appreciate any feedback!

The west end of Pine Lake has amazing waterfalls. Also some other lakes you can check out fairly easily. You can also access it from Pine Lake or the other side... Bearskin Lake I believe.

Your initial trip area... If you push past Polly and get to Malberg you aren't too far from some pictographs.

For guys that want to relax, I feel like the Malberg area is maybe a little too much effort? At least for only 3 nights. Unless you're good with pushing hard day 1 to get there, then spend a couple nights and back out. (or go back to Polly for the last night so your last day paddle isn't as long) It's a great area but it'll take a good day to get there unless you're experienced trippers which I doubt from the title of the post. Polly is a nice area, but no real falls or picto's right nearby.

I agree with maybe shooting for something in the Johnson Falls area on the far east side of the park.

Or if money isn't a big deal get a tow to the Bottle Portage and head into Iron or stay on that corner of LLC. It's sort of like cheating but first timer's won't get there from any paddle entry point in a half day. You'd have picto's and one of the best falls very nearby. Cool boat ride to get there but you pay for it $$$ But if that's not a concern that might be my best option.

I am a big fan of the Kawishiwi to Polly/Malberg route. (Malberg is not a relaxed day, but gives you much more in the way of day trips. Especially pictos on Fishdance.) But for falls, I would enter at Seagull Lake and head to Ogishkemuncie Lake. From there you head southeast through Mueller Lake to Mueller Falls. (at the intersection with the portage walk east on the Kekakabic Trail about .25 mi. to the falls) (on your way to fish Gabimihigami?) and northwest through Annie, Jenny, and Eddy Lakes to Eddy Falls on your way to fish SAK. Ogish has the reputation of a good fishing lake as well.

Clearwater entry to Caribou Lake and set up basecamp. Great fishing lake for smallies and eyes, and an easy daytrip to Johnson Falls which is one of the prettiest sites in the BWCA (two sets of falls there and a nice swimming hole). Other daytrips include south to Moon which is supposed to be a good walleye lake too, or even move camp to Alder Lake for a loop of sorts like we did. On your daytrip to Pine you might want to try your luck on Pine Lake which is a good smallie and walleye lake too.

There are plenty more good short trips I could recommend with scenery, relaxation and good fishing but they would lack the pictos and waterfalls.

Ensign is easy to get to from Moose. Disappointment is easy to get to from Snowbank. Both lakes hold fish, have not burned yet this millennia and are in day-trip proximity to Cattyman Falls. Walleye errywhere,

The upper Kawishiwi is a great area. Like others have said, entry to the middle of Malberg is not a small day (Paddle 8.3 miles Port 1.7 miles, plus some bonus beaver dams), but stopping at Polly leaves the pictos on Fishdance out of easy day-trip reach (Paddle 8.7, Port 0.9 x2). You never know how it's going to go until you are on the water, especially with newcomers. I like to set high goals but be flexible in the end. Day trips that don't include waterfalls and/or pictographs are quite scenic as well.

Iowaguy,

I suggest you check out the Moose River South (#8) entry to Big Moose Lake. There is 1 permit per day so most any time of the year there will not be many people around. There are 5 campsites and most are pretty good plus the fishing is excellent for walleye and SM bass.

This is pretty much a dead end lake unless you take a long portage to the south to Cummings Lake (another great SM lake). Since you are only going 3 days the paddle in is about 3 hours with 2 portages and a beaver damn or two. The scenery is very nice on this lake. It was out of the blow down area in 1999 and has not seen a fire in a long, long time.

Ping me for some more information or my Honey Hole location.

UPBoy
now living in Cedar Rapids

I'm an Iowa guy too, From Center Point just north of CR, if you got any questions feel free to email me. My advise would be don't bite off too much, if you haven't been doing portages and a lot of paddling it will be new to guys in your group. Make sure every one has a decent sleeping pad the rocks up there are hard to sleep on. Take a simple trip, maybe like UPboy said cummings. Don't drag too much extra stuff a lot, remember you have to portage it all. There are a lot of people with great ideas here. If you live anywhere near Waverly go to crawdaddy's paddling shop they could help too.

3 nights is a good length for a trip. 3 nights means 4 days. If you are willing to travel for most of the day on the day in and the day out, then that leaves you with 2 nice days to do whatever you want. It's not like the travel days have to be bad either. It's exploring and seeing a new area.

Going to Malberg for 3 nights is just fine. Yeah you have to push hard to get in and out, but the 2 full days make it worth while. The route does not look that hard, lots of shorter portages and one or two longer ones that don't have too much elevation change to worry about. I'm going to be taking this route in May. Kawishiwi to Malberg in one day, one day to have fun, then I'll be moving on to the rest of the loop.

Another route that you might appreciate is what I did on my first trip. Sawbill to Phoebe. You could stay on Grace too, it is also a great lake with walleye. I did that trip as a 2 night trip and really wish we had another day to enjoy the area. One day to explore Grace and one day to explore Phoebe would have been perfect.

UPBoy: "Iowaguy,


I suggest you check out the Moose River South (#8) entry to Big Moose Lake. There is 1 permit per day so most any time of the year there will not be many people around. There are 5 campsites and most are pretty good plus the fishing is excellent for walleye and SM bass.


This is pretty much a dead end lake unless you take a long portage to the south to Cummings Lake (another great SM lake). Since you are only going 3 days the paddle in is about 3 hours with 2 portages and a beaver damn or two. The scenery is very nice on this lake. It was out of the blow down area in 1999 and has not seen a fire in a long, long time.


Ping me for some more information or my Honey Hole location.


UPBoy
now living in Cedar Rapids"

I would definitely second this route. Me and my buddy did it last year for a week and fished every inch of that lake. Could not stop catching smallmouth and were able to get on some walleye and pike too.