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Rockriver
senior member (60)senior membersenior member
  
03/11/2020 03:59PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
My first trip was solo to big moose last year. Loved it. I bushwhacked to a pma and checked out the long portages and caught tons of bass. Never caught a walleye.

Now I’m planning another trip around opening day or close. I was looking to get a permit on the eleventh. Anytime is fine if I plan now. Stay maybe a week or so. Solo with my dog again. I’ve been looking at #1 into trout and beyond and #19 Stuart river to Stuart lake and beyond?

I travel lite and don’t mind portages. I’m looking for a walleye or two without the crowds. Really don’t want to deal with a tow or shuttle. I will if need be. I’ll take any advice y’all got. Just want to find a fish and some solitude. Thanks a lot.

 
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03/11/2020 05:02PM  
You can’t go wrong with either of the two you mentioned, but I’ll endorse Stuart because I’ve done it multiple times and you’re pretty much guaranteed some walleye action in a May right where the river dumps into Stuart Lake. The long portage at the beginning is slightly downhill and easy (unless there’s a beaver dam that gives way creating a raging river across the portage trail), which happened to my wife and I the first time I did EP 19. Stuart River is beautiful, remote and only has a couple easy portages (and one 3 foot beaver dam) before you get to Stuart lake. There are three or four good campsites on Stuart and lots of great fishing for eater size walleyes, which will be good for a solo tripper like yourself. For a little adventure, be sure to at least walk the portage on the NW side of the lake to the Dahlgren River. It’s like something out of a storybook. It’s home to some of the oldest growth pine in the entire BWCA. According to a couple of forestry books I’ve read, this area was never logged and the last significant forest fire was in the mid 1700’s. So, many of the trees you see on this portage are 300 years old. It’s majestic, and there’s a waterfall on the Dahlgren end of the portage. I’m including a link to my trip report from 2017 and there’s a video in there too if you’re interested. If you watch the video, you’ll see the “raging river” that happened along the first long portage. That’s usually no more than a trickle, but we had a huge storm the night before which made the beaver dam upstream from that location fail.

Stuart River 2017- Trip Report

Tony
03/11/2020 05:13PM  
I really like the Trout entry point area. Doesn't seem to get much traffic. Chad is a nice lake. Buck is supposedly great for walleye. Watch out for big rollers on Trout if it's windy. The portage from Little Trout lake to Little Indian Sioux is tough to find and and was pretty bushy. The LIS was low when we went in the fall, but should be flowing better in the spring. Enjoy!
cyclones30
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03/11/2020 09:43PM  
Stuart fits you plan perfectly. Day trip down Dahlgren and fish Boulder river too. Could day trip to Iron or camp there a few nights. Curtain falls isn't a must see and great fishing below
Rockriver
senior member (60)senior membersenior member
  
03/12/2020 05:00PM  
Very nice video and pictures. The more I read, the better it sounds. I think I’ll go check out the Stuart lake area. thanks folks.
03/14/2020 08:47AM  
cyclones30: "Stuart fits you plan perfectly. Day trip down Dahlgren and fish Boulder river too. Could day trip to Iron or camp there a few nights. Curtain falls isn't a must see and great fishing below "


Another for Stuart - Gopher and cyclones pretty much summed it up. Fish the falls where the Stuart river comes into the lake, also near the islands should have some good activity early season for sure.
 
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