I am taking my nephew on his first BWCA trip the first week of June and I am hoping for a little help. We are putting in at Sea Gull and planning to base camp on the South Arm of Knife. I have been on 40+ of these adventures, but never to SAK. This will be a dream trip for my nephew(adult) and I want to exceed his expectations.

Fishing will be a top priority for both of us. I think that walleye and SB will be our main targets, but pike and LT are always welcome in the boat too.

If anyone has any suggestions for campsites or parts of the lake to stay at and specific fishing spots or tips that they are willing to share I would be eternally grateful.

The southern site on the big island (with three sites on it) is pretty nice! Secluded, but not too much. Good landing, easy water access from what I remember. It has 1-2 hammock spots and at least one good tent spot. We hammocked when I was there so I didn't pay too much attention to the tent pads.

The site is placed well, right in the middle of SAK, maybe a bit on the west end, but generally placed well to fish any area of SAK you want. In my analysis of the lake topo (which I need to review again), I remember seeing a bunch of great structure all over, but a good amount west of the island leading up to the channel.

We've only been there once (it was last June) and did alright. I'll try and send an email sometime.

We've taken 4 base camp trips to the SAK and had a great time on all of them. There are a bunch of nice sites, finding an open one can be a completely different story. There are pretty good reviews on this site and your outfitter will also know which ones are the better ones so you can have a list of 5 or so before you head in. I would recommend having a few in mind and grab the first one you come to unless the area seems really quiet. Have a blast, SAK is one of my favorites, we haven't been there for a couple years and not sure when we'll get back.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I have been reading as many trip reports as I can find. I am hoping that someone is willing to share some things that have not made thier way into a trip report. Feel free to semd me an email if you would rather. I have not used an outfitter in 30 years, but that would be a great idea.

PM me. I'll send a few things your way

Campsite 1432 is very nice! Big sand/gravel beach.... great for swimming...good fishing around the islands offshore for all species....Eddie falls is nearby....keep in mind though that historically the SAK is known for nuisance bears....

Mike

single portage , i've done 15 openers in the SAK , and have always done good , not sure a month later the same spots are , but i will say this there are lot of wood piles in those two back bays east of eddy falls and the smallies should still be in these areas , not difficult to catch a #4 in the wood , but 1 must go into stealth mode , with clear water , meaning long accurate cast , get unhung once time to move to the next log pile. feel free to email also for more details and a map ,
for lakers , knife lake is not wide at any point , so troll the gut , target different depths you should get bit !!!
we camp at sites #2037 & 38 and bottleneck bays are magnets early in the spring , but the fish start moving out of these bays as the water warms ,

Check your email?