Hey guys,

Been a while, hope you all have been well through this wild start to 2020. I was able to snag a permit for Aug 15 @ Lake One last night (only one within weeks of my entry and happened to be on my entry date so it was meant to be) and am very excited. We have a group of 6 twentysomethings, and everyone has been to BW multiple times. All of our experience has been on various loops in the EP14/16/19 area so we are excited to try something new where i don't have every campsite memorized.

I have a 7 night itinerary planned (Sat-Sat), and we are planning on 2 layover days, one for certain, one as a flex for bad weather day. Our plan was to start off at EP30, paddle only a couple hours and stop on Lake Three for a night. Then proceed to Alice Lake the next day (hoping for a beach site) and spend 2 nights there, daytripping to fishdance for cliffjumping. Following that, wed like to get up to Adams Lake potentially or one of those lakes in there for a little seclusion and spend a night. Then head and spend 2 nights in Malberg or Polly. Final night planned on kawishiwi near EP37 where we exit the following morning.

I am looking for any route feedback, heads-ups, POIs (rapids, pictos, etc), fishing advice for a wormdrowner such as myself. Goals are largely centered around camp life and fishing with moderate seclusion desired. Of course bugs and temps vary but crossing my fingers... I know this is a popular time and a popular area and I understand why! Looking forward to your help, the trip reports have been a great resource as usual. If anyone has info on approximate paddle times for any of those stretches that would be great too.

Cheers,
Atrain

Sounds like a great trip! Did an out and back to Malberg from Kawishiwi in June. Day trip for pictos at Fishdance. Malberg's a great lake. We had the campsite that is essentially on the SE corner of where the N-S arm meets the E-W arm. Excellent campsite. There's definitely good fishing to be had on Malberg based on posts here but I'm no expert. Basically just kept tossing leeches out on jig heads and caught a few but we also didn't try very hard. I've heard tales of folks catching lots of walleyes and big panfish.

Only thing I'd add is that Malberg all the way to Kawishiwi is a haul. Lots of portaging, not much paddling. If you're double portaging, plan on at least 6 hours. We it all in one day on the way in, mostly single portaging, and were pretty smoked. On the way out, we split it up over two days - Malberg to Polly then Polly to Kawishiwi.

Super helpful, thank you! Looking forward to exploring this area more. Neat that there is burn territory but plenty of unburned stuff too! Looks like everyone else is keeping their secrets on this one.... haha

Visit the picto's on Fishdance. Plenty of good fishing in that area too. Malberg back to the EP is 5-7 hours depending on weather, how you portage, etc. The numbered lakes and Polly will be busy since they're both nearer EP's.

Do you have a shuttle lined up? Pretty good trip to drive around from Fernberg to Tofte area.

Thanks Cyclones for the timing in particular. We will single portage everything so that sounds like about what i expected. I was curious as to where the crowds start thinning a bit lakewise, so that is a helpful piece of advice too. I assumed close to the entries it would be busy but was hoping Alice and up near Adams we might find some solitude.

cyclones30: "Do you have a shuttle lined up? Pretty good trip to drive around from Fernberg to Tofte area. "

We are getting in very late Friday night / Sat AM and have a shuttle lined up on both ends with VNO (always love working with them). Not having to think about driving on either end is worth the price!

I think you have a decent route laid out. A lot of outfitters call that route a 5 day trip and so layovers where you find good sites will work.

The only qualm I have about your trip is cliff jumping at Fishdance. There is also a place that people like doing that on Insula and there you don't risk noisy where people may be trying to appreciate the pictographs. The pictographs are sacred to the people who created them and I feel we should treat them as such. It is a lovely spot and a great place to have lunch along the way.

As for Malberg to EP37, times vary a lot depending on your speed and the weather. My advice is to see what the weather is doing. One trip we meant to stop on Polly but hit a big headwind that afternoon and so stopped for the night on Malberg. It probably took us 8 relaxed hours to get to the EP and it was a lot nicer than fighting the wind. But if your trip to Malberg or Polly is going well then Polly can be a nice place too and an easier out for the night.

I've not done the numbered lakes, just always hear they're busy. And for how this year is looking, maybe exceptionally busy.

So...the section I do know is your last half. The whole trip you're more or less paddling up the Kawishiwi River, though for 99% of the paddling you won't notice it. That said, the 1% where it's narrow and has rapids or portages...fish below those. That goes for your entire route, and you pretty much can't miss those spots. (except on Malberg where the river actually flow NE out of the lake and then wraps to the west north of Malberg and eventually down toward Alice/Fishdance) If you take the most direct route, you'll miss some pretty and quieter spots in that river section....but save a few hours of paddling if Malberg is your goal. That NW portage into/out of Malberg is muddy on the north end and has water in the middle to wade through.

Polly was quite busy and I'm sure will be this August. If you want to camp there I'd be there in the morning to try and find a site. If you have to keep going, there are manageable sites on Kawashachong, Square, and Kawishiwi that might have an opening as those lakes/sites don't seem as desirable. (not as nice, not as large, some in burn area)

Heading from 37 to Malberg 2 years ago, my wife and I single portaged and did it in 5-6 hours with full food barrel. All of the portages are well traveled and not very hard aside from a few rocky landings.

Thanks again for the advice all. We are also looking at looping north after we depart Alice and coming out Snowbank instead to cut down on shuttle time at the end of the trip. Any advice on that area? @cyclones - i dont think i really grasped how much of a haul that was from 37 back to Ely even though we are shuttling!