Well, I am starting to get concerned about my Quetico trip which is supposed to start on 8/22 so I just pulled the trigger on Plan "B" which is starting at the Stuart River entry. I have no real plan yet, but will probably go up to Iron Lake and back. We only have five nights. If you have been to this area I would appreciate some information on sites and fishing. Thank you for your help!

You are in for a rugged trip with some tough portages but the effort will be well worth. The walleye fishing on Stuart, Rush and Iron is terrific and all of the lake on your route have very nice campsites.

My biggest regret in the two Stuart River trips I've done was not camping on Rush Lake. It has a gorgeous site and the lake is awesome. I plan to camp there next time I go through the area.

Tony

Did anyone do a side trip into either White Feather or Contest?

You're going to see a lot in those 5 days: slow, meandering rivers, marshes, small lakes, big lakes, BIGGER lakes, small portages, big portages, BIGGER PORTAGES ;) -gotta check out Curtain Falls. And at least day hike the Stuart-Dahlgren River portage, if you go up Rush/Dark lakes to Iron.
Iron is simply a gorgeous lake, with some nice campsites, and the same for Stuart.
The fishing is pretty good, throughout, though the only time I went (dog days of summer) I only caught smallmouth and pike. I didn't fish with live bait, though.
Enjoy the workouts and the great campsites along the way :O)

P.S. On your way in/out of Stuart, give yourself some extra time. Everyone knows it's a long portage to the River from the EP, but there are a lot of pullovers and short portages along the way. We left around 2pm, and got to Stuart Lake IN THE DARK.

gannettpk97: "Did anyone do a side trip into either White Feather or Contest?
"

I stayed a night on White Feather on the way in. Shallow lake full of geese and swans. View from campsite:

mvillasuso: "P.S. On your way in/out of Stuart, give yourself some extra time. Everyone knows it's a long portage to the River from the EP, but there are a lot of pullovers and short portages along the way. We left around 2pm, and got to Stuart Lake IN THE DARK."

That Portage SUCKS! On the way out. It’s all uphill. Or at least it seemed that way single portaging a 70lb. pack and a Quetico 17 loaded with paddles, canoes seats, fish finder, rods.....it was rough! Really happy when I made it back to the truck. But it was worth it. Love that area. Stuart and Iron for the win! Oh! the portage out of Stuart towards Rush, Iron is a bit of a doozie as well. Stuart is a very nice lake. Decent walleye fishing. Shoot for Iron the first day. It’s a long day! But the fishing is worth it. Only done a few August trips. But have done well on the bigger lakes that time of year finding schooled up walleye in a 15-20ft depth structure or suspended off of that structure shouldn’t be to hard. Plus Big Northern, Smallie or Crappie can all be had on Iron. The Island site down by Peterson Bay is a beauty. Lighted Slip bobbers off the far West Point of the site should catch nice eater size walleye. Cut crawlers did the trick for me. Just use the search function with the words “Stuart Walleye” or “Iron Fishing” In the search bar and you will have all the research material you will need to put yourself on fish! Good luck!

Just did a 4 day basecamp trip to Stuart. Our plans to make Iron were derailed by 30-40mph winds on day 2 but Stuart is a great, quiet lake. All the walleyes our group caught were just bobber fishing off the 5* site at the NE corner of the lake with jigs and leeches.

We caught some young of year smallies, and caught some pike trolling and casting lipless rattle raps on a couple of the weedlines in the adjacent bays on Stuart.

Water levels were definitely low. We made the mistake going in on the river too early at the end of the first long portage. I highly recommend you do not let your joy of seeing water persuade you to take that route vs finishing about a 40 rod portage on the other side. Added about 1.5 hours to our trip in.

If you plan to come back out on Stuart Entry just be ready for the long portage. Typically I have always felt portages and paddles are not as "long" the second time through. That 460 rod portage seemed like forever. I remember looking at my watch and seeing 10:37, kept walking for what I thought was 10 minutes, looked down again and it was 10:39. That was 25 minutes in, still have 12 minutes left to finish. Legs and shoulders were about to give out when we saw the parking lot.

By any chance did you go into any of the unnamed lakes to the East of Rush?

Curious. Were many people camped on Stuart Lake?

We recently did a five-day basecamp on Stuart. One goal was eating fish every morning. We had intended to move once or twice, but couldn't really justify it since we were catching walleye off our site. Our site was #1823...high site on the point in the northeast bay. You might love or hate the site depending on your preferences. Pros: Fishing, phenomenal view, breeze (could be a con I suppose), trails to more shore fishing spots. Cons: No shade, rough bench area (our new camp chairs really came in handy), not much for tent pads, and they're pretty close together. Also, there were four resident garter snakes which I kind of enjoyed, but I could see not everyone appreciating. It's a low-rated site, but we loved it.

The one morning that we didn't catch fish, we took a day trip to Iron and caught very nice smallies mid-morning at Curtain Falls.

The river is low, and beaver activity at the end especially has slowed the falls down to a trickle. Be ready to get out and line the canoe occasionally, especially closer to the lake. I believe it took us four hours getting to Stuart Lake, and five hours coming out. We pack pretty light and move pretty quick though.

toothmiester: "Curious. Were many people camped on Stuart Lake?
"

There was a group base camping all 4 days we were there at site 1824. We base camped on 1828.

There was only 1 other group we saw and they spent the 30-40mph day at the island site and left the next morning for Iron. Coming out we saw a solo woman with 1 backpack, a fishing rod, and canoe who stayed on White Feather and then a group of two at the portage. I was expecting the lake to be full with all the permits taken but I think most are trying to get to Iron.

Thank you for the report!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know how to access Nibin or Bibon? If so is there a portage into Sterling?

There are portages into Nibon and Bibon from Stuart Lake and into Sterling. The portages are not maintained and difficult to follow. The area is within a PMA and you can day travel in this area but you would need a special permit to camp over night.

I see you are referencing campsites by numbers. Do those numbers come from the bwca.com site or another? Thank you

gannettpk97: "I see you are referencing campsites by numbers. Do those numbers come from the bwca.com site or another? Thank you
"

IDK if you can find them elsewhere but i got them from BWCA.com's maps

I get the numbers from the Maps and Entry Points link on this website...click on the red dot, and it's on the campsite overview. Camp numbers aren't on my National Geographic maps; maybe they are on other maps but I'm not sure.

tonyj: "I get the numbers from the Maps and Entry Points link on this website...click on the red dot, and it's on the campsite overview. Camp numbers aren't on my National Geographic maps; maybe they are on other maps but I'm not sure. "

Just trying to close the open quote

Thank you for all the great information. We put in tomorrow.

MidwestFirecraft: "

gannettpk97: "Did anyone do a side trip into either White Feather or Contest?
"

I stayed a night on White Feather on the way in. Shallow lake full of geese and swans. View from campsite:
"

MF- Have any other photos from White Feather?? That lake has always intrigued me.

I would echo the advice to get an early start for the long stretch of Stuart River entry portages. Prepare for mud. The entrance to the last portage into Stuart Lake can be a little tricky- look for a cairn marking the portage entrance. (It was there in June) With 5 days you will be able to really spend some quality time exploring and fishing. It's a beautiful area, have a great time!!
-We've caught walleyes in the passage south of campsite 1825 on Stuart. There's good fishing at the top of Curtain Falls if you portage to Crooked.