My wife and I are headed out on a 9-night trip from Sawbill starting next Thursday 8/13.

The plan is to go up the Lady chain, do a clockwise loop through Beaver, Boulder and Makwa back to Malberg, then across the Louse River, down to Sawbill. If we have time we'll do the Cherokee/Temperance loop clockwise.

My wife really likes to cover ground, so we rarely take rest days and like to paddle a lot. Looking at the route I see that we will be doing a LOT more portaging than we ever have. We typically do single portages but may have do double some in the beginning when we have more food weight.

Does anyone have any favorite spots on this route? Lakes, campsites, etc. I like to fish, especially for pike, and have (over)loaded my tackle box with lures recommended by others on this site.
What the heck, attached is a pic of what I'm planning to take. Yes, I do like whopper ploppers after finding one in the BW a couple years ago.



Anything you would add or delete?

Any suggestions much appreciated, -- Larry

Sorry no fishing advice but here is my $0.02 for the Lady-Louise section.

I recommend site 1063 of Koma (the point). Also, there is a hidden waterfalls you need to bushwhack to see on the Polly-Koma portage. You may be able to access it from the end of the portage on Koma if I remember. It's worth the side trip.

I like the East site on Dent. It's flat and has lots of moose signs thought I have not seen one in either of my two stops there.

None of the lady-Louse portages are rough other than the long Zenith portage and for us it was a very hot day. Coming out of that we stayed at a nice 4 star site #875 on Sawbill (East side of the point across from the Kelso portage. It sits high above the water out of the way, quiet for Sawbill with a cooling breeze. It was a perfect last night before we finished our route at Baker.


John

Nice assortment of lures, no complaints there. Maybe throw in a buzzbait or spinnerbait if you encounter weedy areas. (there will be some)

That's a heck of a route! Lots of good sites on Malberg, Polly can be busy....but anywhere might be busy this year from the sound of it. Louse upstream (starting at Malberg and going east) might not be super enjoyable if water levels are down. You shouldn't see much traffic there though. Makwa is a really cool lake.

Cyclones, good thought on the baits -- I'll go see if I can scrounge something from my son's tackle box.

The lakes I mentioned were just to give an idea of the route, not necessarily where we're going to stay. We have no idea where we'll camp at this point, but suggestions of favorite sites may veer us.

Jfinn, thanks for the tips, I'll make notes on the maps (we have Voyaguer and McKenzie).

The portage/rapids heading NE out of Malberg is really cool. Fish below in that little canyon if you can.

The site nearest that portage on Malberg is trash, cross it off on your map. The site nearest the Louse River outlet on Malberg is nice but probably used all summer. Same goes for the one right north at the narrows. (fish that spot) The western site on Makwa is cool because you're right by the striped cliffs but the site itself is kind of exposed and not much for trees around it.

Are you heading SW from Makwa to Malberg right? If so.....the portage between Panhandle and Pan has a false landing and portage....we learned the hard way. The actual portage landing on Panhandle is not in the far south corner of the lake....even though it looks like a landing. The actual landing is back up the right hand shore line before the big beaver dam/wall thing starts. Either trail will get you to Pan....but the first one you come to is much, much better. They both meet at the big beach landing on Pan.

Cyclones, I think you're talking about site 1059, correct? Will cross that one off. THANKS for the heads up on the portage between Panhandle and Pan, yes that's our (proposed!) direction, duly noted.

Cyclones, I just read your trip report from June 2018, very interesting and helpful, great pic's and fish, thanks!

Years ago the island site on Boulder was beautiful. Don’t know how much the storms may have changed it. We caught lots of northerns too. Had a really nice time on Beaver one year also. That whole area is one of my favorites. My son caught his biggest walleye on Pan.

Just got back from a four-day Lady chain trip. Grace Lake was our absolute favorite. I was surprised that the mosquitos there were virtually nonexistent, while they were pretty bad at Polly and Hazel. At Hazel we had the more northern site. We checked out the "waterfalls" on the Phoebe River near where it empties into hazel and while it was lovely, the water levels must be low this year because I wouldn't quite call them waterfalls.

Did Louse east to west 2 years ago. Some info in the Portage/campsite forum.......special interest ones at bottom of main page

In the Phoebe River to the west of Knight Lake, there is a manmade channel that is not readily apparent from the seat of a canoe. However, satellite shots show this channel quite clearly.



As you approach, it will look just like a rock garden with no apparent path through. You may even get out and line your canoe through if you don't know the channel is there. There is just enough width to float most canoes through. You do more poling than paddling, but it will save you a lot of time to find the channel.

Grace Lake is a nice lake, but Hazel has the nicer sites (IMHO). We have stayed on the one on the south shore.

Everyone talks about the nice campsite on Boulder Lake, but I want to spend a night or two on the beach site on Amber Lake if I get the chance.

Makwa Lake is beautiful for the cliffs, but a campsite there is problematic. We were literally blown off the campsite next to the cliff one afternoon. Could not get a tent staked down to stay. Moved on. There is a campsite between the two northern portages out of Makwa, but it has never looked inviting to us. The third one on the west shore is hidden and we have never actually found it.

Unless you absolutely have your heart set on doing the Louse River, once I got to Makwa, I would turn left and go north to Little Sag! It is one of my favorite lakes and I never get tired of being there. It is just a lot of work to get there from any entry. You could then either turn south through Whipped and Fente to Mesaba Lake to continue your original route. OR continue east through Tuscarora and head east through the Howl Swamp, Hubbub Lake, and Copper Lake to Snipe Lake and Cross Bay Lake, then head south through Long Island Lake to Cherokee and then east to the Temperance Lakes. Turn south through the Temperance River watershed (Weird, Jack Kelly Lakes) and then back to Sawbill through the Fire Lakes.

Louse River - Make sure you ask about the portages between Boze and Frond Lakes at your outfitter. They are confusing and not as marked on your map.

Many of the portages along the Louse River are different than the way they are marked on any map. Beavers change them all the time. A conversation with an outfitter about recent conditions will help a lot.

Trail Lake is very remote and we had one of our most memorable experiences there. (Northern Campsite) While the tendency of most (I think) is to take the northern route through Dent to Mesaba Lake, I would encourage you to visit Wine Lake instead. The portages are absolute ankle busters through there, but Wine Lake has beautiful campsites and is an absolutely lovely lake.

Visit the Viking Dolman along the Kelso River south of Lujenida Lake.

Campsites will be a crap shoot the closer you get to Sawbill Lake.

While most like the southern campsites on Cherokee Lake, I like the northern ones better. The one on the tip of the northern most island is very nice and has great night sky viewing.

The campsite on the southeastern shore of South Temperance Lake is elevated up off the lake and has great views. Otherwise the northwestern corner campsite is isolated and will give you some solitude on a lake that can be busy.

The peninsula site on Jack Lake is the better of the two.

Burnt Lake has some nice sites on it. I liked the southern most site when we stayed there once. Nice tent pads and it is off the main travel path for some solitude.

Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks all for the tips and suggestions!

Cowdoc, I did see your write up on the Louse portages, have it printed out to take along.

Michwall, I see the channel on google, great to know. Thanks also for the encouragement to go to little Sag. We were hesitating b/c we don't like bigger water as much (esp. in wind) and wondered if we might see more people up there. But you're right, it is a good ways from any entry. Nothing is set in stone until the moment we make a decision in the boats, so everything is a possibility at this point.

LarryNC: "Thanks all for the tips and suggestions!


Cowdoc, I did see your write up on the Louse portages, have it printed out to take along.


Michwall, I see the channel on google, great to know. Thanks also for the encouragement to go to little Sag. We were hesitating b/c we don't like bigger water as much (esp. in wind) and wondered if we might see more people up there. But you're right, it is a good ways from any entry. Nothing is set in stone until the moment we make a decision in the boats, so everything is a possibility at this point. "

While Little Sag looks like a big lake with big water, you can make it feel much smaller by sticking around the islands to the south. Even with a good wind blowing, there is only one or two spots where there is a truly long fetch for the wind to kick up big waves in among those islands. And that depends a lot on the wind direction.

Thanks Michwal -- it is definitely still on our list of possibilities, and we have maps to cover it. Will depend a lot on the weather once we get closer that way. Thanks again for the encouragement, and the very neat satellite photo.

Just finished our trip report:
lady chain, louse, frost trip report

LarryNC: "Just finished our trip report:
lady chain, louse, frost trip report "

That's awesome! I'll comment more on the actual post....