Entering #37. Going north to Malberg to Alice and into Insula.
Any advice or experience in Insula?

It's been years for me but I'd get a map and fish the narrows/pinch points and reefs this time of year. Troll a rapala minnow rap or Berkley flicker shad to find them. I'd expect them to be deeper edges daytime and shallow on top of the reefs in evening/AM.

Maybe not what you were looking for in terms of advise, but if you have a GPS I would bring it. Insula was the most confusing lake I have paddled. With all the islands and the overcast sky we were completely lost. Luckily there was at least one in my party who could eventually orient himself.

It looks like an octopus! Any especially nice sites? Bears/moose, fishing?

Great sites NE end of Insula. Use campsites on Insula as points of reference to help with traveling that many islands.

williamson Island is great! If you look at narrow from Island that heads toward alice there is a great site to left of it.

Thanks!

smoke11: "williamson Island is great! If you look at narrow from Island that heads toward alice there is a great site to left of it."

if you don't mind plagues of mice. :D Srsly, we found it entertaining devising "Mice thwarting traps" and "Mice launchers" etc. And yes, that part was more funny than anything else (watching them and making bets was hours of entertainment). But they ARE busy--and WILL run up your pants and chew on your (hanged) pack (ask me about our not-really-patented plastic bottle mouse launcher :p) and do the Mousey 500/Roller Derby across your tent at night.

I've been on a lot of island sites, and this one has been one of the WORST for mice. Whether that's a deal breaker or instant entertainment is something only you can decide :D

drmau1: "Any especially nice sites?"

1334 if you like sandy beaches.
Some don't because the sand seems to get into everything.

Just got back from a trip starting at the numbered lakes then through Insula and two layover days on Alice. It looked like you would want to stay on the east end of Insula, the west end has a lot of fire damange--not terrible, but not as nice as the east end. I also wouldn't discount staying on Alice--my favorite lake. Has several nice beach campsites on the east side and good fishing. We caught a bunch of very large smallmouth and some good size walleye and also good numbers.

Ranger800: "Just got back from a trip starting at the numbered lakes then through Insula and two layover days on Alice. It looked like you would want to stay on the east end of Insula, the west end has a lot of fire damange--not terrible, but not as nice as the east end. I also wouldn't discount staying on Alice--my favorite lake. Has several nice beach campsites on the east side and good fishing. We caught a bunch of very large smallmouth and some good size walleye and also good numbers."

Been many years since I have been to Alice. Remember seeing my first smallmouth in the number chains-lake two to be specific around 2000. Smallmouth slowly moved up the chain. I wonder how they made it the last few years over rapids and into even isolated lakes like Hope.

So Alice has smallmouth now?

Too bad if it does. Don't get me wrong, I love smallmouth, just not everywhere. The sterile waters of the BWCA can only hold so much poundage of fish and something will have to give.

Yes, it definitely has smallmouth. I think I made my first trip to Alice around 2004 and it had smallmouth then.

Ranger800: "Yes, it definitely has smallmouth. I think I made my first trip to Alice around 2004 and it had smallmouth then. "

That is getting close to when they started showing up in there. Walleye fishing there now is nowhere what it use to be in the early 1990's and earlier. Yes it may cycle back, but smallmouth can become very dominant. Yes walleye will survive, but it will be different, just as Insula has changed.

When navigating Insula from the SW to NE end. Break it up into sections. I did it in 92 pre personal GPS and was very careful b,ut made it without getting confused. A GPS app on your phone (works in airplane mode) can confirm your location and put a smile on your face