I'm headed into the boundary waters for a guys trip in early June and I thought I might get some opinions on the routes that I have come up with. Some of the guys are bigger on fishing and some are more interested in exploring, but everyone likes catching dinner.

The plan is to take 7-10 days to go around these loops. We will be somewhat targeting trout and walleye depending on the lake and want to include lakes for both in the route. The group size is going to be 4-6 guys. We are thinking that if campsites are limited on decent tent pads and we have a larger group, then we can fit 3 guys in 2 4-p tents and the 3rd tent will be a 3-p.

Option 1
Option 2
Option 3

My 2 cents -

Option 1 - I have done this exact route and had a great time. Getting a tow to American point saved us from some pretty rough water on our first day. Even without a tow 7-10 days is way more than enough to do this route. You could extend a little and explore the Lake Trout lakes between the North and South Arm of Knife (something that is on my list for sure) and/or have layover days around south Knife which has excellent fishing. Kek ponds between Knife and Ogish are supposed to have excellent fish as well as some of the smaller lakes around Ogish.

Option 2 - When my son was 8 I did a handful of these lakes but didn't make it further than Cherokee or Kelso. I also have hit Tuscarora from the North. Cherokee and Tuscarora are beautiful lakes and I know people really like Long Island Lake. I know Tuscarora is known for Lake Trout and in early June they should still be fairly shallow depending on how weather. We will see what other say but I don't think the fishing overall on the route would be as good as the first option.

Option 3 - This loop contains Little Sag which is one of my favorite lakes I have stayed on in the BWCA. With 7-10 days I would recommend a couple of layover days here to explore/fish. I have not been to Malberg but from what I have read it can be an excellent Walleye lake.

If it were me I would lean towards a version of your Option 1, but whatever option you pick it will be a great trip!

Here is my take:

Option 1 - This probably your most "fishing" route. 7-10 days will mean a lot of time for fishing. Ogishkemuncie is known as a fishing lake. SAK is also known for fishing. Saganaga Lake holds some of the deepest waters on this route. Without fishing I think it would take about 4 days to paddle this route (leisurely). Day 1 Seagull to Ogish. Day 2 Ogish to SAK. Day 3 SAK to Ester. Day 4 Ester to Exit. So lot's of fishing lakes and lots of fishing time. The down side is the size of the lakes and the potential for wind keeping you in camp. Other factors - Take some time and visit Mueller Falls between Mueller and Agamok Lake southeast of Ogishkemuncie. Eddy Falls between Eddy and SAK will take some time to explore. Take some time to paddle over to Thunder Point (the spot where Knife Lake splits between north and south arms.) and climb to the top for the iconic view. The border between Canada and US is closed. Please know which side you are on at all times. You do not want to be caught fishing Canadian waters without permits, licenses, and border permissions. For more varied fishing waters, you might consider coming out through Red Rock Bay(Saganaga Lake), Red Rock Lake, Alpine Lake, Seagull Lake.

Option 2. This is the most lake trout heavy route. This route can be paddled in about 6 days. Day 1 Sawbill to Cherokee. Day 2 Cherokee to Long Island Lake, Day 3 Long Island Lake to Tuscarora (long day). Day 4 Tuscarora to Little Sag (I would not pass up the opportunity to fish Little Sag instead of staying on Mora). Day 5 Little Sag to Mesaba. Day 6 - Mesaba out to Sawbill (start early). You obviously will have less time to fish and more time to paddle. The route from Little Sag to Mesaba is beautiful and passes through some of the least visited parts of BW. As noted before, Cherokee and Tuscarora are known for their lake trout. Long Island and Little Sag have many more species of fish. I have spent some time fishing Mesaba and have never caught a fish there, but others seem to like it. Other factors. There are several lakes on which the wind can become a factor - Cherokee, Long Island, Tuscarora, Little Sag are the main ones. With the time you have, I would add a side trip to Frost Lake. Nice sand beaches, the better than average chance to view moose, and some good fishing for pike or lake trout are reasons for a side trip. The Howl Lake is more of a swamp. Some maps show a continuous portage but that has been replaced with a short canal to pole through. The 300 rd. Fente to Hub portage includes a glute burning climb for about a quarter mile to start. The rest is a nice walk in the woods. I always forget the portages from Mesaba to Zenith are all uphill.

Option 3. This is the most paddle heavy route. But has more opportunity for lakes with walleye and smb and far less lake trout. Day 1 Sawbill to Phoebe. Day 2 to Phoebe to Polly. Day 3 Phoebe to Malberg. Day 4 Day trip to the pictographs on Fishdance and fish the Kawishiwi River there and back. (You might want to fish Amber Lake a little if you have time on the way back.). Day 5 - Malberg to Little Sag. Day 6 - Little Sag to Mesaba. Day 7 Mesaba to Sawbill. Phoebe is known for walleye. Lake Polly is known for both walleye and smb. Kawishiwi River has all kinds of fish in it. Malberg is known for its walleye but has other species. Little Sag has all species of fish. Other factors. The only lakes that might have wind as a factor are Phoebe and Little Sag (maybe some stretches of the Kawishiwi River). This route has the most varied paddling. The river route is stunningly beautiful. There is a lot of in and out of the canoes, but the portages are mostly flat and not too long. Polly Lake is a busy spot. Get there early for a choice campsite. There is a pretty falls through a canyon along the portage headed northeast out of Malberg. Makwa Lake has stunning cliffs. We take the two shorter portages out the north end of Elton (through the beaver pond.). In June the water may be higher through there and some short wet (ankle to knee deep) spots on the portages.

Hope this helps.

I did option 1 a couple years ago. We started and ended on Seagull, working our way clockwise. We were on Knife the first day in the early afternoon, and split the 9 days between the South and North Arms. It was a great loop! We did not use a tow, but if I did it again I'd get the tow back across Sag from Seagull Outfitters.

Option 1 - I personally would extend it to include North Arm Knife and Kekekabic. Both fantastic lakes in terms of scenery and fishing. My fishing days on a 7-10 day trip would be;

N. Arm Knife
Kekekabic
Ogish
Seagul/JAP aka Paulsen depending on the map.

I would camp near the Seagull JAP portage and run over there for some lakers.

Option 2 - A great trip for sure. Long Island and Cherokee are some of my favorite lakes. Beautiful sites and beautiful fish!

Option 3 - I wouldn't do it.

I like all 3 options.

Option 1 is the easiest by far, especially if a tow is involved. Don't be afraid to check out the north arm of knife as mentioned and Thunder Point if it's not a windy day.

Not much to add to option 2 over what's been said.

Option 3 I like if you want to stick to smaller waters. (but more portaging) The lady chain and Malberg up to Pan you'll be in smallie/walleye/pike territory big time. Makwa is a nice laker stop and the cliffs are really cool.

Thanks for the info. The guys I'm going with are leaning towards the 3rd option. I am getting a little more concerned about the distances though. It's not that much further than option 2 though.

A1t2o: "Thanks for the info. The guys I'm going with are leaning towards the 3rd option. I am getting a little more concerned about the distances though. It's not that much further than option 2 though."

7 to 10 days is enough time. How experienced is the group? Single portage? Triple portage? That will make a difference. You're looking at maybe....5-6 travel days depending how you break it up and weather and such. So 2 to 5 layover days depending how long you're out. Or if you want a shorter travel day or something that will work still easily

I'm doing Option 3 in August if the Frost River is too low

A1t2o: "Thanks for the info. The guys I'm going with are leaning towards the 3rd option. I am getting a little more concerned about the distances though. It's not that much further than option 2 though."

It's not the distance that takes the time in option 3, it's the amount of time loading and unloading canoes. Packing and organization are the key to reduce time here. Some call it a portage rhythm.

If you like the route, but would like a shorter paddle with a little more fishing time, get a permit for Entry 37 - Kawishiwi Lake. Then either shuttle yourself or hire the shuttle from Sawbill Outfitters from Sawbill Lake to Kawishiwi. You still end at Sawbill. It will cut a day of paddling and add a day of fishing. It's really only 4 hard days of paddling/portaging to get back - Day 1 Kawishiwi to Malberg, Day 2 Malberg to Little Sag, Day 3 Little Sag to Mesaba, Day 4 out to Sawbill. But you would miss all the fishing! Here is what you might consider - Day 1 to Polly. Day 2 to Malberg, Day 3 - Daytrip to Pictos, Day 4 Fish your way from Malberg to Elton. Day 5 Elton to Little Sag. Day 6 Little Sag fishing. Day 7 Little Sag to Mesaba. Day 8 Fish Hub and Mesaba. Day 9 Layover for wind (insert where you need to. Day 10 Out to Sawbill. You will miss some great walleye water on Phoebe Lake, but you can spend more time on fishing Polly/Malberg, the smaller lakes north of there, and Little Sag. You could add a day trip to Gabimichigami (wind permitting) to try your hand at lake trout or spend more time on Amber Lake.

Alternately, there is a "leap frog" portaging technique that you might employ to get your gear to the other end of portages with fewer trips over the portage. Here is a link to a description:

Leap Frog Technique

There are lots of options for making the trip work.

It's been quite a few years since 2014, but we did a very similar route. We dropped a car at Sawbill and left from Kawishiwi. Your route would be about 10 miles longer so about 60 miles doubling. You have time to spare, especially with10 days. We laid over a full day on Little Sag and had a couple of short days in the week we spent. It was a nice trip. We didn't fish so I can't help there.

Send me an email for fishing on route 3 if you end up wanting go to go that way

Before covid out plan last year was to take 2 cars, put in at Kawishiwi and out at sawbill. No one was happy about having to deal with 2 cars though. We also aren't the type to pay for convenience.

This will be my 8th trip and everyone else is similarly experienced so we know what we are doing as far as distance, number of portages and so on. My first trip was Sawbill to Phoebe so I know how far that is, and just how different that distance can seem in different weather. The general plan for this route would be day 1 to Phoebe, day 2 to Polly, Day 3 to Malberg, Day 4 to Little Sag, Day 5 to fish Sag, Day 6 to Mesaba, and Day 7 out on Sawbill. 1 extra day for weather or good fishing. We also usually leave an additional day just in case we get delayed on our last day or the weather slows us by more than the one day, and our families know to not worry if they see bad weather and we are a day late.

We'll see what the other guys say this weekend though when all the information and feedback is put in front of everyone. They might see how all the traveling will cut into the fishing time and go with the shorter option.

Some of those are half days at most (Polly to Malberg) so should have plenty of time to fish and stuff then too. Malberg to Little Sag is more of a real travel day, but some real cool little lakes

cyclones30: "Some of those are half days at most (Polly to Malberg) so should have plenty of time to fish and stuff then too. Malberg to Little Sag is more of a real travel day, but some real cool little lakes "

Yeah, I know. The half day from Polly to Malberg was supposed to be a full day on Malberg, but Phoebe to Malberg is just too far to enjoy it. Maybe if we get ideal conditions, an early start, and everyone is feeling good by the time we hit Polly we could push on to Malberg, but I'm not going to bet on that. I wouldn't call any other of the days a "half day" though.

I have done option 3. Keep in mind that the total portage distance not counting double portaging is 9 miles. There are a couple long portages after Little Sag. What we did was Day 1: Grace, Day 2 Phoebe (with a trip back to Grace to pick up missing equipment), Day 3 Polly, Day 4 Pan, Day 5 Little Sag, Day 6, Mesaba, Day 7 last night on Alton and easy out the next morning. There were a lot of half days that allowed some fishing time. As a side note we had no intention on doing this loop when we started. We just took our maps and headed toward Grace Lake and winged it the rest of the way. We thought at one point we might do Louse River but thought water levels would be too low since it was around Labor Day.

A1t2o: "Before covid out plan last year was to take 2 cars, put in at Kawishiwi and out at sawbill. No one was happy about having to deal with 2 cars though. We also aren't the type to pay for convenience.


This will be my 8th trip and everyone else is similarly experienced so we know what we are doing as far as distance, number of portages and so on. My first trip was Sawbill to Phoebe so I know how far that is, and just how different that distance can seem in different weather. The general plan for this route would be day 1 to Phoebe, day 2 to Polly, Day 3 to Malberg, Day 4 to Little Sag, Day 5 to fish Sag, Day 6 to Mesaba, and Day 7 out on Sawbill. 1 extra day for weather or good fishing. We also usually leave an additional day just in case we get delayed on our last day or the weather slows us by more than the one day, and our families know to not worry if they see bad weather and we are a day late.


We'll see what the other guys say this weekend though when all the information and feedback is put in front of everyone. They might see how all the traveling will cut into the fishing time and go with the shorter option."

I didn't know how experienced you were. I hope my suggestions did not insult.

Hope you have a good trip.