Hey all,

I'm doing a 5-6 day trip with my girlfriend in this area the week before Memorial Day and I'm stuck. I was thinking we'd do a 5 day trip base camped on Malberg, with a day trip to Fishdance, a day trip to Adams, and spend the rest of our time fishing and relaxing. Fishing is a big focus as my girlfriend has not experienced spring fishing anywhere let alone in the BWCA, and we're both hoping to get on a fun smallmouth and pike bite, with a couple walleye for lunch/dinner if possible.

The problem is this... I have read the fishing on Adams is excellent, and I would honestly prefer to base camp there, but it's not possible for us to get in and out of there in a single day. I proposed that my girlfriend and I do a 6 day trip instead, base camping on Adams. This would be 2 days in, 2 days out, so we get 3 nights on Adams. We would still visit Fishdance for a day trip, but spend the rest of our time fishing Adams and a bit of the river system. This is a bit travel-intensive for only 6 days though.

My question is, is the smallie/pike fishing on Malberg good enough that I _probably_ won't be wishing we had base camped on Adams? Or should we just bite the bullet and push up there on day 2 and stay an extra day? I kinda hate that the second to last day, going from Adams to Polly, would kinda feel like a wasted day, as we will be tired from the travel and likely won't go out fishing or anything. I feel like the 5 day trip with 1 day in and 1 day out, with 4 nights on Malberg, is a better use of our time. And it leaves me with an extra day of precious PTO to use on a different trip too.

What do we do? Push to Adams for a 6 day trip because it's just that good, or base camp on Malberg for 5 days as previously planned, because we will still have plenty of good fishing opportunities?

Thanks!!

That time of year - personally - I would be targeting walleye in 5-15 fow. Malberg would be my choice. Not a lot of size - but plenty of eaters. email me if you want more detailed info on spots and campsites on Malberg.

WhiteWolf: "That time of year - personally - I would be targeting walleye in 5-15 fow. Malberg would be my choice. Not a lot of size - but plenty of eaters. email me if you want more detailed info on spots and campsites on Malberg. "

I appreciate it! I know people have said Malberg seems to be a decent lake for numbers of smaller eater walleyes which is ideal for us; hopefully we can hook into a couple. We won't be bringing leeches, so it'll be twister tails, crankbaits, and plastic swimbaits, I think.

Walleyes are really just a footnote for us, nice for a meal but we're more looking for a good fight from smallies and pike. The river seems to be highly recommended for pike which are still secondary to big smallies, so I'm trying to figure out what gives us the best overall options for big smallies but still big pike and some eater walleyes. My reading says Malberg is probably a better general base camp but Adams is better for big smallies. I'm so torn!

If you end up with a Malberg plan, email me for some fishing stuff. There's plenty of good spots in the area

There is certainly some big Pike in Malberg. I was anchored and catching nice Bluegills on the Northeast arm. All of the sudden my canoe was going side ways. I noticed my stringer was taught. So I pulled it up. And I saw two big gator eyes coming up towards me! I’m not sure on the size but I would guess high 30’s or into the 40”+ . This monster northern had one of my 8-10” Bluegills wedged completely sideways in his mouth! It looked crazy coming out of the water with a wide open mouth. I went to grab my net and he flipped out and ripped the gill right off the stringer. It was quite the experience!

I have not been to Adams but I can highly recommend Malberg for fishing, scenery, variety of very nice campsites and great exploration and daytrip opportunities. We caught nice smallies and pike, not a lot of walleyes but we put in limited effort. We moved to the southern island campsite on River Lake which is a great and scenic site and caught a lot of walleyes in that area - spent 45 minutes of the best walleye fishing I have ever had on a point just south of the campsite. It's on the way to Fishdance:)

If you can make it 6 days head up to Malberg the first day, about 6.5 hours and spend two nights. Good daytrip exploration from there. You might even be able to do a long daytrip and spend some time on Adams fishing. Head over to River Lake for two nights and do a much shorter daytrip to Fishdance, check out the Amber Lake campsite for lunch and fish River Lake. Head back to either Malberg or Polly or somewhere between for your last night. If you go this way I can give you the location of the spot we caught 35 walleyes in 45 minutes - we were mid July so they may not be there...but then again they just might be.

No matter what you do you will enjoy, it is one of my favorite areas in the BWCA. IMO Malberg is worth spending some time on.

Fishing can be hit or miss on any lake.

If I were you I would stay on Malberg.

I prob shouldn’t say this, but push on to Adams. We had the lake to ourselves for 3 days, good fishing, nice site. Pretty sweet. We checked out Fishdance till it ended. Fishing in the river is good also. Malberg you’ll have more company. Stretch out your legs a bit more and you might find a bit more fun on your trip.

Yeah, I'd say just be flexible. (you should anyway) Have a goal in mind and if it's Malberg and you're doing great keep going. If it's windy and you made a wrong turn somewhere earlier in the day...Malberg it is.

I've heard tales of big early season pike on dead bait from shore on Malberg. Also, bluegills on Malberg are fun.

WhiteWolf: "That time of year - personally - I would be targeting walleye in 5-15 fow. Malberg would be my choice. Not a lot of size - but plenty of eaters. email me if you want more detailed info on spots and campsites on Malberg. "

This has been my experience too.... good numbers for eating, not great size.

We've decided to stick with the plan and stay on Malberg for 4 nights and do the planned day trips to Fishdance and Adams. The southeast section of Adams looks like fantastic smallie and walleye habitat so I think we will spend a few hours dissecting it before heading back. I'm going up to Crooked 4 days after getting back from this trip so I decided not to add a day and the girlfriend is OK with that. I think we will still see and do everything we want to do and whether Adams delivers or not, it gives me a reason to go back!

Found nice walleyes just around the bend at Adams, on the other end of the lake from where you enter. I like that lake. Your plan makes sense all things considered. Hope you have fun.

You can make adams in a day, the island site is outstanding, the rapids going into fishdance are always good, Amber is a good lake too.

Oh geez, I just realized I was referring to Amber Lake, not Adams. That is a nice spot. Never been to Adams.

I like Adams.
Done well for big pike and bass... struggled with the walleye, but I admit to being a mediocre walleye fisherman. Few people most times & nice campsites.