Mid Sept trip from Sawbill to Phoebe for a 5 day base camp fishing trip. I've read everything on Phoebe that the search feature found but looking for more info. Any first hand experience with Phoebe or neighboring Grace in Sept? Primarily targeting smallies but pike and walleye info welcome. As is campsite or portage info. Thanks

I'd look between the islands for walleye. There is probably some good structure in the middle of the lake. Back in the bays for small mouth, or some the channels between shore and islands. Northern pike are going to be all over probably patrolling the weed lines. Just check out the contour maps and look for some good structure.

I have only been on this lake once and didn't get much fishing in due to the weather. It was too choppy for fishing. We only caught a couple from shore. In between the islands is where we would have liked to go.

Fished it in June one year. Long day from Malberg....got island site....caught walleyes right off camp and thats all I had time for but it interested me enough that I want to go back for a couple days of serious fishing FWIW. Site 1024. There is a shelf off the rock hump in camp that angles out E/NE....they were hanging just off the shelf 5 to 20 yards out from shore.

Thanks for the responses. Not much info which means either the fishing isn't great, it's an out of the way place that not many stop to explore or it's very good fishing and those that know about it are tight lipped. I'm going with the last option. Time will tell.

WIMike: "Thanks for the responses. Not much info which means either the fishing isn't great, it's an out of the way place that not many stop to explore or it's very good fishing and those that know about it are tight lipped. I'm going with the last option. Time will tell."

The fishing is fine, not the best I've seen, but you shouldn't have problems catching dinner. It's more that not as many people get as far in a Phoebe. The Alton to Beth and Beth to Grace portages are pretty rough and a bit of a deterrent. Beth and Phoebe are both great looking lakes too with similar fishing so most people probably stop on Grace after that 280 rod portage.

You also have to realize that many people like to be a bit tight lipped about even moderate fishing. Little response doesn't mean much.

Caught some walleyes in between islands trolling and a 30 + inch northern casting a spoon from a camp on an island. If I remember right we caught bass on the way up to Knight lake. But this was early June.

I spent a day and a half on Phoebe at the end of last August during a 7 day solo. I fished pretty hard, looking for walleyes, but didn't find many. I've got to believe it's a good walleye fishery though. Lots of great looking structure. I did well at times on smallies and pike, particularly the evening bite. Knight Lake just to the north is mostly shallow, but I did well in the deeper water on the SE shoreline. It was worth the paddle up there. Check out Navionics, they show some hidden structure that is worth a look.

https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@11&key=ywacH%7CqmjP

Hi Mike,

I base camped on Pheobe for a couple days around late June. I'm guessing the fishing will be different given you'll get there a bit later, but as others have indicated the walleye fishing is pretty good. We fished around the islands in the middle to lower portion of the lake and just pitched jigs into the windblown shoreline of the island. For smallies we did okay around the islands on topwaters and caught a decent amount in the southern bay. We heard the fishing for smallies was great where knight and pheobe connect, but never had the chance to fish that area. Alton and Beth were pretty busy, and the fishing is a bit tougher. We spent a half day on Grace and caught over 100 smallmouth, but they were all pretty small.

It's a beautiful area of the BWCA and you'll have a great time, I'd love to go back to this area sometime.

Did almost exact same trip about 6 years ago over Memorial Day weekend.

The pike fishing was good and consistent...we landed between 30" and 40" fish throughout the day/evening but nothing over that. Mostly got them in Knight and in the channel between Phoebe and Knight.

Got a few decent smallies (2 to 3 lbs) in the bay next to the campsite on the East side of the lake. A blast on an ultralight setup.

Targeted walleye for some time in 'the likely spots' but we were only able to pick one up accidentally when throwing for pike in the channel.

Not to change subjects/lakes but it felt like Alta Lake Deja vu (separate trip)...by all accounts and indicators, those lakes seem to be good environments for healthy walleye fisheries. We fished both lakes hard during the day and at night (full moon) and didn't have much to show for it.

All that being said, Phoebe is a beautiful lake if you're willing to put in the effort...the portage from Beth to Grace is a real memory builder, especially if it's been rainy.