Did a trip to Kabby in June, we did a day trip up to Shoepack and caught a few of these rare Musky. Fun adventure, although it was almost 90 degrees and no wind so the walk was tough on my 74 year old father.

Fishless for the first hour with about 6 follows we switched to smaller lures and that was the ticket. Also there is a row boat stowed at the lake you need to use, that first hour my brother and I were pathetic rowing…ate lunch then my Dad took over and showed us how to row. Looked effortless. I think showing his boys up in front of the grandkids made the trip for him.

If you ever want to fish for them in a much easier setting, Crescent Lake in Grand Marais is full of those shoepack strain muskies! Very fun to catch on bass tackle!

For fun I scrolled around on google maps till I found it. Where did you walk from to get there? It looks like it's quite a distance from anything else....and I didn't see any obvious trail to/from it or any boats stashed on shore. (not sure when the image was taken though)

cyclones30: "For fun I scrolled around on google maps till I found it. Where did you walk from to get there? It looks like it's quite a distance from anything else....and I didn't see any obvious trail to/from it or any boats stashed on shore. (not sure when the image was taken though) "

There is a specific trail to Shoepack out of Kab. You get to little Shoepack…shuttle across…there is ONLY one canoe so we had to take 3 trips each way—with there being 6 of us…ugh…then portage to Shoepack and then you set up the row boat.

You need to reserve with the FS/Recreation.gov just like the BWCAW. You can only reserve camping permits. So we did that and then just did a day trip in.

Ok, yeah thanks. I did see the canoes on shore there. But it's just a hiking/portage trail?

It’s a well defined hiking trail that ends at Little Shoepack. The FS has a map with the trail outline on it.Then you need the keys from the FS to unlock the canoe on Little Shoepack, paddle to the portage to Shoepack…portage…need keys for the row boat.

The previous map I posted was from Garmin and has snowmobile routes on it so maybe confusing.

We camped in Lost Bay several years ago and noted the portage trail. I suppose you could canoe and portage in there as well? It looked like a fun adventure from our vantage point.

HighnDry: "We camped in Lost Bay several years ago and noted the portage trail. I suppose you could canoe and portage in there as well? It looked like a fun adventure from our vantage point."

Just an FYI you cannot portage in your own canoe—not sure if that was even what you were saying...but just to be clear… You need to reserve a permit, then get the keys to the canoe/row boat locks…then be able to return the keys in time for the next group. You are only allowed to use FS watercraft. There is only ONE canoe on little Shoepack and ONE small rowboat on Shoepack. So a small group is preferable. You could portage the little Shoepack canoe over to Shoepack but it was the shuttling the group of six across little shoepack in one 16 foot canoe that really ate up time. 2 of our 6 were kids. I wouldn’t do it with a group more than 4 again—3 if you all weight over 225#.

There are extra canoes 1 each on little shoepack and Shoepack but those require a different set of keys and the FS wouldn’t give us access to those canoes as they were set aside for park staff. I was also dealing with a FS person who had worked only 2 days on the job and initially told us a lot of things that were untrue/misinformed. Told us we couldn’t use the canoes—then how the heck do ya get to the lakes? Then said we needed to reserve the canoes as well…I made him pull it up and try to reserve the canoes…it is impossible because the canoes are part of the reservation. If you reserved the canoes and someone else reserved the camp—-how the heck does the camping group get to their camp—-it was frustrating and delayed our trip…anyway if anyone is attempting the trip feel free to message me on the details. I was clueless going in and having to figure it out with a new FS employee was frustrating. It wasn’t the employee’s fault. He had no training and due to COVID and closures he had no one to ask either. He was frustrated too :)

Kabby has the spiny water flea, the inland waters of the Kab peninsula are still relatively pristine so they have banned any personal watercraft or flights into any of these lakes.

We have been looking to get a permit for many years, this is the first time I’ve been able to find an open permit during the week we are usually there. It takes some planning.

T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtDsruX0WHk

I did a trip with a buddy into Shoepack this year...Like you, we struggled until we started throwing smaller lures, then we got into them pretty good. We didn't get any of the "big" ones (I think they top out in the mid 30's?), but on bass tackle, throwing chatterbaits or small spinners, they were a lot of fun.

We actually hauled the canoe over the portage because it was super windy and that rowboat kicked out butts. Should've brought an old guy along, I guess. :)

Thanks for the report!

Yea…I was amazed at my Dad rowing. I guess that he used them a lot as a kid and even raced them. I think we were trying to hard, but bringing the canoe over was probably a good idea for familiarity.

I hope to do it again and be better prepared.

T