My group has normally traveled in the Snowbank/Ensign/Disappointment Lake area and have had several great trips. This year the entire group isn't going and the members that are going want to do something different.

Therefore, we have already secured a permit (Mudro Restricted #22) for June 8th. Our initial plan is to travel the first day to Lower Basswood Falls and hopefully catch a site to camp in that area before heading north to Crooked the 2nd day.

After that we don't have much of a plan other than spending 6 straight days on Crooked. It is our plan to exit the same way we came in thru Horse River. The primary purpose of our trip will be fishing and we have heard wonderful things about Crooked. Our main interests are walleyes and smallmouth figuring pike will take care of themselves as usual.

Right now I think we would be happy landing somewhere between Wednesday and Thursday bays and just spending the entire week there. I am assuming those are the area that people talk about when mentioning "Little Current" and "Big Current". But I'm now exactly sure where those area so any help would be great.

But we are open to more travel based on these questions:

1) Are any of the large bays better fishing during that time frame (2nd week of June) to where we want to basecamp near a specific bay.

2) Is it worth it for the group to push towards the west end of the lake in order to possibly day trip into Iron for 1 or possibly 2 days for better fishing (if that is even possible compared to Crooked). I know Iron can be tough to get a campsite on so that isn't critical.

I've already searched the site for Crooked information and am practically paralyzed by options at this point! LOL

Thanks in advance - WJ

That is a great time to go and a great route. I did it with some friends last year entering on the 5th and it ended up being a new record high temp for Ely, I think 91F. The heat didn't let up for almost the entire 9 day trip.

We stayed in LBF like you're planning to, and then due to wind had to stop short in Friday Bay on the next day, though our intent was to stay in/near Saturday. The following day we found the 2 good sites in Saturday occupied, so we checked Sunday and found the lovely south site open. The fishing was pretty good, with less smallmouth than I would have anticipated up in the shallows, but still plenty to have fun with, and some of the easiest walleye fishing I've ever had in my life.

While I did like the Thursday area, passing through, I loved Sunday and found it beautiful and relaxing, with only a small handful of groups observed over 5 days at our campsite. We basically had it all to ourselves. I think you can't go wrong, staying around Thursday, but if I go to Crooked again, I'm going to be mighty tempted to head to Sunday again.

Hope this helps!

walleyejunky: "My group has normally traveled in the Snowbank/Ensign/Disappointment Lake area and have had several great trips. This year the entire group isn't going and the members that are going want to do something different.

Therefore, we have already secured a permit (Mudro Restricted #22) for June 8th. Our initial plan is to travel the first day to Lower Basswood Falls and hopefully catch a site to camp in that area before heading north to Crooked the 2nd day.

After that we don't have much of a plan other than spending 6 straight days on Crooked. It is our plan to exit the same way we came in thru Horse River. The primary purpose of our trip will be fishing and we have heard wonderful things about Crooked. Our main interests are walleyes and smallmouth figuring pike will take care of themselves as usual.

Right now I think we would be happy landing somewhere between Wednesday and Thursday bays and just spending the entire week there. I am assuming those are the area that people talk about when mentioning "Little Current" and "Big Current". But I'm now exactly sure where those area so any help would be great.

But we are open to more travel based on these questions:

1) Are any of the large bays better fishing during that time frame (2nd week of June) to where we want to basecamp near a specific bay.

2) Is it worth it for the group to push towards the west end of the lake in order to possibly day trip into Iron for 1 or possibly 2 days for better fishing (if that is even possible compared to Crooked). I know Iron can be tough to get a campsite on so that isn't critical.

I've already searched the site for Crooked information and am practically paralyzed by options at this point! LOL

Thanks in advance - WJ
"

The big and little current run into Thursday Bay, with the Big Current being to the North. I’d find moving water such as the Wednesday Bay area. Dynamite Walleye area.

I put together a screenshot with different points of interest. If you get to the west end seeing Curtain Falls would be worthwhile as well. I w@ supposed to be I. This area last year but didn’t get to due to the fires. We’re doing that trip this year as a family so it’s all planned out already for me.

I’ll be in this area for 2 trips this year.
Ryan

If you don't already have one, get a Voyageur brand map for that area from this web site's store. You'll have contours....which will then show you Thursday Bay is VERY deep. Not real ideal for what you're looking for other than the bays and shoreline and current areas.

And if you're gonna be there that long, I'd spend half of it in the Sat/Sun area. Day trip to curtain falls and fish there too.

If you are anything like us, you will love Crooked.

We did this exact trip this year and are doing it again, right before you. In on June 3, out on June 7.

I would be happy to tell you all about it if you want to e-mail me. If you are indeed a walleye junkie, you're headed to the right place.

I was there in early June last year during the big heat wave. As I recall it was close to 100°. I would make a suggestion that you consider a loop and return via Gun-Fairy-Boot. We were able to get down Horse river with just a few extra carry overs. But a few weeks later it was much worse as the water dropped almost all summer long. I don’t think it improved much in the fall so a lot will depend on how much snow they have this year. If it doesn’t recover to somewhat normal levels I think the river might be a real pain. Plus Gun and Fairy are real nice lakes with a number of nice campsites. Make sure to stop at the pictos on the Basswood river.

I was also in Iron two years ago and I would definitely day trip there since you’ll have the time.

I’ll be doing the same route starting a day later than you! Looks like allot of good information!

Crooked is my favorite lake. The camp sites are well dispersed and most are nice. Once you get away from the LBF area you leave the majority of canoers. Fishing is good through the entire lake. Unless the water is low you will know big and little current when you see them. I like to camp in Sunday Bay just because they are kind of tucked out of the way. The area between Thursday and Friday is nice also. I would second going out thru Friday. Beautiful area.

AluminumBarge: "I was there in early June last year during the big heat wave. As I recall it was close to 100°. I would make a suggestion that you consider a loop and return via Gun-Fairy-Boot. We were able to get down Horse river with just a few extra carry overs. But a few weeks later it was much worse as the water dropped almost all summer long. I don’t think it improved much in the fall so a lot will depend on how much snow they have this year. If it doesn’t recover to somewhat normal levels I think the river might be a real pain. Plus Gun and Fairy are real nice lakes with a number of nice campsites. Make sure to stop at the pictos on the Basswood river.


I was also in Iron two years ago and I would definitely day trip there since you’ll have the time. "

What is the fishing like on the smaller lakes (Gun-Fairy-Boot)? Is it worth staying in the area for a few days on the trip out thru Mudro?

What is the fishing like on the smaller lakes (Gun-Fairy-Boot)? Is it worth staying in the area for a few days on the trip out thru Mudro?"

We stayed on Gun 2 seasons ago July. It's a clear water lake and I found the fishing to be tougher. We did catch a few though.

It was a busy lake for our time there and noisy. There is a decent "cliff" jumping spot and one family decided to spend half a day there whooping and hollering every time they jumped. I was more annoyed that they stayed there for so long as I kind of wanted to jump. LOL

We are hoping to layover there this year on our way to Saturday Bay. We may grab a site before Gun if it's open. Don't want to gamble on something after the long portage north of Gun if campsites are taken on Gun. Just have to feel out the amount of people we see on the way there. Can usually tell if it's gonna be a tough day by the traffic you see.

We’ve always had good luck on those lakes. There’s nothing huge but the numbers are decent.

What is the fishing like on the smaller lakes (Gun-Fairy-Boot)? Is it worth staying in the area for a few days on the trip out thru Mudro?

I have always stopped on Gun for a night or 2 before heading out. I always hope for and have gotten the first site after the 300 rod portage. Walleye fishing is good on Gun. Lots of eating size and in 2020 I caught a 26 inch walleye there. Hopefully she is still swimming around. I leave Sunday Bay around 6 and eat a late lunch on Gun.

Question: what is the paddle time from Thursday Bay (island campsites around the current areas) to Curtain Falls?

Thinking about a day trip to see the Falls at least one day.

walleyejunky: "Question: what is the paddle time from Thursday Bay (island campsites around the current areas) to Curtain Falls?


Thinking about a day trip to see the Falls at least one day."

Google Earth says that's about 9 miles so....if you paddle 3 mph that's 3 hours one way. If you take a weather radio, pick a calmer day and it would be a nice day trip. Take your fishing stuff

Good walleye and bass in Fri and Sat bay. A full day trip to/return Curtain falls but worth it--fish the whole way and plan on fishing the water falls all the way to Iron.
Consider a different return trip instead of Horse river--walleye and bass in Gun.

First of all its a great area to trip.

You might consider spending a day around LBWF, go over and fish Wheelbarrow falls and LBWF, maybe even venture up towards the big falls. It's worth the trip and the fish ng is good.

When you get to Crooked, there is a really nice site north of Friday Bay.

If I were you, I'd venture over to Iron for a day or two. Theres a campsite at the entrance to Peterson Bay that is awesome and to the west is Walleye Rock as we called it. We caught some massive SM and lots of good eyes last year.

Depending on your adventure setting, you could then go back up the Beartrap River and around to the entry.

This will be our group's first time out of Ep 23, headed out may 14th for the same area. Our main goal is to catch plenty of Walters and enjoy the beautiful LWBF scenery. We have had such great luck fishing on Lac La Croix the past few years, it was tough to convince the group to try new lakes and locations. I have soaked up all the tips in the thread, thank you all and a big thank you for the post walleyjunkie.

I am also thankful for all the information everyone has passed on. Much appreciated!

My two cents:
Spend 3 days on Wed/Thursday Bay, 2 days on Friday, 2 days on Sunday and two days working your way back to Mudro via Friday Bay/Boot/Fairy/Gun, etc.

Wed/Thurs bay is dynamite walleye fishing pretty much anywhere near the moving water. With the late ice out this year, I'd be looking for walleyes very close to moving water in 10-15'.

Friday Bay: Great fishing across the board, deeper water with more offshore structure (hint: islands and reefs). I think your chance of a larger trophy class walleye are much greater here than the shallower water. I'd look for offshore structure in 12-20' of water.

Sunday Bay: Great fishing here, too, and much closer proximity to Curtain Falls and Iron, which would be a great option for a day trip. I've heard Saturday is a little shallower and better for bass, but not confirmed.

I don't think it's worth your time adding boot/gun/fairy to your itinerary if fishing is your main goal. Those lakes can be good fishing, but will never compare to Iron/Crooked.

Bring Minnows and/or leeches...they will be lights out that time of year and you'll catch more fishing using those than almost any other bait. If you're looking for size, troll larger crankbaits near structure (shorelines, islands, reefs, etc.) and you'll pick up larger walleye/pike/bass. Nothing beats a 1/8-3/8 oz jig head with a big hunk of live meat. Color didnt seem to matter for us but it is super stained water, so orange/pink/chartreuse/green/gold would be where I start (crayfish and baitfish colors).

Had an awesome time on Crooked a few years ago, check it out if you haven't seen it already:
TARGET="_blank">Walleye Slam - Crooked Lake Late May 2020

Have fun!

It was fun sharing some e mails back and forth!

We will be on Crooked starting June 3, so this thread was fun.

I'm jealous of the nine days you've got planned!

I adore Crooked. It's sort of become our "second home" and has really spoiled us for anywhere else. Every season we say, should we go somewhere else? And every season, we're like...nope. Not this time :D We ususally spend 10+ days in one spot.
Although we've done trips where we've stayed in the LBF area (and there are a few nice sites in the area--most notably the island right before you get to the portage in to the falls area, the site below the falls (not necessarily the other one on the backside of it), and the one up high right after you exit the falls area. There's decent fishing around the falls--probably better in the spring than in fall/late summer, which is when we're usually there. We've had a lot of luck down in the deeps by the pictographs (again, maybe not s much in spring), especially with crappies.
Our normal gig that we've been doing for the last 6 years or so, though, has been to basecamp in what we call "Werdsday" (that area in between the biggest water of the two bays) and our typical fishing range runs between Thursday to just past the Little Current into wednesday. We've never had bad fishing in this area. Walleyes are our main goal, but there are also some super nice crappie holes, and TBH, (and I know this is borderline blasphemy), if we're fishing for dinner...I will take a crappie over the walleye any day ;-)
If I had to pick between Curtain Falls or LBF, I prefer LBF... we keep saying we'll do a point to point and go in LLC, through Curtain and Crooked and out Horse, but haven't done it. We just really prefer the other side of Crooked. Our preferred entry these days is a tow through Fall and Basswood to the edge of the motor zone, then over to crooked and up into Thursday Bay. We exit via Horse, which has been...annoying lately, but not the end of the world. I, personally, HATE HATE HATE the trip out of gun/fairy/boot. But that's just me, and I seem to be alone in my opinion :D Some years we spend a day on Horse (or gun), some years not. Depends on teh crowds. The last couple of years, horse has been absolutely packed. The last time we came through, there was not an open site between horse and the takeout at mudro. This was in mid-september.

Late to the party, but I have been to Crooked numerous times, and would share info with anyone who wants. Contact me thru email and we can go from there if interested.

Going mid may this year for 5 days. Hope we are in time for ice out!