My buddy (kegger70) and I are heading up early June and entering on Moose Lake. Usually we like to travel some decent distance but now that I have a few young kids I have to keep our trips a little shorter in the 3-4 day range. Our plan is to head into Wind from Moose and see where we go from there.

So, here's my question: given that we can't go too far in, is there any lake you'd recommend when it comes to Wind, Basswood, Indiana, or Good? We figured we could even push into Wood, but that might be on the far end of our range.

We are planning to base camp and basically fish as much as possible. We originally wanted to get onto Wood due to the ease of travel and some known fishing spots, but there are no permits available for the date we need unfortunately.

Thanks in advance!

Fished Wood, Good and Basswood. Just paddled around Indiana. Easy portaging all around. Fishing was the best for us on Basswood, around the Hoist Bay area. Basswood is a motor lake and we did see quite a few of them. Camped on Wood Lake and enjoyed it. Would have like to have stayed on Indiana as the sites looked great, but they were all taken when we went through. (Early June)

Hey Blake...

Wood, Good, and Indiana are favorite spots of mine. I've taken young children through there about a half dozen times in the past several years. Here's a thread with some fishing tips and here's another conversation with some info about the area.

The trip reports have great insights as well.

Direct answer to your question: Hoist Bay will most likely have your best fishing. You'll catch fish on both Indiana and Good, at least we always have, and there are plenty of hammer handle northerns on Hula.

Good luck and hopefully the fishing and trip go well for your younger guests!

Have always had good fishing on Wood and Good lakes. Walleyes mostly on Wood and northern/smallmouth/bluegills on Good. Never been to Indiana so I can't comment on that lake.

I did a solo trip to Good from Fall Lake EP last Sep. The trek was worth it for the southern campsite that overlooks the southern part of the lake. The only downside was the trek up and down to the site, and the landing was a sloped rock face. Be sure to tie off your canoe when not in use as mine would've blown to the north end of the lake one day had I not done that.

Fishing was off the hook down the shore in/around the weeds/lilies south of the campsite. The northern were coming out of the water hitting a topwater lure. I also landed a couple nice large mouth in the same area. I caught more fish than I could eat in a week - lots of fun! I didn't catch much on the northern end of the lake, save one northern along the eastern edge.

I heard Indiana was a great small mouth lake but I only ventured over to check out the campsites and marvel at the clear water. Sites were nice but not as nice as the one I had on Good.

Best of luck - I hope this helps!

Jeff

I did a few solo nights on Wind Lake and liked it. Had pretty good fishing right from the campsite (#1662), and a nice island to myself.

You don't say how old the kids are. That will be a big factor. Wind is the first lake we took our son to when he was five. Some nice campsites there if you get lucky and snag one. The island is nice for kids because it has a small, shallow, sandy bay which is great for swimming. The reason I ask about ages is Basswood can be feisty on its bad days. You can day trip out of Wind to Basswood and the other lakes you name. Agree with comments about Hoist Bay as good fishing. Have had mixed luck for smallies in Indiana. Good Lake is named after a logging company supervisor.

OldGuide2: "Wind is the first lake we took our son to when he was five. Some nice campsites there if you get lucky and snag one."

If you get lucky is the key. Wind is super easy to get to, and it's a big lake with only 5-6 campsites (i.e. not many options). I agree it's a great lake to basecamp from (just did so 6 months ago), but be prepared to push through to Basswood where there are far more options.

Not sure how old your kids are, but here is a trip report starting from Wood Lake involving most of those lakes with my then 12 year old son in 2013 and my then 11 year old in 2019. Both trips to this area we had good to amazing fishing for pike and bass, although walleye were a bit scarce. Feel free to send me an email if you are looking for more specifics, I would be happy to share what I have learned.

Also, the campsite on the narrows on Good is well worth using as a basecamp for ease of access to that lake, Hoist Bay of Basswood, and Indiana as well. No guarantee of course that its open, but if you venture that far, its worth a look.

Trip Report- 2019 Trip Report- 2013