Just had to cancel my permit for Mudro that I messed up and was able to find a last minute permit for Trout Lake EP1. I have never looked into this area and have been doing a little research. I see it is a motor boat area?

How is the fishing and what lakes would you recommend getting to, or is Trout Lake a good fishing area itself? I see a lot of talk about Pine Lake.

Trout Lake is a large lake that can stir up some big waves. I've stayed on Trout several times with minimal amount of boat traffic. I think a lot of the boat traffic is during the spring. If you're looking for walleye, Buck, Oriniack or Pine would be your best bet.

We ended up takin a tow across vermillion to the trout lake ep - worth it. From there went through trout to camp on pine, and went up the buck river to buck one day. Probably won't be able to do that loaded down, but it is a fun day trip option. Pine is a great lake.

We paddled Vermillion out and back with no issues...though plenty of motor traffic. I felt like Vermillion had enough shoreline variation and islands and bays to offer some wind breaks. The portage into Trout is easy, then we cut over and took the longer portage into Pine to avoid the wide open lake and any boat traffic. We stayed at one of the lesser used sites toward the southern end of Pine (was actually hard to find) and had a lovely, peaceful stay. Paddled Pine Creek as a day trip. We don't normally basecamp, but I had recently broken my ankle. If we entered here again, I would love to go deeper in toward Chad, Buck, etc.

If you’re looking for a real adventure, do the Pine Lake > Buck Creek > Buck Lake > Western > Glenmore Lake > Glenmore Creek > Pine Lake loop as a day trip. I wouldn’t bring all my gear through there. The portages are less travelled and a bit rough but both creeks are quite challenging. Having a walleye shore lunch at the site on Glenmore helped make up for it. Leave yourself plenty of time to make it out. I’ve done Buck creek > Pine Lake in the dark a few times and don’t recommend it.

If you're just base camping, head to Pine and enjoy! It's a lesser used lake with a few good sites, good fishing and just a cool backwoods feel. Any loops/routes from here might be challenging with all the creeks and whatnot, especially if water is low.