Just curious if anyone on here was the permit holder for an entry yesterday (Saturday May 9) into Beaverhouse / Quetico Lake. I was also planning on going in yesterday but delayed my trip due to ice conditions. The park advised me that BH still had some ice.

I wonder what this person's Plan B was. Not an unheard of type of year, but certainly not the norm.

Wish it was me, but no.

Ha! Not us either, but curious how you're getting your lake ice info?

We have a permit for Batchewaung on Friday this week 5/15 and the little bit of info I've been able to gather makes it look iffy.

My wife's tried calling and emailing the park but no answer/no reply.
Wondering how you are getting through to park staff?

or...are there other good sources?

If you're getting no luck with the Rangers, try reaching out to Voyager Wilderness Program on Nym Lake - website https://vwp.ca. They have a lodge on an island on Nym Lake. They should know the conditions. Email may be best, but you can try calling them. I just set up a reservation with them but for July, so I expect no ice by then. Good folks, I've used their services before.

Also following this thread and all other Beaverhouse/Quetico ice information with great interest . . . my permit is for the end of May, but I've set myself a rule that the ice must be out two weeks before my entry or I'll try to move it back a bit.

This is because my main activity will be fishing for bass, pike, and walleye, and several Wise Ones have advised me it takes a couple weeks for these fish to really become active after ice-out. It was a lot like that for bass and pickerel where I grew up in Maine.

Nothing against lake trout, but I wouldn't fly all the way out from California just to catch them. Last year I only rigged up for them two days out of ten, and only actually succeeded in hooking a couple on my last couple hours -- on Beaverhouse, of course :)

One of my best bass trips of all time was through Pickerel, Sturgeon, Lonely, Walter, Draper. Pickerel only had the ice come off about ten days before our 8 day trip started. Granted, our best bass fishing was on lakes that had almost certainly been ice free for closer to 2-3 weeks like you state here. But the nice thing about canoe country is that different size and depth lakes are only a paddle and portage away if where you're fishing isn't good action!

My best guess (and that's all it is) is that right now every lake is open...except maybe Pickerel, which if it still has some ice is likely paddleable, and fully ice-free in the next 24 hours.

Hoping the parks provide some intel soon; we're padding in from the north this weekend.

In '22 we entered when Pickerel still had a big raft of ice...had great fishing.

Enjoy your trip! We hit the water in two weeks. Heading to northern Agnes to base camp and do a bunch of long fishing day trips. Report back when you get out!

portagedog09: "If you're getting no luck with the Rangers, try reaching out to Voyager Wilderness Program on Nym Lake - website https://vwp.ca. They have a lodge on an island on Nym Lake. They should know the conditions. Email may be best, but you can try calling them. I just set up a reservation with them but for July, so I expect no ice by then. Good folks, I've used their services before. "

UPDATE! I just s/w Michelle at VWP this afternoon. The ice is not out yet on Nym and Batchewaung and they have not opened up. She believes it should go out in the next two days, but not sure. SO - desertcanoe - looking very IFFY!

She also read me a note from ONT Parks saying that the Ranger Stations at PP and Cache Bay (maybe elsewhere - I wasn't paying full attention) are delayed in opening and are not supposed to be open now until May 22. That's the day before I go in. Hopefully those with permits before then are getting that email too. What they have done in the past is for those with earlier permits than opening, just bring your paid reservation with you and that's your permit. Of course - you'll want to wait until they confirm that.

cburton103: "Enjoy your trip! We hit the water in two weeks. Heading to northern Agnes to base camp and do a bunch of long fishing day trips. Report back when you get out!"

Maybe Magic Paddler and I will see you on Agnes on the 23rd?

portagedog09: "

cburton103: "Enjoy your trip! We hit the water in two weeks. Heading to northern Agnes to base camp and do a bunch of long fishing day trips. Report back when you get out!"

Maybe Magic Paddler and I will see you on Agnes on the 23rd?"

We enter through Prairie Portage May 29th and will try to get all the way to northern Agnes for night one, weather permitting. When does your trip finish up?

It doesn't look like our paths will cross. We're in on the 23rd and should be top of Agnes that night, wind permitting, of course. We'll either stay one night across from the Dack portage or push into Dack, with a plan to go thru Swartman and Poulin down to Glacier, then heading northeast until we hit the edge of the park. We don't get off the water until the 9th and our bushwhack agenda won't have us back that way, but we'll be at PP for a pickup. We'll be in a rather faded grey carbon fiber Deep Creek with a large black circle on each side of the bow.

portagedog09: "It doesn't look like our paths will cross. We're in on the 23rd and should be top of Agnes that night, wind permitting, of course. We'll either stay one night across from the Dack portage or push into Dack, with a plan to go thru Swartman and Poulin down to Glacier, then heading northeast until we hit the edge of the park. We don't get off the water until the 9th and our bushwhack agenda won't have us back that way, but we'll be at PP for a pickup. We'll be in a rather faded grey carbon fiber Deep Creek with a large black circle on each side of the bow."

Well then I’ll raise a glass for you back on north Agnes after our Dack day trip. Sounds like quite the trip! I hope to be able to read a trip report, even if brief, of your adventure! Best of luck, and here’s to better weather during our trips than what the next handful of days are bringing up there!

portagedog09: "It doesn't look like our paths will cross. We're in on the 23rd and should be top of Agnes that night, wind permitting, of course. We'll either stay one night across from the Dack portage or push into Dack, with a plan to go thru Swartman and Poulin down to Glacier, then heading northeast until we hit the edge of the park. We don't get off the water until the 9th and our bushwhack agenda won't have us back that way, but we'll be at PP for a pickup. We'll be in a rather faded grey carbon fiber Deep Creek with a large black circle on each side of the bow."

Would love to hear about the Swartman/Poulin route - had been eyeing that this offseason. Especially interested in the no-names south of Poulin (including fishing intel if you get any).

That boat must be out of the Williams & Hall livery.

Good luck...my team goes in from the north in two days. Looks like snow on Tuesday, high of 36F.

sns: Would love to hear about the Swartman/Poulin route - had been eyeing that this offseason. Especially interested in the no-names south of Poulin (including fishing intel if you get any).

That boat must be out of the Williams & Hall livery.

Good luck...my team goes in from the north in two days. Looks like snow on Tuesday, high of 36F."

Thanks cburton! Best of luck on Agnes/Dack.

sns - Will provide route intel on return. Spot on with the used Deep Creek. Good luck to you and your crew as well.

Stay warm and safe everyone!

hey all. just got back from my trip.

i had contacted the park via their facebook page about conditions. they are usually pretty good at responding within about 24hrs. i also tried calling but did not ever receive a call back which is odd.

my entry was supposed to be sat may 9 but i delayed it til monday the 11th.

i held off on booking a permit. i drove to dawson trail (french lake) and french was clear. then chatted with the office staff for a bit (they were still closed of course) and i decided to try for BH.

the staff there had no updated info on ice but they assured me if i bought a permit and could not get in, that i could get a refund if i returned to the dawson office. pls note.....they could not / would not confirm whether the reservations call center would issue a refund if i was unable to enter.

during the drive up there, one or two of the bigger lakes along the hwy still had some ice.

i used my cell phone to book a permit once i reached the turn off from the hwy. i assumed a may not have cell service at the BH parking lot (i was right - no service at the lot).

as it turns out, all the lakes where i was were 100% clear.

as for the title of this thread.....there was one car in the lot when i arrived. a small audi with MN plates.

just fyi when i left, there were 15 vehicles. lol

the trip route did not go as planned due to some very high winds on a couple of days, but i still had a great time. had some beautiful mornings, a couple of very warm days, some freezing cold nights, plenty of critter sightings (even a cow feeding a very small calf), and caught my biggest fish EVER in my life. it was a pike that was def pushing 20lbs. only one walleye (about 4lbs - nice) and two other pike. but i honestly did not do that much fishing.

on a final note.....i met a group on my second last day. they had dumped one of their canoes crossing BH in high winds. no one was hurt. the gear washed up on shore and was recovered. this topic was being discussed a lot online recently and goes to show it can happen. lucky for them it all turned out ok. but it could have easily been a tragic outcome.

be safe everyone!!