My group of four ages 30 to 73 has made three great trips to lakes off the end of the Gunflint Trail and we are looking to make our first trip out of Ely next year. We are intermediate level paddlers who prefer to base camp after 2-3 portages in an area with good daytrip possibilities. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Lake One, portage twice to get to Lake Two which is connected to Lake Three which is connected to Lake Four. Lake Two or Lake Three would be my choice for a base camp.

Moose Lake, portage once into Splash Lake, then once more into Ensign.

Moose Lake, through Newfound and Sucker, take Prairie Portage and you have all of Basswood Lake to explore.

Snowbank Lake, one portage into Disappointment Lake. Base camp there, portage into Parent Lake or go the other way and portage into Ahsub and as much farther as you want. 3 more portages beyond that takes you to Cattyman Lake which has a waterfall on the outlet.

Lake One but go downstream. 4 portages gets you into the Kawishiwi Triangle. Base camp there.

Fall Lake. Take the truck portage and you are in Basswood. Plenty to explore there, big water.

Fall Lake. Portage into Newton, then Basswood. Plenty to explore there. Check out the burn area from this past summer. You may find blueberries growing there.

A couple that come to mind in areas I have traveled or have looked at exploring.

-EP4 Crab Lake. This one is a long initial Portage but from there you could take three more portages and get to Cummings for your basecamp. A tow across Burntside can help out quite a bit.

-EP14 Little Indian Souix. (assuming it is open) Aim for Shell or Lynx. Explore the areas that burnt this year, check out the Souix-Hustler hiking trail, etc.

-EP16 Moose/Portage River North (assuming it is open) Basecamp on Agnes or push a bit and make it to Tiger Bay of Lac La Croix. Great fishing and lots of day trip options including Curtain Falls.

-EP25 Moose Lake. Several options here for base camps including Wind to the West, Knife to the North, and Ensign or Ashigan to the East. Pushing a little bit could get you to Ima which is a great spot for lots of day trip options. Note Ensign is usually crazy busy. This is another one where a tow can really help you get further back quicker.

-EP30 Lake One. Another really busy area, but with an early start you should be able to find a site on Lake 3 or better yet push to get to Insula.

Thanks Cricket67 and RMinMN, you have given me a lot to look into. This is such a valuable resource!

Not bwca but a good place to base camp by the bridge and fish for walleye Little Jackfish River at the top end of Lake Nipigon. Take hwy 527 North of Thunder Bay, Ontario to Armstrong, Ontario and continue to Little Jackfish River. There are Charter Boats that fish the mouth catching 150-300 per boat per day but you will not meet them on the upper river.
I used to have cousins living in Winnipeg, Manitoba that used to swear that the fishing the Red River for big Channel Catfish and Walleye. Good campsites, easy access slow river with good fishing from what I understand.
I have never fished the Red River but I have ate lots of farmed Channel Cat Fish from the supermarket when I worked in Oklahoma City and thought that they tasted just as good as Walleye in the frying pan.