BWCA Tick Lake -- PMA #4 Boundary Waters Group Forum: PMA Paradise
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      Tick Lake -- PMA #4     

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01/23/2011 08:43PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Here is the info on the Tick Lake PMA. This one comes up occasionally on these boards. When searching the threads look for "Jackfish Lake" which is in this PMA.

Here is a link to the thread from this board:

Link from PMA Paradise

Here is some of the basic info:



Looks like there are some old portages/sites that could make exploring this one a little easier than others.

The likely EPS are: 22, 23, 24, 26, & 77.

Closest Ranger Station is Ely.

It is only broken into 2 sections for reservations.

 
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01/23/2011 10:05PM  
Possible old portages that I found also were from Maingan up to Pakwene and from top end of Pakwene down to Gypo.
The long portage up from Horse looks like it goes through a huge swamp so it is probably a winter trail.
I could not find any old campsites marked.
 
03/06/2011 07:01PM  
old 1970s vintage map
 
03/16/2011 02:12PM  
I have gone through probably a hundred threads searching "Jackfish lake" and "Tick Lake PMA" and have come across very little information on the area. There simply is not much information available. One small thing I can add to this thread is a DNR mapping of Jackfish Lake (the largest lake in the PMA). Here is the link to that.

According to this, Jackfish lake has a maximum depth of 18 feet but most of the basin is 10 feet deep or less. Originally I thought you could access Jackfish from Thursday bay via the creek to Rabbit lake (my fisher map makes most of it look navigable). But after reviewing satellite imagery, I doubt you could paddle some very large sections of this creek. Best chance of access seems to be from Wednesday bay. The road may be tough, though.

Jwartman, thanks for that old map. That will be helpful.
 
aebrooks
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03/17/2011 07:46AM  
Has anyone been to Jackfish from the West?

Looking at the old map, there were portages from Niki>Gypo>Pakwene> Jackfish.

I spent a night on Niki last year and saw the creek to Gypo while fishing. Wish I had explored it then, but it looked navigable.
 
linkslvr
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03/25/2011 02:14PM  
I was hoping to use the route from Wednesday Bay to get to Jackfish Lake and then head back to Crooked and Thursday Bay via the stream. Anyone done this recently? Heading there this August.
 
PaddleAway
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03/25/2011 04:04PM  
Haven't done this, but thinking about it, hard.

August is a tougher time to bushwhack if you're thinking about paddling small creeks. Lots higher chance that you'll end up carrying the canoe through rocks or mud, while early in the season there's a better chance of paddleable water. Just a thought!

If you do it, let us know how it goes, if not this year, we'll be taking this trip in '12.
 
PaddleAway
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05/12/2011 09:43PM  
OK, 18 days & counting to the Tick Lake PMA.

If anyone who's arrived in the PMA forum lately has anything further to contribute, I'd appreciate it. jwartman59, thanks a lot for that map, it's more detailed than the old maps I have.

Can't wait! And we'll be heading out north of Jackfish, so we'll get to paddle past Table Rock & down the Horse River.
 
06/22/2011 03:43PM  
bump
 
07/10/2011 03:53PM  
quote PaddleAway: "OK, 18 days & counting to the Tick Lake PMA.


If anyone who's arrived in the PMA forum lately has anything further to contribute, I'd appreciate it. jwartman59, thanks a lot for that map, it's more detailed than the old maps I have.


Can't wait! And we'll be heading out north of Jackfish, so we'll get to paddle past Table Rock & down the Horse River. "


Did you make it?
 
PaddleAway
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07/10/2011 07:22PM  
(sigh) No.

The third member of our party had to bail because his brother had a cancer recurrence & he was needed to help drive him around. So it was just myself & a friend, who can't really carry the canoe. The prospect of only one person capable of getting us out...well, we decided against it.

We did find & walk the old 'portage' from Niki to Gypo. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it was really fading into the bush, & I'd wager that the next two would be bruisers. I'm keeping the maps for next year in hopes that we can make it in.
 
PaddleAway
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07/10/2011 07:22PM  
Double post.
 
linkslvr
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09/03/2011 04:02PM  
Just got back from spending a night on Jackfish Lake. Came in via the old portage out of Wednesday Bay of Crooked Lake. The 120 rod portage to Waboson is in quite good shape, as is the short 20 rod or so portage into Jackfish. Both lakes are really pretty and given how easy the portages were, well worth the side trip. I did not try the creek going north out of Jackfish into Thursday bay. Water levels were so low on most other creeks I was on that it seemed foolish to try.

The old campsite on Jackfish situated on the first point to the right as you came into the lake was in decent shape, but wouldn't hold more than 2 tents in my opinion.
 
tonyyarusso
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09/06/2011 12:46PM  
Anybody found/tried that portage from Horse to No-see-um?
 
09/06/2011 01:22PM  
Isn't that portage more of a winter trail? Seems like it goes thru a couple swamps...
 
tonyyarusso
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09/06/2011 02:10PM  
Could be - don't know. It doesn't sound like anyone's tried it recently, although it is quite visible on the Google satellite view oddly enough.
 
08/20/2014 12:36PM  
So has any one been through here recently, doing a October trip to Crooked lake area for a 7 night 8 day solo and thought about checking this area out, any info would help.
 
09/29/2016 11:30AM  
I just visited Zone #2 and camped on Jackfish Lake. We entered from Wednesday Bay and the portages are easy to find. Other than being muddier than a typical BWCA portage they are in good shape. We stayed on an old campsite on the East side of the lake. We did look for the old portages exiting the lake to the West that would connect to Maingen lake without any success. If trying to cross the PMA that way plan on making your own way.

Before leaving Jackfish we paddled the creek that connects to Thursday Bay. The Creek was good for as long as it lasted. It ends shortly after it bends to the North at a beaver dam that has been in place long enough for a lot of tree growth to occur in the stream/rock bed north of it.

This being our first foray into a PMA, we mostly went to camp. Seeing the conditions for moving lakes gives me a better idea of what to expect for bushwhacking through PMA's from lake to lake in the future. I also have a renewed appreciation for the portages and the portage crews that maintain them in other part of the BWCA.
 
Minnesotian
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10/03/2016 04:19PM  

Thanks for the update. Did you do any fishing? Find any jackfish?
 
10/21/2016 01:20PM  
We did not do any fishing on this trip. Given the freshness of tracks, it looks like the lake sees a regular amount of day fishing trips though.
 
voyager
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02/28/2017 12:10PM  
Yes, lots of day trippers come into Jackfish from Crooked. It's pretty easy going. I have a set of the 1953 maps and have never found the port. to Sauna or to the other mud hole out of Jackfish that would lead you to Pakween. It always looked like a whole lot more work than it was worth to go through there. The same coming into Gypo from the west . I searched but didn't want to go any further that badly! As for No-See-Um L., after paddling the stream between Horse and Moose Camp a few times in the last 48 yrs. I decided to take a look on a solo trip. When I judged I was as close as possible on the stream I landed and luckily found signs of an old port. Can't recall if I could follow it all the way or not. But it wasn't to bad walking in empty handed , just so I could say I'd been there. I do recall there was a bit of high ( for that low ground) rock formation across the creek from where I tied my horse. I've contemplated taking the creek from Crooked into Jackfish too, but from what I've seen at the ends, it could be rough!
 
03/13/2018 04:20PM  
Anyone else been into Jackfish lake recently?

My son and I are doing the Mudro to Crooked Lake down thru Moosecamp loop and I thought it would be awesome to spend a night on Jackfish. It sounds like the pike fishing could be pretty good. We plan on blasting from Mudro to Basswood and grabbing a spot somewhere around the falls or slightly north. Pretty much whatever is open. Form there we were going to spend the next night in Wednesday bay and chill but I'm thinking a quick shot down into Jackfish would be fun instead. (If it was available that is) Third night would be Friday Bay and then make the journey south.

We are going in August this year.

 
08/04/2022 02:10PM  
Anyone been in there lately? And survived any encounter with the giant man eating Jackfish. Going in two weeks!
 
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