BWCA Spider Lake -- PMA#5 Boundary Waters Group Forum: PMA Paradise
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01/29/2011 08:40AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Spider Lake PMA is nestled between some prominent bigger lakes: Kekekabic to the east of it, Ima to the west of it, and Knife to the north. The Kekekabic trail also runs through the southeast side of this PMA.

There are 6 reservable sections to this PMA though a couple of the sections are very small. Sections 1 & 3 have a single lake each.

Many of the lakes in this PMA appear to be a very short bushwhack from the maintained trail system. This PMA could be good for folks who want to travel the beaten trail but prefer to camp in the privacy of their own lake.

The reccommended entry points for this PMA are 25, 54, or 55 but it looks like EP 27 (on Snowbank) might get you there the quickest.

Closest ranger station is Ely.

 
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PaddleAway
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02/01/2011 08:23PM  
Rob, I think you hit the nail on the head.

This is the PMA we've talked about trying when we want to travel the BWCA, but also feel like getting off the beaten path for a night or two. Several of these lakes look like good day-trip targets, too.

I wonder if there are paddlers with old maps who've wandered into this PMA by accident.
 
02/02/2011 08:38AM  
I've got a few old campsites marked and a few old portages if they still exist. I'm at work diggin out right now....I'll post them tonite.
 
02/02/2011 07:43PM  
campsite on Neglige that I know people use. Also old sites to the NE on Spider and Kettle and one in the SW on Three Eagle. Old portages marked from Ima into: Three Eagle and Relection and from Reflection into Sedative. From Trader you can go into Neglige or Explorer.
 
02/02/2011 10:14PM  
I'm beginning to think this might have been a better "1st time" PMA than the blowdown one we've chosen. Of course, it wouldn't be as much of an adventure either...
 
heavycanoe
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02/03/2011 09:35AM  
This is might be a good PMA to take the kids for their first PMA adventure, but for big tough "he men" like us?
 
03/06/2011 08:02PM  
 
BearDown
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03/16/2011 02:19PM  
Any recent reports of what shape the campsite on Neglige is like?
 
BearDown
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03/18/2011 01:49PM  
So, having no real idea about PMA's as of monday, we now have a reservation for Section 3 of Spider Lake and will be taking the old portage there and trying to stay on the old campsite for a coupla nights. I'll post here after we get back to let people know what things are like there. We are going to be there May 24th and 25th, so probably will be one of the first of the summer to be there.
 
06/22/2011 03:43PM  
bump
 
BearDown
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02/26/2013 02:52PM  
Better late than never...

We went in May 2011. The portage is rough. Imagine if there wasnt any portage crews to clean up down trees and keep the portage nice. That is what this portage is like, I think there were 3 down trees. Two that you had to climb over (not easy with a canoe on your head) and one you had to go under (even harder with a canoe on your head) The rest is very narrow and rugged. To find the portage look for a long flat rock on the left side of the bay closest to Neglige. The rock look like a shelf 2-3 feet above the water.


The Lake was great, we saw a group leaving on our way in, but otherwise no one the three days we were there. We never found the old campsite at the far end of the lake that people talked about on here... maybe we didnt see it, maybe it was destroyed in the blow down, there were a lot of trees down all around. There was a spot someone had camped on the point in the middle of the lake. It was in rough shape. We fixed it up and it was quite good, although not overly spacious. Nice rock kitchen table. And we built a really nice fire place.


The fishing was so so. Now were not trout fishermen, so others might do much better. We caught 3 small trout 7-10 inches and one "trip maker" That one was my Dads, and measeured in at 20 and 1/2 inches. That was an amazing fish. However we fished A LOT to catch those 4 fish. Two halve days and one full day, I don't know if the fish were just 'off' then or what, but it was not fast action.

 
brantlars
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03/08/2014 06:25PM  
We are heading to Neglige this year..have been in there before..fishing can be slow..after the blowdown we caught very nice bookies from shore..could not get a canoe in there..but 2-3 pounders almost every cast...has slowed down since then..but I think lots a folks dogsled in in winter and camp on the point in the middle of the lake..I am anxious to get back there again this year
 
03/08/2014 10:18PM  
My group of 3 guys spent 3 days on Neglige last year. The first week of June. And then 3 days on Explorer...Three guys fishing pretty hard caught 4 fish....All on the far west side of the lake in front of the old campsite....All on panther martins, all in over 15 feet of water......Our lures were moving so slow in the water....they were so picky....Id bet that our spinner blades wernt even spinning....We camped on the point and had a great time...
 
DanSolo
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08/03/2014 07:07PM  
Visited Snatch, Reflection and Sedative lakes on a single day trip entering from Snowbank Lake. This was a long day even with a small, light canoe and a 12 pound day pack. Both Snatch and Reflection are late stage lakes and are rapidly filling in with vegetation (particularly Reflection Lake). The channel to Snatch is thick with lily pads and is slow going.

The lake I was most interested in getting to was Sedative. From Reflection, follow a lily pad choked creek that starts out maybe 30 feet wide and gets narrower and narrower until it is just barely wider than a solo canoe. The creek seems like it is going to disappear on you, but stick with it. Hopping over four beaver dams in about half a mile will finally get you to a rapids that is not passable while in a canoe. However at this point, on the left hand side, it a still visible portage (if you look for it) that starts with a lift over of two large fallen trees. The portage goes for maybe 10 rods with the creek on your right and ends at a large beaver dam where it flows out of Sedative. This beaver dam probably raises all of Sedative lake an entire foot. Sedative is a worthy lake. I did not fish, but my fish finder showed lots of activity. The lake is over 20 feet deep in several spots according to fish finder. There is a lily pad choked channel that connects upper and lower Sedative that is easily passable. A nice campsite, complete with fire grate is towards the northern end of upper Sedative. I needed some muscle sedatives after yesterdays trip.
 
08/04/2014 10:25AM  
Good info, thanks for posting.
 
08/04/2014 01:44PM  
Yes, Thanks, DanSolo! Have not visited Spider PMA except for a short evening visit to fish in Three Eagle (pike) but not to camp. Am thinking on a cirle trip around this PMA and carrying in to visit and camp at several different zones in the process. It looks, though, not too friendly in terms of a traverse...
 
Savage Voyageur
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08/04/2014 07:29PM  
We went to the Spider lake PMA this June. We fished hard on one of the lakes and only caught one small Brookie. Glad we went but I might check out better waters.
 
PaddleAway
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09/16/2014 09:42PM  
We went in to Reflection/Sedative over Labor Day weekend, Sedative is a really nice lake & DanSolo has already described it, so I won't go into it again. Not a terribly tough PMA, but those two down trees over the old portage are reallllly slippery when they're wet. I fell down twice & rang my bell on one fall. I think I might need to start in on the 'Senior' version of the BWCA soon if I can't stay on my feet.

We fished Sedative hard for a couple hours & caught nothing. The only thing we found was in shallow water, six feet or less, we had a series of quick taps, almost like small sunnies. I didn't have any hooks small enough to catch them, but in a couple places, they'd tat-tat-tat any plastic you threw down. Wish I knew what was in there.

Sedative is a great lake for those looking for peace & quiet.
 
DanSolo
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09/17/2014 10:15AM  
Those are some mean old pines. One of those two fallen pines at the start of the portage tore my jeans when I was straddling it to pull my canoe over it. Ripped my pants so bad I had to wait for people to clear the busy portages on way back to Snowbank entry because the tear was so big.
 
Bwoods
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03/05/2015 08:58PM  
I am heading out to Reflection and Sedative in early May this year via Snowbank. Will be my first PMA trip. Looking forward to it! This thread has helped a lot already. Any other suggestions for getting more info? I haven't come across much else here.
 
DanSolo
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03/06/2015 10:27AM  
There is website with photos and videos of these lakes. I don't know how to post link here, but website is bwcawild dot com. Has info on other PMA lakes too.
 
Bwoods
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03/10/2015 08:36PM  
Thanks DanSolo the info on that site is excellent, very helpful!
 
03/17/2015 05:37PM  
quote Bwoods: "I am heading out to Reflection and Sedative in early May this year via Snowbank. Will be my first PMA trip. Looking forward to it! This thread has helped a lot already. Any other suggestions for getting more info? I haven't come across much else here. "


These lakes are very easy to get to and a nice little side trip. We fished them hard all day and didn't even get a bite. With the eminence populations of minnows in the lake I would guess there are no game fish to keep them in check. Have fun and if feel free to ask me anything.
 
03/17/2015 05:48PM  
Has anyone been to Solitude lake? After the blow down it looked to be kinda tuff going.
 
DanSolo
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03/17/2015 09:36PM  
I almost did Solitude last fall and will probably go there this spring again. I tried first to reach Solitude from Three Eagle (since I was already there). That was not a pleasant attempt. Really dense and spongy spruce forest. So I checked it from Ima Lake (same day) and that looked easier (at least at the beginning where I looked around), but was too tired by then to try it, so I bailed. I will be attempting from Ima Lake next try.

An oddity about Solitude Lake is that old maps show it has a campsite on its NW shoreline, but no maps that I have in my collection show it ever had a portage.
 
Fisheggs
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03/19/2015 01:55AM  
I see a bunch of mixed reports on the fishing in neglige, anyone have a solid report from this lake?
 
03/19/2015 09:36AM  
quote Fisheggs: "I see a bunch of mixed reports on the fishing in neglige, anyone have a solid report from this lake?"


talk to mcsweem
 
03/21/2015 11:54AM  
fisheggs shoot me an email
 
Bwoods
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05/25/2015 09:29PM  
My buddy and I made it out to Sedative for a couple nights 2 weeks ago. It was a tough portage but thankfully not very long. There's been more of a blowdown since the last report, a lot of trees down and very hard to find a set trail through. We had to do a two person carry with the boat.

Sedative was beautiful and quiet. Didn't fish but it looked deep and should hold some fish. The old campsite is still intact and in very good shape. Plenty of firewood and space for 2-3 tents or hammocks. It added a bit of adventure to our trip and was well worth it.

Dansolo's link provided some great information, it was helpful to know what I was getting into.
 
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