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01/08/2016 02:01PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
The west side of Conk Lake has been mentioned in a few posts
about the possibility of finding some solitude right off the
beaten path. Was curious if anyone had any information on
the fishing and camping opportunity's back there?
 
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01/10/2016 12:43AM  
We caught Pike and smallies on Conk. One of our party caught a fat 20 inch smallie there.
01/10/2016 08:40AM  
We only fished Conk for a morning a number of years ago as we passed through. It was a fertile lake for the area as I recall, and the fishing was great during our short stay. As MP mentioned, while we grabbed breakfast at a campsite, one member of our group caught a nice smallmouth right off shore. Here's a link to the trip report.
old_salt
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01/11/2016 11:17AM  
I'm guessing Argo is the new Jean. ;-)
DancesWithTrees
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01/11/2016 12:06PM  
The posts you refer to about the west side of Conk may have been from me.

I was only there once, some 15 years ago or so (been through the east side a bunch of times). The middle of Conk is a marsh, but navigable via a winding channel through it.

It was probably mostly just happenstance, but our brief trip into that west half of Conk made it feel like a lost world. As we emerged from the marsh, you could see some pretty big fish swimming out of our path into the bigger part of the lake. There was a huge raptor of some kind (not a bald eagle, so I'm not sure what else it could be) on some rocks nearby just sitting there, and some baby birds on the water near it. We landed on a small island on there for a bio break, and there was moose and bear scat all over it.

West half of Conk has marshy edges on the east and north, deeper and rockier parts on the south shore in places, and looked deep (but I didn't take a sounding or anything). I don't think people go in there often as it doesn't lead to anywhere really, and I don't think there any commonly used routes through it. My guess, and it's only that, is that the fishing is probably quite good.

We didn't see any campsites. And the maps I have don't show any. That little island didn't have one, and the north shore wouldn't work. If there is one, it has to be along the south shoreline somewhere.

It was a beautiful lake, I remember telling myself I wanted to go back and explore it further and fish in it sometime. If there is a usable campsite, it could be a nice destination lake, as you're close to getting to Quetico or Jean and their connections quite easily, both of which have lots of good fishing. And, usually, you can avoid the Jean-Conk portage going northbound if you use the creek.
01/11/2016 01:58PM  
quote arctic: "Conk has very clear water. I believe there is one campsite on the lake--near the east end. The lake gets a bit of traffic from folks entering/leaving Argo."


You must mean. CONE
01/11/2016 02:50PM  
I don't think I could get myself to drop a line into Conk being so close to Jean!
01/12/2016 08:44AM  
quote mooseplums: "
quote arctic: "Conk has very clear water. I believe there is one campsite on the lake--near the east end. The lake gets a bit of traffic from folks entering/leaving Argo."



You must mean. CONE"


You are right, my bad!!
OldGreyGoose
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01/14/2016 08:02AM  
For solitude in that area try the lakes North of the main arm of Quetico. Or the bay that goes NE in the East end. --Goose
Thwarted
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01/14/2016 08:46PM  
Fished west Conk hard for two hours in stiff wind. This smallie caught from shore. Very pretty very easy and worthwhile side trip.
Hillbilly
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01/22/2016 10:57AM  
This bass was from Conk... great bass lake on the way to Jean. We caught 50 or so let them all go and only explored the eastly shore on the way between the portages from Quetico to Jean. Did not get into the westerly back bay before the rain came pounding down.
 
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