But that'll change sometime sooner than later hopefully. My wife loves our BW trips (as do I) and I'd like to get to Quetico before life gets too crazy.

Right or wrong, my Dad has always liked Sarah and surrounding lakes so I'd like to get there once (maybe with him?)

Anyway, what would be the best trip for something involving say McIntire, Sarah, Robinson and that area? The better the fishing, the better.

Get up to PP, head in from where? Come out where? It seems like going between all those is straight forward, but the routes from the border are many. I'm sure I'll have many other questions...thanks!

Great area, excellent fishing. I would consider starting at Crane Lake with a tow to Bottle portage. See pictos and Warrior hill on LLC. Rebecca and Curtain falls on Iron and follow Crooked to Robinson and McIntyre. Anderson's will handle stops at Customs and ranger station.

I prefer OS's route but the only issue is you need a second job to pay for the tow now a days ;) if ya can afford it, it is a good way to go and fun.

The most common way into Sara is through North Bay--Isabella. North Bay, Burke along the way have great fishing, Sara has really good laker fishing.

You could go through NorthBay, Isabella, Sara, then cut over to McIntyre, back down through Robinson-Moose and out through Basswood.

A little faster route to Sara would be going through Tuck, maybe even getting a tow to Washington Island.

T

Prairie Portage to Sarah is possible in a day without too much difficulty. Camp sites get limited after Isabella until Sarah. Sarah to McIntyre to Robinson (I love the McIntyre Creek route) and out via Kett is a sweet trip with good fishing and relatively light travel. Good Laker and Bass fishing throughout.

Most of my trips have been in the Q through PP. North-Isabella-Sarah and up to Conmee or Williams and then south to Basswood is great. (Though I've never made Sarah on first day - usually Isabella for first night.)

My favorite though is up the Man and Falls chains, and then turn down through McEwen-Louisa-Agnes. Beautiful and we had over three days where we saw no one in July. Possible 6 nights better 7.

Second favorite starts like route to Sarah but headvup into Kashapiwi, across Trant, and down through S chain. 5-6 nights.

Now, best Quetico IMHO is Beaverhouse and Quetico Lake, and you save on both permit costs and not having to have an RABC.

They're all good.

Thanks for all the answers. I'm sure they've been hashed out many times before, but I have to enter at a Canadian Ranger station that day? Or at least get something from them which is why you need to hit either Cache Bay, PP, or LLC on the way in? (if coming from the south)

Or can you have everything you need ahead of time and enter at say....Mudro and get to the border on the Basswood River and keep going north? I know they did this "back in the day" but I'm thinking that's a no now? Or can you go in at a ranger station but leave anywhere? Say in at PP and out at Mudro or some other BW entry point?

Latourelles can pick up you permit for you a day ahead of time, allowing you to enter without going to PP. You would go to Latourelles on the day of your entry and they would issue you the permit. They were charging $125 for this. (thats for the pickup. You also would be paying all the usual Quetico fees).

If it's your first trip to the Q, I wouldn't hesitate to go in via PP though. Although your route is well travelled, the Canadian side of Basswood, North Bay, Burke, etc are well worth seeing IMO.

No rules on how you exit the park that I know of. You should go through customs in Ely each time you enter the US though.

How many nights are you thinking? That would determine the route and lakes. There's lots of options from PP up to McIntyre and back...

Our trips are normally a week, so 6 nights or so. Maybe 7 since it's Quetico and might as well make it worthwhile since we're going all that way. We've done loops where we've moved every day (except one layover day) and then we've done some where we had 3-4 sites in that time period.

quote cyclones30: "Thanks for all the answers. I'm sure they've been hashed out many times before, but I have to enter at a Canadian Ranger station that day? Or at least get something from them which is why you need to hit either Cache Bay, PP, or LLC on the way in? (if coming from the south)

Or can you have everything you need ahead of time and enter at say....Mudro and get to the border on the Basswood River and keep going north? I know they did this "back in the day" but I'm thinking that's a no now? Or can you go in at a ranger station but leave anywhere? Say in at PP and out at Mudro or some other BW entry point?"

Besides outfitters and guides who can issue Q permits, VERY few in US, you can pick it up the day before as well. Paddle or tow to a rangers station, or drive to Canada. And no requirement to not leave the park in the Q - so as long as you're willing to pay for the days, pick it up further in advance.

In the end, just enter at a ranger station. Consider with a Moose Lake permit, enter midday or afternoon, camp at north end of Moose, pick up permit late afternoon before ranger closes (4:00?), and hit Inlet Bay as early as you want without waiting for ranger to open.

Another beginner question, Fisher maps seem to be good and cover the park. Anything else I should be looking for? I could cover the BW 3 times in various maps and brands....not so much for Q.

Get the Quetico Park Map, also called the Chrismar Map. Entire park on one map (though relatively small scale). Has the advantage of accurate portage locations compared to Fisher and McKenzie.

Chrismar Map

I carry all three - Chrismar,McKenzie, and Fisher. The McKenzie is what's in my map case day to day. I like the larger scale. But Chrismar is essential for figuring out why there is no portage found where you expect. Once a trip usually.

Thanks. I gathered the Chrismar was a good option after many referred to it being correct when looking for portages in all the topics I searched and read thru last night.

A good idea is if you know your route somewhat you could go through the different maps and compare them to the Chrismar as far as portage locations. Maybe pencil in the Chrismar locations where there are discrepancies on the MacKenzie or Fisher.

If I did this in 2011 I would have saved myself a lot of time and energy. The Chrismar is small scale but very accurate and I would never go without it as a backup.

As for routes - Bill Connor mentions going east on the man chain then Falls chain to McEwen west to Agnes. I did that in reverse in 2013 and it's really a great route. You will experience Louisa Falls and the famed bathtub swimming hole. The solitude on the small lakes between Loisa and McEwen is fantastic. McEwen Creek was a highlight.

The the Falls Chain. I prefer going upstream and thats why I went clockwise. I suggest camping at the site on Bald Rock Falls. Very cool spot. Then there's the Man Chain. Another favorite spot is Emerald Lake.

To see a 12 min. video I made of that trip you can go here. Qquetico solo with dog in Sept. 2013

The end of the video pans Bald Rock Falls with sound. This is what you would hear if you camped near there. There's also pics of the different water coloration in Emerald Lake. A fantastic site there at the far east end.

What lakes are all included in the Falls chain? I hear about it a lot, see pics, but it's not as easy to understand as the Man chain.

I don't remember any lake names except Kenny. It's basically a wide river with a series of falls. You can do the thing in a day but I think it's better to take your time. The portage from McEwen to Kenny is long but very cool. An excellent site on McEwen is at the western side of a large mid lake island.

This route has a bit of everything. Louisa Falls is spectacular. The meadows portages will let you know you are not in the BW anymore. I didn't see anyone from day one at PP through Louisa, and the small lakes and river to McEwen until finally running into a tandem group on the Falls Chain.

The one thing to consider is the Man Chain. I was going west through here and the wind gave me some issues later in the afternoon. Going counterclockwise would solve this but then you're going downstream on the chain and that gives me the willies. But - your packs would be light for the Louisa Falls portage and the two Meadows beasts.

I have a full write up of my trip to be found under my name in trip reports if interested.

Another option would be take a tow from Prairie Portage to Back Bay ($72 per person one-way via LaTourell's) and then into Canada via the Basswood River, although some people find the river off-putting - either the flat, one mile-long Horse portage or four short portages along the river with some tricky landings to deal with, which can be hazardous to the inexperienced, especially if the water level is up. Two more portages (Wheelbarrow and Lower Basswood Falls, or take a bit of a short-cut through Greer Lake) and you're on Crooked Lake. It's an interesting route, especially if you've never seen the upper and lower falls and the Pictograph Cliffs just north of the lower falls.

You could camp at Lower Basswood Falls if you have a BWCAW permit (I don't remember any decent campsites on the Canadian side near the falls), or Moose Bay in Quetico, which is a nice first night option. You can also press on to Robinson for the first night. Gorgeous water and great fishing potential surround you in this whole area.

If you are into fishing, you might want to spend an extra day exploring Robinson and the surrounding lakes or head north to McIntyre Lake for a couple nights, then down to Sarah. You can start your return via Tuck Lake and Kett Lake (we like to spend our last night on Kett and hopefully have one more trout dinner) and get back to Basswood Lake via the long but beautiful Kett portages (you'll be lighter and tougher by then) and return to Back Bay for pickup, or you can head out from Sarah through Side Lake and Isabella to North Bay and paddle out.

quote cyclones30: Or can you have everything you need ahead of time and enter at say....Mudro and get to the border on the Basswood River and keep going north? I know they did this "back in the day" but I'm thinking that's a no now? Or can you go in at a ranger station but leave anywhere? Say in at PP and out at Mudro or some other BW entry point? "

Theoretically you need a BWCAW day-use permit if you're going to enter or exit Quetico via the BWCAW. We have been stopped at Back Bay on our way to Quetico by US rangers and scolded for not having one. Same for Mudro entry/exit. What we do is request that LaTourell's tows us from their base on Moose Lake on their first run around 7AM, that way we're usually first in line when the PP ranger station opens at 7:45, if you have all your papers in order (Ontario Outdoor Card, fishing license, reservation--all available on line) you should be in and out in 10 or 15 minutes, and the towboat for Back Bay or Washington Island can pick you up right there on the beach.

quote cyclones30: "What lakes are all included in the Falls chain? I hear about it a lot, see pics, but it's not as easy to understand as the Man chain. "

Sydney Lake and Kenny Lake are the only named ones. Sydney Lake is the body of water between Bald Rock Falls and Little Falls. It is not "named" on most of the maps.

Thanks everyone. Springer, I've done that stretch of the Basswood R. a couple times in both directions. Cool area and I wouldn't mind it again if that's the best way to get there. Thanks for the tips everyone. Time to start making decisions and plans...

Prepared to be spoiled Clones, especially with the Quetico fishing. Have a great first trip.

I was reading back thru my old Q questions here and map dreaming.

As far as fishing, we typically like to go in June and I know what to do then for all the usual species. But...this time if my Dad can make it that probably means we won't get up there till late Aug or early Sept. How are these lakes that time of year and any suggestions? Depth, lure, strategies, etc.

Depth
Walleye 15-30' with shallow migrations at dawn, dusk and during wind
SMB and NP 10-20'
LT 30' and deeper

Lures and techniques depend on structure being fished and personal preference.
I like to troll while traveling and search for structure, bait and fish.
If it's calm I may vertically fish blade baits.
I go to shore and pitch jigs or cranks below running water or wind blown points.
My go to presentation in the Fall(last week of Sept.) is this set up.
I always catch fish with this set up and many trips never fish anything else.
I primarily target LT and eyes but catch some NP and SMB also.
This rig fishes the 30-60' range very well. I use less weight and a shallower running crank if I want to go shallower.

Thanks Jim, the last trip I did to northern MN that time of year (White Iron just outside Ely) it was pretty slow. We found a few walleye on live bait (can't do in the Q) and a few northern and smallies in the shallow/med depth bays.

cyclones30: "...that probably means we won't get up there till late Aug or early Sept. How are these lakes that time of year and any suggestions? Depth, lure, strategies, etc. "

In 2019 we put in on Aug. 29 and came out around Sept. 12. I had good luck on Burt and Robinson trolling 25-30 feet down with Rapala tail dancers and Berkley shad raps for lakers. The walleyes were slow for all of us but bass were being caught too. I went into Sunday Bay of Basswood where it's shallow and weedy and was catching pike and largemouth on the surface.

This time frame is when I mostly go. Very little bugs and people at that time and you usually aren't sweating (and swatting) on the portages.

Funny the 4 year jump in the thread. Assuming you haven't gone yet?
If you want to slow it down a bit, take a tow to LaTourell's to PP, then just paddle up to Lost Bay of North Bay for a good site and surprisingly good fishing nearby. Then make Sarah on day two. If you want to keep going, Brent is an awesome lake for Walleye especially, and Burt is awesome trout, but hell all the lakes are good up that way.

For a September trip I'd move it back to be centered in the middle of the month. It can be a little hard to find trout and walleye shallow before that.

When travelling from the portage on your destination lake to your campsite, always always always drag a deep diving crankbait behind you and you will find you don't make it to camp without dinner very often.

Joe

That's correct, we haven't gone yet. My wife is leaning toward the falls chain and man chain area since she likes rivers, rapids, falls, and fishing. And smaller lakes which I guess you could consider some of that area smaller esp with a tow on Sag or Moose.

Or an area south of Batchewong and Pickerel...too many options