Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Bog Lake
by jamotrade

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 09/11/2008
Entry & Exit Point: Bog Lake (EP 67)
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 4
Trip Introduction:
Spent 3 days at Bog Lake to try our hand at Walleye fishing and Grouse Hunting.
Report
Good trip. Got up there Thursday afternoon, 9/11 and stayed in the back of a GMC Jimmy with my buddy and his German Shorthair puppy in the Entry Point parking lot. 

Went in on Friday AM. Dense fog burned off and turned into a gorgeous day... Sunny and 75 degrees. Did some swimming and caught a bunch of eater sized Walleyes for shore lunch. Set up at the middle site on the north side of the lake. We were treated to an amazing sunset that night. Nice site...and thanks to Sterngirl, no cigarette butts! :)

Saturday AM did some bushwhacking behind camp and shot a couple of Grouse which was my first experience hunting in the BWCA. Very cool! Also took the advice of another guy I spoke to and went back a ways to check out the huge old White Pines. Very impressive! You don't see old Whites like that in the SNF very often. There were quite a few that would take at least 3 or 4 people holding hands to reach around them. Caught some Walleyes on Sat but really didn't fish that hard. Had Walleye and Grouse breasts for lunch. It began raining on Saturday afternoon so we mostly stood around the fire and had a bunch of cocktails.

Sunday AM it was cold, 48 degrees and wet. It had rained all night so everything was pretty damp. We decided to make the move and bust out. Packed up camp with everything wet and paddled out to the portage.

Observations: The portage is quite a bit longer than advertised. We counted close to 2,000 steps on our way out. Probably more like 1.25 miles than .7 miles. Would not recommend double portaging. Not bad on the way in since the excitement is pushing you, but it was tough on the way out when everything was wet. It was also pouring rain so it seemed like a death march. (exagerration) 

Really nice little lake with almost all Cedars around it. Caught Walleyes, but not as many as I had expected to catch. The bonus of the trip was the Jumbo Perch. Caught quite a few of the fat 12" - 14" mini footballs which made for great eating.

Saw one other canoe on Saturday. He came in for the day in a small solo canoe with a German Sheppard to fish. Good solitude lake without a ridiculous amount of effort.

I would recommend Bog Lake to anyone who wants solitude, decent fishing, and only has a long weekend to accomplish that goal. Also, if you are in one of the SNF campgrounds, it might be nice to make a daytrip to fish Bog since the portage would not be bad with only a canoe and tackle. Since I was there in September, we did not have lots of bugs but I could see Bog being pretty bad in peak season due to the low lying terrain surrounding the lake.