Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Winter Camping and Activities :: Winter camp and fish on wine lake
|
Author | Message Text | ||
Gadfly |
|
||
Tim.bear |
|
||
Pinetree |
quote Tim.bear: "Wow! Did you start at sawbill access? I wasn't expecting it to take that long to get in and out. We were planning on only a two to three night camp. Might have to plan on going to a different lake. Maybe Ram lake? I would like to get on a lake with with a chance of some decent sized lake trout. Quality over quantity. Any suggestions?" Ram lake,depending on logging activity the road going there will not be plowed. |
||
WhiteWolf |
|
||
Pinetree |
quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Thomas a good part of one day with packed trails. Done many times. Many options available. |
||
Gadfly |
|
||
Tim.bear |
|
||
Pinetree |
Much of winter travel has to do with what type of winter we have that year,how much snow and time of year you are going. If you are the first one in there and have to break trail in 3 feet of snow the answer is yes,unless you are in great shape. Deep snow conditions breaking trail,maybe average 1 mile per hour. Winter travel has so many variables,also your equipment used fro travel and pulling your load. Never winter camped before,try something closer to a road access the first time. Wine is a nice wild area and does get some winter use. |
||
Tim.bear |
|
||
hubben |
quote Tim.bear: "quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Greetings, Tim: Just a heads-up for you: I would caution against the "staying in a popup fish house" idea. I assume your fish-house floor doubles as a sort of polyethylene sled which you use to haul it around. It is critical, for ease of travel in deep winter snow in the BWCA, that whatever you are pulling behind you (sled, pulk, toboggan, fish-house) fit well in the track you have created with your snowshoes or skis. Trails blazed in the snow with snowshoes/skis don't accommodate sleds more than 16-18 inches wide. I'm quite sure your fish house base is wider than that, and you'll find it immensely difficult to pull behind you for any considerable distance. Physics (and experience) tells me that whatever you pull behind you up there pulls best if it is narrow and long; the less square it is, the better. I made three HDPE sleds 16" wide and 8 feet long for our winter camping crew last year; one member of our crew brought and initially used one of the popular ice-fishing gear sleds (made by Otter, I believe) as it would accommodate more gear. Despite being as fit as a Navy Seal, he abandoned his sled and opted for the HDPE one I made for him after the first mile of our trek and noticed a vast improvement in ease of pull. |
||
Gadfly |
quote Pinetree: "quote Gadfly: " We did it a couple of times. Both times we went from Sag-Ottertrack-Ester-Hanson. These were trips in late March when you had a hard pack trail on the lakes or snow was hard. Usually toward Ottertrack there would be sled dog trail to follow. We did break trail from Ottertrack to Ester. If lake conditions were not good it would be a long haul,usually up to American point or U.S. point there is quite a bit of travel. Were talking 12 hours of daylight than and we would at least make it to Ester with a hour to spare and I know one year we made it to Hansen before dark by a few hours. " Does this route keep you on the US side? it looks like one of the portages is right on the edge. We are seriously considering this route for 2017. |
||
SaganagaJoe |
|
||
WhiteWolf |
|
||
IcePaddler |
|
||
Pinetree |
quote SaganagaJoe: "I'd love to know how you got over the Ester portage. It's hard enough in the summer!" Usually it wasn't too bad. But remember the first time the snow was super deep at the portage. We had made great time up to the portage at Ottertrack lake, Plan was to go to Hansen lake that day. Well the portage took its toll(wore us down) and time and we set upon Ester-we were pooped out. There was some years you talked 3 plus feet in the woods. Even if lakes were hard packed. I know one time moose used the trail and made a nice hard path. Yes a little uphill makes a difference when portaging pulling a sled. I think one of my greatest winter trips was from Sag-to Ottertrack-Ester-Hansen-Knife and back thru Sea Gull lake. Just loved those winter trips,no bugs,walking on the ice-checking and watching those red flags on tipups. Winter tripped from Moose lake-to Hansen area once also. That one wore us down pretty good. Remember traveling after dark on the way out and setting camp up in the dark in a bay across from Dorothy Moultors(sp) island. |
||
Gadfly |
quote Tim.bear: "Wow! Did you start at sawbill access? I wasn't expecting it to take that long to get in and out. We were planning on only a two to three night camp. Might have to plan on going to a different lake. Maybe Ram lake? I would like to get on a lake with with a chance of some decent sized lake trout. Quality over quantity. Any suggestions?" Yes we started at Sawbill. We started out around 9:30 and we were to the 460 rod portage to Zenith by noon but breaking trail through 2 feet of snow up and down hills was not easy and we decided to call it a day after getting halfway through in two hours. The way back was much easier since we had our own broken path to take back. If we had a broken trail to travel in on there is no doubt we would have made it in one day as it only took us about 6 hours to get out. From the Sawbill access to Wine lake it's somewhere between 7.5 & 8 miles of actual walking distance. I know people have day tripped out there to fish but they were towing small sleds with minimal gear. The main problem is that you just don't know what the conditions will be like. We ran into some good slush on Frederick which slowed us down a bit as well. I have heard people take sled dogs back there but there was no evidence of that when we went in late January. |
||
Tim.bear |
quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Yeah it all kinda depends on what kinda winter we have. I was thinking Clearwater might be good. It would be nice to have the option to go to Gogebic lake from there for some brooke trout too! West pike looks like it has a nice lake trout population also. I've been doing some research on the dnr fisheries survey for lakes in the BWCA. I would really like to get to Hanson or Ester lake area but it so deep in the boundary waters it would take a week to get in and out lol! I'm planning on staying in my popup fish house on the lake while I'm out there. Thanks for all the info everybody! Very helpful! |
||
|
|||
Gadfly |
Been ten years but good conditions we made Hanson in one day." I would be curious to hear the route taken for this. Unless there are winter trails I am unaware of this had to be close to 20 miles including some tough portages. |
||
Pinetree |
quote Tim.bear: "quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Been ten years but good conditions we made Hanson in one day. |
||
Pinetree |
quote Gadfly: " I would be curious to hear the route taken for this. Unless there are winter trails I am unaware of this had to be close to 20 miles including some tough portages. " We did it a couple of times. Both times we went from Sag-Ottertrack-Ester-Hanson. These were trips in late March when you had a hard pack trail on the lakes or snow was hard. Usually toward Ottertrack there would be sled dog trail to follow. We did break trail from Ottertrack to Ester. If lake conditions were not good it would be a long haul,usually up to American point or U.S. point there is quite a bit of travel. Were talking 12 hours of daylight than and we would at least make it to Ester with a hour to spare and I know one year we made it to Hansen before dark by a few hours. |
||
2old4U |
|
||
Gadfly |
I'd be curious to know if you have ever made it up to lac la croix. There are a couple of places I would love fish in the winter up that way but I wouldn't know the route to take and would be worried about running into bad conditions. |
||
Pinetree |
|
||
AmarilloJim |
|
||
Pinetree |
quote hubben: "quote Tim.bear: "quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Actually many of the new pop ups fold up very well and would fit in the sled. Bulk and weight may be a problem. Actually always wondered about using one myself on shorter fishing trips. |
||
tg |
|
||
Pinetree |
quote Mnpat: "quote Tim.bear: "Hubbin The ground temp can be anything from -40 degrees F. to yes 32 degrees. Yes like you said a good pad-air mattress works great. |
||
Pinetree |
quote hubben: " Same here,used that type sled 30 years(same sled). As mentioned in other blogs at this forum site,the new sled from Menards are a cheaper more brittle plastic. I know of 3 or so broke almost instantly. The old sleds you can run a tank over. Look up the sled forum here.Lot of good info. one of many |
||
tg |
As someone who has been doing this for (only) a few years, is relatively young (36) and bikes and runs a bit I would caution you about commiting to such a long haul. Lots of lake trout to be caught in much closer proximity to roads. Its fun to have a lake to yourself but there's plenty of solitude to be found even on entry point lakes in the winter. Breaking trail can be brutal and the days are short which doesn't leave a lot of time for fishing if you really want to push deep into the bush. If you pick the right EP and conditions are good you can always push further. My 2 cents. |
||
Mnpat |
quote Tim.bear: "Hubbin forget the cot. you need a pad to sleep right on the ground. I fill my fishing holes with snow and cover floor with a tarp. Sleeping pad on the tarp. the ground stays 32 degrees but with a cot the cold air gets all around your body and cots are big and heavy. |
||
hubben |
I ran into some fellas on Tuscarora last winter who'd been winter-trekking for 26 years, and despite other expensive improvements in their gear over the decades, they pretty much stuck with the "expedition-type" plastic sleds sold at places like Menards for hauling wood and stuff. They are just made of thick polyethylene, I believe, and typically cost around $40. Again, the important thing is to keep width within the 16-18" range. |
||
Pinetree |
|
||
TuscaroraBorealis |
quote Tim.bear: "quote Gadfly: "A couple other options I like are Snowbank or Clearwater. Both are partially in the BW and carry good quality fish. Trout Lake north of Vermilion would be another possibility as well.Thomas is an option but that is probably close to 10 miles in from the snowbank access so even with the packed trail it would take a bit to get there. " Trip report to that area |
||
Pinetree |
I like Clearwater area because beautiful scenery and it is fairly easy going in the right conditions. |
||
Tim.bear |
I don't have the sled style popup. I have a cube style that you push out the sides and top. Good advice though. I was going to buy an otter ice fishing sled to put everything in but I will have to find something else. I am a little worried about the floor though. I have a little buddy heater I will be using. I'm guessing I will end up with some standing water on the floor. I have a cot I will bring to stay off the ice. I will probably have to leave everything in the sled that I want to keep dry. As for location I think I'm going to scratch Wine lake. Might be to much of a trek in and out depending on the snow. I'm thinking Ram lake if the roads plowed or taking Clearwater over to West pike and camping there. Maybe with a day trip to gogebic for brook trout. Leaning more towards West pike after reading that report. |
||
SevenofNine |
|
||
Tim bear |
|
||
Gadfly |
|
||
landoftheskytintedwater |
One caveat. I was on snowshoes. The first 100 rods of the Tuscarora portage when heading back toward Round would be a beast on skis, but otherwise, it's more rolling hills. |
||
MackinawTrout |
|