Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: First trip
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TechnoScout |
dustytexuss: "Hi folks, this will be our first trip and we'll be taking my two young adult children. Looking for a scenic, yet good fishing lake. We don't mind a portage and hopefully it's not a really busy lake. Any thoughts?" If you go in the June-Aug, to get away from people, you need to go deeper (more portages). After labor day things slow down normally (who knows this year?). All but one of my trips started in Moose Lake. From there...Ensign seems to be crowded, so I avoid it. |
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alpinebrule |
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TechnoScout |
alpinebrule: "Based on your screen name you may have traveled a long way for this trip. If you will be entering on a lake where a tow/shuttle is possible consider it. ..."< |
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Gaidin53 |
Not Knowing what is going to happen I’d stick with BWCA for first trip, You know you won’t have an issue with the border being closed. Also nice for first timers to have an actual grumper/toilet. Digging holes although not a big deal is a next step. I was pretty amazed last year at how beautiful the BWCA was and I’m kind of wired to want to push further north and go for Canada. I’ve been from Ely on Moose Lake and over to Saganaga and the end of the gunflint trail. Is the goal fishing? Is it catching a Lake trout? If it’s lake trout you need to deeper colder lakes. You can mix it on a trip and fish for all. Ensign has great fishing and is an easy reach from Moose. Probably to easy since it’s a busy lake but does have a lot of sites. Couple more short portages leaving from Moose gets you to Knife Lake. At that point you’ve got a lot of paddling before you need to portage. Isle of Pines, Thunder Point, Eddy Falls on the South Arm of Knife. All without portaging again. Wind can be more of an issue if it comes up on these bigger long lakes though. Personally with the burn area I wasn’t really a fan of Alpine or Jasper Lake last year. I know they have good fishing but I was glad to leave the burn area behind when we got to Ogishgemuncie. It’s neat to see it but not where I’d want to camp for a week. Some maps show the burn zones so you can tell where they are. Ottertrack with the high cliffs was pretty epic and my son picked out the ottertrack formations that the lake is named for. He was in a different canoe that day so I didn’t get to see it. Plenty of other areas to go that I haven’t been. My next trip will either be Quetico or a different area of the BWCA. Ryan |
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dustytexuss |
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lindylair |
When and how long is the trip? Will you be using an outfitter? One portage limit or a few to get you to a good lake? Travel each day or basecamp? What kind of fish are you hoping to catch? If you have a specific entry date permit availability becomes important. You can check that at BWCA permits Stay tuned:) |