I'd like to see if "aficionados" would share their TOP FIVE fishing holes in Quetico. I'm not suggesting you provide GPS coordinates, pictures, or official measurements, but let's see who's willing to divulge how much?

Here's mine . . .

#1 -- Brent Lake, at about halfway between the portage from Cone and where the lake opens up, on the inside of the "bend," evening hours. The catch: huge smallmouth, scarey northern. Bait: Rapala deep diver.

#2 -- Jean Lake, northwest side of Ivy Island, early morning to noon. The catch: a smallmouth feast, including 20-incher. Bait: black jig and pork rind.

#3 -- Jesse Lake, at the narrows in the west end where water comes in from the pond east of Oriana, early and late in the day. The catch: walleyes! Bait: Blue/chrome Wally Diver.

#4 -- Chatterton Lake, below Split Rock Falls, on the left side, mid-morning.
The catch: trophy Walleye. Bait: gold crankbait.

#5 -- Stanton Bay, not IN the "bay" but in the narrows, east side, near a small rock cliff about halfway between the bay and Pickerel Lake, late morning, (in the rain). The catch: beautiful 4-pound smallmouth. Bait: gold crankbait (again).

If this thread is successful (as determined by your responses) I could think of one or two other subjects we could try, and I bet other aficionados could too. It might be interesting!

--Goose

Wow! OldGreyGoose,
It's late ....I will sleep on it and post tomorrow.

Mine are mostly in Crooked lake, if anyone is interested they can pm me, just because I am too lazy to describe them, not because they are secret or anything.

I am all for sharing spots you have had success in, others can try them,and well, fishing is fishing, not called catching, lol, so your best spot may stink when others are there.

Murdoch lake in the Q near the outlet to the north. Referred to as "the meathole" by our outfitter.

Caught a walleye on a surface lure! Non stop action one evening with nortons, smallies, and walleyes all participating.

Thanks, Buz, I've never fished Crooked and will take you up on your offer, if I plan a trip there.

To other readers: a response like this one is GREAT. Not everyone has so FEW good spots and spots which I remember like it was yesterday. If you have 3 spots or 1, or just want to offer to share by email, like Buz, let the aficionados know what lake, etc.

I probably will NEVER fish the spots I've listed again, being older and trying to explore new territory each trip, so I don't feel like I'm hurting my future chances. And as Buz says, they could be busted next time. Also, if you plan to return to the same "hole" over and over, I certainly can't expect you to share that location.

Enjoying a whiteout in S. Illinois!

--Goose

1. Almost anywhere in Poohbah--trophy smallmouth and pike and good sized walleye

2. North Bay--eastern shoreline south of portages to Burke--cruise from portage a mile or two south before sunset--lots of 16-20 inch smallies shallow near shoreline

3. Crooked Lake--big pike just SE of Table Rock and Friday Bay around border islands

4. Shan Walsh--large pike and smallmouth along southeastern shoreline

5. Yum Yum--smallie hole in bay west of the bay with the portage from Grey. Lake trout by trolling deep diving Husky Jerks along cliffs.

Please don't eat the big ones...

#1 Little Gratton Lake - Largemouth Bass. We come in over the "Long Haul Portage from McAree and camp the first night just to enjoy the evening bite. All catch and release.

#2 Wicksteed Lake- Smallmouth & Northerns along western shore from Gratton Portage to Darkey portage.

#3 Ballard Lake- Walleye along soth-west shore and around island.

#4 William Lake - Smallmoth, walleye & northerns....everywhere

#5 Suzanette Lake- Smallmouth, walleye & Trout especially near Darkey River.

#6 McIntyre Lake - Lake Trout...Never fail spot near Cedar Point Camp.....e-mail me for dirrections

Pineknot, I talked to a gentleman at Zup's on LLC last June who was going into Poohbah for six days. Guess he knew something. I'm sure I'll never make it to Walsh, but hope to go through North Bay and possibly to Yum-Yum before I croak, so thanks for those. I never eat the big ones, and in fact usually don't eat ANY at all.

Fishguts, I hope to take you up on that location in McIntyre -- that area is on my wish list -- and I may make it into Ballard on the way in or out. Oh,did you find any largemouth in Wicksteed? I think I read it's supposed to have them.

Way to go folks . . . 18 (I think) different locations so far.

--Goose

We didn't catch any Largemouth on Wicksteed, but lots of smallmouth...We caught largemouth on Gratton the same day..??
They may be there, we just hit the smallies.

Goose

#1 - Cub - just south of the island pass and along the south shore for trophy walleye

#2 - Badwater - trophy pike on east end around island close to portage to Fair. Good walleye by the bluff in the mid section of the lake. Badwater also has nice lakers, but I have never fished for them.

#3 - Omeme - Abundant walleye, but really good pike.

#4 - Bee - nice trophy pike in far east end in the shallow weeds.

#5 - No name lake off of Bee - short (about 50 yards) and easy bushwhack for fast action on pike and walleye. No trophies so far, but it is fun to fish where very, very few have been.

Would be glad to offer marked up maps if you ever plan on going to these locations.

Goose-

Shan Walshe is just a short beautiful portage from Yum Yum. Big Lakers in Shan Walshe

Big Northerns on Wicksteed in the Darky Lake portage bay.

Topwater smallmouths along western shore of Plough in August (Hot weather)

Everything on Poohbah. Had Northerns, smallies, wallies and lakers for the same meal.

Lots of Lakers in the north end of Sarah (cold water time)

Old Hoosier: Thanks for the locations and the offer! Omeme-Badwater-Bee sounds worth the 1410m.(Chrismar map) portage.

Banksiana: Thanks, and I was thinking of "Walsh," off of Sturgeon, rather than Shane Walshe. (Duh.)

Well, that's about 26 or so different locations...

OK, I’ll bite…

Meadows Lake: Smallmouth around the moving water
Kawnipi Lake: Consistent walleye
Cache Lake: Lakers in bay towards the Cache River
The Kahshahpiwi, Keefer, Sark Lake chain: Lakers, Lakers, and more Lakers.
Paulene Lake: Consistent Largemouth.

Hex

Hex,

You've got some interesting ones. Cache Lake: tough to get in to. Meadows: wonder how many folks day-trip there, or if on a move day, stop between the two long rockgarden portages to take a fishing "break?" Paulene: Has Largemouth AND is next door to Fishguts' spot on McIntyre. Hmmm ... I might move THAT area up higher on my wish list.

Thanks!

It's a big park, so why not?

William Lake: East end, just before the lake tapers down to a point, there's a rock bar where if you hit it right the walleyes and smallies will be there nearly every cast.

Kawnipi: Kawa Bay (going there in June--can't wait!) Walleyes everywhere consistantly.

Sturgeon Lake: north shore, near the mouth of Lonely Creek: walleyes

Poohbah: Around the midlake islands: BIG pike

Russell Lake: Chatterton Falls outflow: walleye

Sleeper choice: Wink Lake, South Bay for lakers

If everyone releases the big pike, walleye and smallies (and doesn't play them to death), then we shouldn't have a problem. Keep some 'eyes from 16"-19" for dinner, and it's all good.

Mad,

It IS a big park and I don't think sharing our hotspots will affect the fishing one bit(e). Personally, I am usually more interested in what's around the bend or across the next portage -- new vistas, wildlife sighting opportunities, etc. -- than in the fishing.

I started this thread more to see 1) how much participation there would be, and 2) if any "pattern" would appear (it's the geographer in me). The last couple of posts have begun to show some pattern, I'd say, with Poohbah and Kawnipi repeating, but it looks like it would take quite a bit more participation to really say for sure.

Thanks for your input and thanks for the caution on keeping AND PLAYING fish. I hope that all who have posted here will follow that advice.(I'll take THAT oath.)

--Goose

Poobah wins the #1 spot for me. Good quantity of large fish. Lots of blue walleyes too. Great structure with deep weed beds.

#2 Burt lake.

#3 Mack Lake.

#3.5 William...just like Mack. Nothing real big, but great quantities of eater sized walleyes. Nice weed beds.

#4 Camel Lake. Great structure. Nice stained water. You can catch fish all day long. Fish the rock about 500 yards SW of 'the' campsite.

My sleeper lake; Cutty lake. Poor camp area, but a phenomenal walleye factory. The lake has been spared from the infiltration of the bronze carp. Stained water. Very quiet lake.

Thanks Obergut.

I make that 30 different lakes, with Hexnymph’s “K-K-S chain” counted as one. Looks like the repeating lakes are Poohbah 4, William 3, and Kawnipi, Wicksteed and Shan Walshe each with 2.

There seems to be clustering of lakes in the "Hunter Island" area, or roughly between Lac La Croix on the west, Agnes on the east, Russell on the north, to the US/CAN border on the south. Perhaps most of the responses are from those who usually enter from the US side, not from the north side.(?)

Oddly(or not?)except for Plough and Meadows, we've gotten no lakes in the far southeast between Cache Bay and Prairie Portage.

--Goose

Interesting,

1. and 2. I'll fill in some in between Cache and Carp. We have done really good for Smallmouth Northern and Walleye on This and Other Man lakes. Fishing the shore structure for the Pike and Bass and fishing lee sides of islands and reefs in windy conditions with tail dancers for walleye.

3. We've caught our best sized lake trout 24-25" on Carp fishing the likly spots. We don't really fish much for the trout so I know that these are not that big, but thought that if we were stumbaling on bigger trout, someone who knows how to fish for them might do even better.

4. Best numbers for lake trout on Mcewan. Again not much of a trout fisherman so take that for what its worth. Usually it takes a 2 hours of trolling before we have 1 or 2 for dinner, but on mcewan we caught like 17 in 2 hours trolling shorelines. 14" to

5. In fishing while travaling from Mcewan to the Falls Chain, we nailed a lot of really nice bass. We would each take a shore and fish down it to the next portage just hitting the good structure. (side note, unhooking a bass it flopped and put a rapala trebal right in my thumb. Only time that ever happened. Not as painful as I thought it would be, used the fishing line method of removing, and it came out quickly and not too painful.)

BearDown,

Thx for your insight. I was wondering if you could pm (email) me as I'd like to ask you for some additional info. If not, I'll understand. Thx.

Rich.

Sure thing Rich, sent ya an email...

quote BearDown: (side note, unhooking a bass it flopped and put a rapala trebal right in my thumb. Only time that ever happened. Not as painful as I thought it would be, used the fishing line method of removing, and it came out quickly and not too painful.)"

How does this work?

Well very carefully. Haha. So with the hook buried past the barb in someone else's hand, you take fishing line, (something kinda thicker like 20 lb braided or mono) and loop it once over the hook on the barb side. So there is one piece of fishing line over the barb side of the hook with the two loose ends of the line in your hand. You then pull back and down on the line so the line slips down the hook towards the barb. You will probably have to pull hard and this will hurt the person. Once the line gets down into the nook behind the barb it fills this making the barb just a bump. The hook will come out. It isn't painless, but like I said it didn't hurt near as much as I thought it would. and didn't leave two sided big hole like pushing the hook through will do. Plus I can only imagine pushing the hook through would hurt a lot more. hopefully this drawing helps you understand what I'm saying...

You may or may not want to be "numb" first...YouTube

If you use barbless hooks in Quetico these problems are not much of a problem......

Yep this was before the barb ban. After the ban it becomes a moot point. But, still not a bad thing to know how to do for other areas.

That's good to know. I'm actually thinking of pinching all my barbs down. Especially for a solo trip.

Re barbless hooks, the good news is I've found barbless trebles (either direct purchase or pinching regular trebles) on any number of lures doesn't seem to affect hooking and landing smallmouth, pike, or trout. In fact, it's much easier to remove the treble from the fish, net, pants, hat, backpack, finger, partner, you name it...you fish long enough, it'll happen...:-)

The bad news is that for single hook lures (e.g. spinnerbaits), it's a heck of a lot harder to land any fish you've hooked...

This thread is so good that ZI thought it should be brought to the top for 2010 updates.....Your TOP FIVE Quetico fishing holes . . .

OK, So here is my two cents on the best fishing spots. #1- Sturgeon lake mid lake humps in July and August for walleye! lOTS OF THEM. #2- Kawnipi lake for walleye. Stay out of Mckenzie bay there are just as many hot spots around the lake where there are a lot fewer people. #3- Burntside lake for walleye and lake trout combo. #4 Williams and Conmee for walleye smallmouth and Big Pike. #5- I also like Brent,Pooh bah, Mcintyre,Pauleene,Burt,Camel,Cub,Gratton too.

Being a trout guy, listing the best of the best is tough because there are so many great trout lakes. You can't go wrong on Agnes, Kahshapiwi,
Pickerel, or any of the big, deep lakes in the park. Any one of these can produce fish over 20 pounds. Cache has good trout numbers, too, but those long muskeg portages required to get there keep out most folks, and frankly, there are better trout lakes that are far easier to get to. Trout caught in summer need to be released immediately or they die (yes, I know I'm preaching to the choir here).

It's hard to beat the walleye fishing on Kawnipi, but like another poster mentioned, Cutty is good too. I've actually caught them on surface lures there. The Maligne River is a walleye factory. Surprisingly, my best walleye came from Kahshapiwi, excellent trout water, but the ciscoes there produce big walleyes, too. The tough part is finding them. Sturgeon has some real tackle busters.

I'm like Old Grey Goose: I cover a lot of new water, and do a LOT of exploring. I also bring a depth finder (one of the few luxuries I carry) because I love checking out the depths of unmapped lakes. We eat fish, but never big ones. Usually a small trout or walleye.

Limiting the kill ensures great fishing.

I'm new to this site, so this is my first chance to reply to this question of fishing holes in Quetico. I've enjoyed reading all the posts here, and congratulate all of you on your generosity.

I've fished in Quetico for 25 years, and consider it to be the greatest freshwater fishery in the world. I'm not a Lake Trout fisherman, as I've never figurered how to find them in the deep water (I never fish in the early spring), so I fish obvious shore structure in about 15' of water on the bottom for Smallies, Walleye, and Northerns (jig-twister rig). Also, I never fish for the big ones, although I've caught a couple of remarkable fish, a 17 lb. northern and an 8 lb. small-mouth were my biggest. I'm really interested in eaters.

As many of you have said, I consider Kawnipi the best and most consistent fish producer in Quetico. I've caught all three species all over Kawnipi on just about every shoreline I've ever fished in the Lake. In fact, my number one all-time fishing spot is there, and I'm not going to say where it is. Nevertheless, I'll give you these five spots:

1. Bent Pine Lake. It's to the west and a bit north of Sturgeon and a little off the main routes. It's a side-trip over a portage back in there, but it's well worth it. This lake contradicts the general maxim that big fish are in big lakes and little fish are in little lakes. This is a little lake, and although I didn't catch any monsters here, I caught as many as I wanted in the 2-3 lb. range of eater wall-eyes. There's a small island in the south end of the lake. I think it's the only one in the lake. It has a small campspot on it. The wall-eyes are all around it right off shore in about 13' of water. When a wind is on shore, that's where they'll be.

2. Jean Lake. In the middle of this east-west lake on the north shore, wind-trolling the shore along about a quarter mile stretch a friend and I caught fish after fish of all three varieties all day. We caught more norherns than wall-eyes or small-mouth, but we got everything and all day.

3. Kawnipi. I'm not going to say where my favorite spot is, but the first and second unnamed bays as you come out of Kenny Lake and Kennebas falls are good. The narrows between the first bay and the second is shallow and full of weeds and also full of northerns. In the second bay (the one before you go around the corner to the right into Kawa Bay) along the north shore there are two islands shaped like a V right next to each other. I wind-drifted through the gap between them one day and caught a fish every time I went through. It was almost like a fish market. One drift would get me a wall-eye, another a small-mouth, and a third a northern. They were all schooled up together, something that almost never happens. Also, I have to say, go around the corner and up to the north end of Kawa Bay and wind drift the shores of some of those islands for more fish than you can handle.

4. Ottertrack Lake. There's a campsite on the American side just as you enter the lake from the west. Just across the lake to the north of that campsite there's an island close to the north shore. Just past that island to the east are two points close together. Drifting by each point will get you a wall-eye every time. My brother and I were fishing these points once and we got double strikes each time.

5. Saganagons. Just to the south of the portage from lower Saganagons to upper Saganagons (we call it dead man's portage) fish along the south shore for about a quarter mile east. There's a big island to the north, so it seems as if you are in a large protected bay here. At any rate, that south shore is productive of wall-eyes, 2 to 4 pound variety.

I've enjoyed sharing some of my favorite holes. Hope you try some of these spots and have good success.

quote rr: "I've enjoyed sharing some of my favorite holes. Hope you try some of these spots and have good success. "

Thanks, rr, for sharing a wealth of detailed info. My (BWCA.com) hat's off to you! --Goose

Thanks, Goose. I know I came to this site late, but it's a good one. Thanks for starting it. I hope someone fishes the holes I indicated.

For Walleyes:

Mack Lake - I've been there twice and caught very nice fish each time. There are wonderful walleyes and smallmouth. The north side of the lake has suffered a burn and there is lots of trees down along the shore for great smallmouth fishing in the evening. Walleyes in the bays and off the points. There have been other people fishing on this lake both times I have been there.

Bentpine - As you come into this lake from Clair (on the NE corner) there is a very nice campsite and a couple of small bays that were teeming with eyes when I was there. The rest of the lake offers very good fishing as well.

Cutty and Metacryst - These lakes are right next to each other and both are easy to fish and have very nice walleyes in them. Cutty in the very back bays and Metacryst go down either shore line. The campsite on Cutty is very marginal but the fishing worth a stay.

Lake Trout -
McDougall. There is an arch shaped island there. If you go from the middle of this island towards the NW you will find a hump which comes up to 15 foot and then drops way down again. Lakers will be somewhere off that hump depending on water temps. There are not a tremendous amount of them but they are nice with a few line breakers. Put em back in after catching them. Two decent campsites that are easy to find.

Cullen - This lake is on the way to Mack from the south. Not a large lake but long and loaded with smaller trout. Many people pass over this lake on the way to or from Mack. There is a small camp site on the lake and if you like to catch lakers - worth the stop.

Everyone knows about Argo for lakers and it is very good but I prefer the less crowded lakes.

Murray: Thanks for the info on Cutty/Metacryst . . . we should be there on or about June 7-8. --Goose

I'm late in joining this section of the site and was trolling old posts. Saw this one and thought I'd share my info since the rest of you have been so gracious...here goes.


1) Sunday Lake in the narrows just before it opens into the main lake for walleye and northern (one 48" northern and one 37" northern taken there last August)

2) Silence Lake the narrows between the large open area to the south up to the first campsite on the eastern shoreline. HAMMERED smallmouth there and picked up a nice walleye.

3) Louisa Lake between the two big islands troll for Lakers, along the north western shore of the northern most large island troll just off the steep cliffs for lakers.

4)Shade between the two points we did fairly well for lakers in august

5) Beaverhouse at the fast water between Q lake and BH good smallie fishing, along the western shore leading from portage to parking lot to main lake was great for smallies.


I'll be headed up to Kawnipi and Kahshapiwi and Sarah this summer, so hopefully I can put some of what you have posted to work!

Thanks!

Welcome Goby!

Good to see you didn't wait around long to make your first Afficionado post. :-)
fishguts

quote OldGreyGoose: "Meadows: wonder how many folks day-trip there, or if on a move day, stop between the two long rockgarden portages to take a fishing "break?" "

We camped on Meadows and had a lot of luck (and I say luck because we aren't skilled fishermen) with largemouth bass. Didn't even have leave camp to catch them...just about every time I casted from shore, regardless of the time of day, it was "fish on!". Not the biggest fish I caught, but was pretty happy considering I was miserably sick this day

Thanks to Goby for bumping this discussion . . . after our 2011 trip up Cutty Creek, I would have to add Camel Lake for nice (and delicious) walleye! (Caught from the island camp.) Here's hoping you all have great trips this year and if you haven't already, contribute your top 2012 fishing "holes." --Goose

My first post for the afficionados-

1) Saganagons- pretty much every where. We trolled the purple divers and caught huge lakers, eye popping Walleyes, and scary big small mouth. The bays to the west were excellent sites along points etc.

2) Kawa Bay/Kawnipi- lets just say walleye, walleye, walleye, wallyeye

3) Mack Lake- Biggest walleye I have ever seen.

Sorry only our first trip to Quetico this year so more come...

Welcome, I'll have to talk to you about Kawa Bay as I'm headed there in 8-1/2 short weeks.

quote Goby: "Welcome, I'll have to talk to you about Kawa Bay as I'm headed there in 8-1/2 short weeks."

We caught the walleye again by trolling the purple divers. In early June the fish were at about 10-15 ft along shore lines. The best area was at the narrows as you leave Kawa Bay- as previously described in this thread. Also- the camp site at the North end of the bay near the river was beautiful.

Okay, I don't have near the Quetico experience that most of you have but here is where I have caught them.

Lakers: Jeff lake- some big uns in there. There is a long outcrop that sticks out of the water. Caught lakers with every pass by there with some being very good size. Louisa- caught between 50-75 lakers in here in one afternoon of fishing in Mid May. Most in the 2-4 lb range but some were larger also.



Great thread by the way!

North Bay behind Neil Island is a portage to Nest Lake. Directly across from the portage is an island with a narrows area between it and the mainland. That area is a must check spot. I caught 2 44 inch northern there, numerous large smallmouth and decent walleye. My wife also landed an honest 25 inch smally that looked like a football. I try to fish it at first light but never go past it without throwing out a line. I also like that island campsite. ~JOE~

Don't just paddle the Wawiag river...

Just returned from trip through Mack...it goes to the top of the list for big smallies and walleye...all over the lake...

quote PineKnot: "Just returned from trip through Mack...it goes to the top of the list for big smallies and walleye...all over the lake..."

That's what I've heard and because it's such a bitch to get into there's not as much fishing pressure. It's on my bucket list - hopefully 2014.

Now get workin' on that trip report! The more detailed the better. :)

Now that I'm in this private forum, I couldn't resist posting in this thread! We're not usually a big fishing group, but we do some, and here are some highlights...

1. Jean Lake... there is a place on this lake that is not only the best fishing hole I've seen in Quetico, it is the best fishing spot I've known anywhere. I've fished that spot in three different trips, many years apart, and always had big success. On Jean, around mid-lake, on the south shore, there is a little penninsula that sticks out, with a bay immediately to its east (the bay, in theory, has a portage to Albert, but not really). The penninsula has nice sandy beaches all around it. There is a small island just east of the penninsula, kid of in the middle of the mouth of the bay - caught nice eating size walleye on the lake-side of the island, and some smallies on the bay-side of the island. The larger part of the bay is fairly shallow, and in the evening hours, has great fishing for big northern cruising the shallows. The deeper part of the lake, north of the bay and penninsula, has reliable lake trout fishing. But those are all just the OK stuff... the magic spot is, in that bay, there is a smaller bay, on the east side of the larger bay, seperated from the larger part of the lake by a thin spit of land. That smaller bay has a lot of deadfall, and just the right depth. We've caught what are, by any northern standards HUGE largemouth. I've seen and/or caught largemouth that were above 10 pounds, on multiple trips. Had one once take a smaller bass that was on my lure, while reeling it in (which I didn't think bass did, but this one did).

2. Cache Lake: this is just an overall great fishing lake. I've seen (and heard from other groups, and friends) reliable lake trout fishing in multiple parts of the lake, some very big northern in the central part of it, and smallies galore near the narrows between the northern and central/southern parts of the lake.

3. Saganagons: Even though this is a relatively heavily used lake, found some very nice fishing in and around a bay with an island campsite we based from a long while back. One of the many bays along the south shore of the lake, one with a small island at its mouth and a creek at the back end leading to some small ponds (there are two just like this next to each other mid-lake, this is the eastern of the two). Took smallies day and night from the island, especially the bay-side. And if you paddle a little west, to the islands in the middle of the lake there, along their south shore, there are some nice drop-offs where we caught a bunch of nice walleye. Also, my father hooked the biggest northern pike I have ever seen, but it broke free as we were trying to get it into the boat (without a net - note to self). No idea just how big it was, but was scary-big.

4. Sturgeon: very good walleye fishing on the western end by where Bent Pine Creek empties into it, also some big northern in the same area.

5. Conk: Here is the "hidden" gem. Conk looks like one lake, but really, its like two lakes with a marshy lily swamp in the middle. The eastern half the lake gets a fair amount of traffic, people going between Quetico and Jean. But no one really goes through that marshy waist of the lake to the west end. We did, and once you make your way through the pads, you get into a lake that looks lost in time. We saw tons of fish, saw them in the water, as we came out of the marsh. Saw an osprey nest, with babies. Landed on an island to use the facilities, and it was covered in moose and bear droppings. It was the only island in there, and had no sign of human visits. Fishing we did was limited, but we pulled out smallies (big ones) and a big northern in just a few minutes. I think with more time, someone could do very well on that lake.

DWT: Ha. The thread that will not die! Since I first posted this in 2010, I have not had any reason to change MY list.(unfortunately) . . . I may be going through Conk and Jean this summer, so thanks for sharing, especially those two. --Goose

I am keeping the thread alive too,

I have been in the North Country and Quetico for 18 trips. I drive sometimes 18-24 hours to go to Atikokan and start my adventures and this year I am driving from Miami Fl to take my son on his first Quetico trip.

Fishing has always been a major focus and here goes some of my favorite spots.


1.Pickerel Lake- I know it is not in the heart of the park but when starting off our adventures this lake has it all and for being a big lake it seems to offer many coves and bays like that of some smaller lakes. Lake trout galore. If you go to Pickerel and use a Shad Rap or deep runner Purple, or Silver Blue, you will catch Lakers over the big water areas. We have caught many big big pike in Pickerel. My friend caught a 45" and then the next cast a 42" pike. in a bay directly across the spill way. We catch tons of walleye in the river and big pike are there too.

2. Russell lake where the water falls come into the east side of the lake near the portage. I fished on Shore and caught my largest pike (42"-43")to date. It was so thick and powerful. It had a huge headi it was like a gator definitely well over 20lbs. I got big smallies, more nice pike 38"etc. I only fished it mid day for one day.

3. To be continued

Moosehopper: Thank you! On Pickerel, did you find a "reef" or "mid-lake" spot that was shallower than most of the surrounding water? I've heard there is such a spot about two-thirds of the way down the lake from the Pines, great for trout, but there's "a lot of lake" there so one might a depth finder. --Goose

It is great to hear from you Old Grey Goose. I love this forum and I really appreciate the love that we all bring to this park, each other and to this amazing mother earth of ours.

I bring a depth finder along and after coming onto the main lake heading west just after some of the sandy points/banks coming off of the river from French you start to have the lake open up in front of your eyes and in the distance you'll begin to see islands, In the middle of the lake I start trolling a purpledescent minnow deep diver and or a silver rap. I just troll heading west past the first island and I catch fish all day long. Big healthy Lake trout. The depth ranges between 50-70'. The deep water on Pickerel is everywhere and I have caught trout everywhere on Pickerel. It is a great species to hunt for while moving over big water. You can get them going down towards Dore as you come off the Main lake and start heading down into the bay before portage. I've caught them coming off the main lake heading into the Narrows on the west end of the lake. I keep an eye out for the wind direction too seeing where the bait fish are being washed up to.

I only fish Quetico at the beginning of June, so the fish are up and hungary. I once did a solo on Pickerel for 17 days and then met up some friends for another 9 days. It was amazing and I got to know the lake pretty well. I have only just begun my journey with her deep waters but my connection with this lake runs deep... grin.

I wrote more about Williams and Wicksteed etc. but I just lost all of the post to a computer gremlin.

I will post more, I was just pontificating that this summer I am going with my son for his first trip and I am shedding a few tears just thinking about it. The North woods has been such a teacher, friend, mother etc. to me and now I can experience it with him just as my dad did with me and the lakes that I list now might change to other lakes I haven't been on. I don't want to drive him too hard, but Kawanipi might be our destination and we will have some time in the park to fish and explore it. Of course I have heard good things but now it is time to experience it for myself. I keep everybody posted and I do have some awesome pics of that monster pike I caught last summer on Russell at the Falls.

I am new to "Quetico Afficionados" and I am looking forward to learning a lot from all of you. I have been to Quetico 3 times and each trip was great. I know that the thread is for your top 5 fishing holes -- but with my limited experience, I will mention only three. We fished other lakes, but these are the ones I would return to.

We went to Burt lake this year and it was the best Grand Slam lake we have been on. We were there during the middle of June and you could catch Lake Trout just about anywhere. Bass and walleyes could be caught in the "V" channel heading up to Suzanette. The Northern Pike were scattered.

Some of you have mentioned William. This was our best walleye action. We did not catch anything huge, but we caught a lot of eater size fish. This trip was pre-live bait ban -- so leeches and night crawlers were used.

Kawnipi -- lots of walleyes and bass. We concentrated on the northern most area of McKenzie Bay. We saw more people on this lake than we anticipated.

Just to add to the fray...our party caught a lot in Jesse in late May. Walleye and a lot of pike. 30plus incher walleye (with blue eyes!)--- had never seen that but then again my personal fishing experience is pretty limited.

Been told by other "Quetico-ers" that Cirrus is a very good lake. Walleye, LTs and of course the ubiquitous pike. Sure there are SM in there as well.

Will find out hopefully when I go in end of next week via Sue Falls.

Can't wait. Thanks for the info from everyone -- obvious that there is a LOT of fishing expertise out there --- I've learned loads already :)

#1 - Sorry cant give that up
#2 - No not that one either.
Oh hell, you can beat me, burn me I wont give those up but I can tell you that my all time favorite is the Q, next would be the BW.

Just realized this topic started 3+ years ago...since then, I've made another 10 trips into Q and my best fishing lakes have changed a bit...

1. Poobah (all species, all trophy sizes)
2. Mack (trophy smallies, walleye)
3. Antoine (all species, trophy smallies)
4. Walter (all specieis, large lakers)
5. Elk (trophy smallies)

First, shame on you MrBreeze! =) Second, I too have a new favorite SMB lake that it so easy to get to that I promised my outfitter that I wouldn't share. =( If you get down around Birch (near Prairie Portage) check out Polaris Lake for fun SMB action just one up and over portage away. I did not find any trophies, but the action was excellent. Nice to see this thread still lives! --Goose

1. Saganaga
2. Saganagons
3. Kawnipi
4. Basswood
5. Crooked

In reality, most every areas I've been to, where there are VERY LARGE and diverse lakes are my top 5.

The bigger the lake, the better opportunity to catch a trophy.

I have other "magical" lakes.....

1. Fran
2. Jasper
3. Ottertrack
4. Birch
5. Blackstone

Later

Geo

Well, since I'm new here and this thread is apparently not meant to die, I guess it falls on me to keep it alive. In no particular order:
1.Brent, I cannot seem to find an area that doesn't produce a TON of fish, and nice ones.Walleye,smallmouth,lakers
2.Crooked, Have caught a ton of big fish there,smallmouth,walleye,pike.Honestly don't have a favorite area, we have always found them stacked in different places,but we always find them
3.Kawnipi,walleye,walleye,and did I mention walleye? Oh yeah and great smallmouth.
4.Basswood,especially North Bay and Bayley bay. Huge smallmouth,lots of 20in+ fish. Big walleye and a few trout. North Bay has too many spots to list. Fish are EVERYWHERE. The only reason I listed Bailey Bay is that it provided my wife and I with 30 minutes of really amazing smallmouth fishing.We were returning from a 12 day trip to Kawnipi, Agnes, S chain and we got to PP early so we thought we'd fish Bailey for awhile. We caught 22 smallmouth with the smallest going 17 inches and the largest an honest 22.Three were over 21 and 7 more were 20+.Pretty amazing average for 30 minutes, at least for us.Most fish were along the east shore on the edge of the shallow shelf that runs along that bank.
5.This was hard, there are so many great places(especially in early June) but one of the funnest times I've had in awhile was on little Bird lake north of Agnes. We stopped for lunch and then decided to fish. There was a little point and a lot of huge boulders and the walleye were in there like crazy. It was 1:00 in the afternoon and bright and sunny but we caught walleye after walleye and they were all 24-26 inches. They were so aggressive that they would chase it all the way to the boat and sometimes try to get the jig out of each others mouth. Water was so clear you could see them coming for a long ways off and literally fighting over our jigs. I've caught a ton of walleye but never that aggressive and in bright sunny clear water and all large.Amazing!Wish I could remember the location(somewhere on the north end), I don't think most people even bother to fish Bird.

Thanks, mgraber! Bird Lake is sure a surprise to me. --Goose

could you email me at bill.knapp@vw.com and tell me where the point with the large boulders is on Bird Lake? Thanks, Bill

Hi Pineknot. Your tips on Shan Walshe a few years ago were so good... do you have any for Kawnipi? Pls email me at bill.knapp@vw.com . Thanks!

Bump. Wondered if anyone had lakes to add following the 2014 summer season? I do not, sadly. --Goose

Good fishing on Lonely and Walter this past summer just below the Portages entering on the north sides of each. Also, as before, large northerns in fast water just below Splitrock Falls. A great canoeing crew helped. eyedocron

Would love to go back to Split Rock Falls...son-in-law lost a trophy walleye there. --Goose

This message has had HTML content edited out of it.
By species rather than numerical order:

Smallmouth - Robinson below the flow-age from Dart. The shoreline in the northwestern bays, and the east side of the unnamed lake between Robinson and Nub.
Walleye - Kawnipi any where and everywehere. Lemay non-stop walleye and
smallmouth.
Lake Trout - Sark narrows on the south east side and that basin before the
portage to Keefer.
Pike - North Bay northern half, mid lake.

Linkster, thanks -- especially for Robinson -- hope to get there in the next couple years. Lemay is a new addition to the list too, I think. (Positive I won't ever make it there.) --Goose

McEwen for Lake Trout. Stunningly beautiful lake, wonderful sandy beach campsite. A new favorite after last summer. The portage in from the Falls Chain was a bear, but it was well worth it.

You gotta give some to get some...

Most posters seem to have a lot more experience and in many cases, have gone a lot further in than I have. But here's a couple.

Saganagons, late September topwater Smallie action north of Silver Falls.

Kawnipi, if nothing else because of the blue walleye. Island campsite in main lake east of the pictographs east of McVicar Bay had great walleye fishing from camp.

Stream between Murdoch and Kawnipi in the spring, non-stop smallmouth.

Lost Bay.

Sarah.

I don't fish that much, just an hour or two at most and eat a eating sized fish every day. Prefer walleye and pike and avoid SMB if at all possible, and have eaten two smaller trout total in three trips.

Joewildlife, thanks gor giving!
Anyone else?
--Goose

Top Five for me (in no particular order):

1) Wicksteed for topwater smallmouth bass on the fly. We crushed them in here a few years back and lots of big hefty fish. We let them all go but this is a A+ smallmouth lake.

2) Ballard for walleye a short portage from Wicksteed... I have been to this lake three times and each time we had great walleye action. Numbers and big fish. We kept a few for dinner but again let the big dogs go.

3) Suzanette for Lake Trout and Walleye. Lake trout were all over and the walleye were thick on the east side of the main lake on the windswept shoreline.

4) Williams eastern bay small rocky point on the south side of the lake... lots of bass and walleye a hot spot.

5) Brent north of the two 5* island campsites on the west shorline we went back and forth there for nice walleye. Brent is a walleye factory.

Hope to find a few more this year in parts I have not ventured to yet... YEAO!!!

Just joined this forum, and not sure if I am qualified to suggest fishing holes. Have only ventured on one canoe trip anywhere. As to locating fish, we just winged it. But a few locations did produce numerous bites/hard fighting fish (Sept 16-26, 2014):

(1) Brent: Caught a grand slam... fish are huge and voracious!
-Eastern: dropoff(s) south and west of campsite LD (LT, SMB, pike)
-Central: southern shore west of old burn near point (SMB)
-Western: near shoreline southwest and point southeast of Darky R portage and south
towards portage to Cone L. (HUGE pike, SMB and walleye)

(2) McIntyre: northeast corner of large island across from McIntyre Creek (LT) and further
south, large reef northwest of lake's pinchpoint

(3) Cone: northside just east of Cone-Brent portage (LT)

(4) Elk: northern pinchpoint (hungry pike, SMB)

Also fished Darkwater and Argo - caught tons of SMB; LT were over 100 ft deep east of Birch Island. Caught 2 19-20 inch SMB in Sarah & Northbay. Side provided great LT action.

Was going to add fish pics.. maybe will save them for viewing in a trip report. Hope to investigate new Q lakes fall 2015!!

Great stuff, guys. Sure would like to see trip reports.
--Goose

There have been so many over the years. One that I vividly recall and can pinpoint in description is on Brent, right where the creek flows in from Conmee. Pike, bass, walleye on every other cast near dusk- all big (and all were released). There is a HUGE pike 45+ pike lurking there that we lost canoe-side. Saw probably a 10lb walleye cruise right under us in the gin clear water just out of the pool. 22.5" largest smallie caught. Plenty of snags as well. Brent is a great fishing lake overall and good to basecamp from.

After my early September trip with my son-in-law, I can add a new honey hole lake...Bud! The whole lake is good for SMB, but we found the biggest in the northern "narrows." (Fishing below the rapids was not bad for smallies and walleyes, too.) --Goose

Kenai River, Kasilof River, Togiak River, Goodnews River, Seward salt. Any order.

Sarah and McIntyre for lake trout. Troll as you go and you'll find them.

Well, I have been into Quetico 5or 6 times and all have been in the same entry. Saganagons is awesome. Anything past Silver Falls is great, where the current takes the east bend just past the choke point, I have caught multiple good sized walleye just jigging (several 27 inches).
North of Deadmans portage and to the east is a long island with a camp on the west side. Just out in front of the camp is current and walleyes are present. On the east side of the long Island current is present and so is SM and walleye.
Just made my reservation for my second solo to the same spot.

If you don't want to - or just can't get in very far you can hang out on North Bay of Basswood and do very well. I was there for 6 nights (2 different camps) in the 1st week of august 2015. The fishing was very consistent at the north east end mainly northern and smally with a few walleye.

Very little luck on a tour of Lost Bay one day. The bays on the east side were very solid around dusk. Being August I was very happy.

We then camped on Sunday Lake and trolled deep for lakers. Only action was in the far southern west bay. Caught a nice 25 incher and then rounding a point in 60 feet I got into something very large. I couldn't get it up near the boat after 10 minutes and then the barbless hook just pulled loose. I just wish I knew what it was. Very powerful fish on my medium heavy rod.

Bump! Anyone have a new spot to add after a great 2016 fishing trip?
--Goose

Frankly, I really only fish once a year now and it is my week in North Quetico. It ALL is good to me. We only fish it for a few hours, but Stanton Bay for Bass is pretty darn good!

I found a middle stretch between two island clusters on Pickerel Narrows to be fairly productive for lakers.

I will now add Woodside to my list. I had one of the best days for volume and average size smallies ever there in mid Sept. of 2016. 14-17 inches every time and probably landed 25 - 30 and lost just as many with their flying leaps and my barbless hooks. Also, they have red tinged smallies in the north end. I've never seen this coloration before. They look "rusty".

Thanks for the 2016 additions! Let's keep this old thread alive...
--Goose

If you come up Kahshapiwi River (Quetico) where it meets Kawnipi, you will find a campsite on a peninsula. There are two small coves to the south of the campsite and both hold a fair amount of 12-17inch smallmouth bass that will jump all over your poppers in late May/early June. There are pike there too so use your titanium steel leaders :)

A trip or two after my initial post...

Brent for big walleye. Like several of the biggest I've seen, from camp in the middle of a calm afternoon post cold-front.
Burt, trolled up a couple nice big lake trout between portage and camp, just fooling around.
William had very good walleye too, caught several in no time while just trying to catch 1 for dinner.

I had caught exactly 1 lake trout before, and on a portage a couple years ago a fellow said the trout were biting. I asked him how to fish for them. He told me something along the lines of "just troll between the put-in and your camp, you will find them." he was right!!
Keeping the thread alive while daydreaming about my trip next week!
Joe

Yes! Its back alive. I hope to add after my trip in a couple of weeks.

Good to see the thread alive...

Found several nice spots on huge Pickerel Lake June 7-18 on an 11 night solo.

Going back with son-in-law in August to the Jean to Badwater area hope to have something to report on after that...

--Goose

Going in in two months for 8 days followed immediately by 11 days solo and going to hit some of the spots in this thread, Walter, Lonely, Russell and more. Can't wait!!! Always the high spot of the year...

June 1st we did a 15 day from Atikokan down through Walter, Lonely, Russel through Kawnipi, the falls chain, the man chain in to the west end of Knife and out.Fishing was superb. Walter in particular was really good for walleye, smallmouth and lakers. Would like to go back with more time. Too much traveling but a fantastic trip.

Got to fish on Jean in August for the first time since 1997. Only caught 2 SMB, but one was 20"! This reaffirms my belief in Jean as a super SMB lake. Caught a 36" pike on Badwater, my biggest ever, by far. My son-in-law caught a huge walleye that was released unmeasured on Badwater. --Goose

Just got back from a loop from Prairie Portage, Man Chain, Falls Chain, McEwen, Louisa....

McEwen and Louisa are excellent lake trout lakes. Especially when in Mid-September you catch well more than you could ever need, doing something so simple as trolling Wiggle Warts going to or leaving camp...these things are great. We ate fish every night using these almost exclusively, no need for anything else.

Heading for my TOP Quetico fishing hole 6/18!
(The secret one, lol.)
--Goose

"BUMP"

Anyone find a great new spot this summer?
--Goose

Poohbah, caught a grand slam within 30 minutes of arriving, and in the dog days of August. Really amazing lake for all of the big 4. Too many great areas to list.

OldGreyGoose: ""BUMP"


Anyone find a great new spot this summer?
--Goose"

I did find some extrodinary fishing this summer. I had a permit to enter Quetico at Twin Falls . My destination was to be Poohbah, which I have been to many times before. It is a phenomenal fishery to say the least. The week before I was to enter, the area was hit with heavy rain that persisted for the entire week. The Maligne was just to dangerous to travel. I would be traveling upstream, which besides being dangerous would of been close to impossible. After conferring with Mark at Zups, I decided to hit McAree. I had never been there, so I decided to give it a try. I was a little skeptical at first because it’s a easy destination as long as you get a tow to Black Robe Portage. I camped at the campsite above Brewer Falls which isn’t the best sight , but the falls were spectacular, and I love to listen to the falls at night in the tent. Mark said there was great fishing to be had very close to the portage. To make a long story short, I spent the entire trip fishing the bay the portage is located, and the adjacent deep water. Caught Walleye after Walleye within a 1/4 mile of the Black Robe Portage, and Laker after Laker in the deep water adjacent to the Walleye spots. It was so good, I went back a month later, camped at the closest campsite to the portage and hammered the fish for another week.

Wallee: thanks for sharing this. I've heard other good things about McAree too. Did you fish LLC at all? --Goose

I did not fish Lac La Croix this year. The last time I fished it was a few years back. Caught some nice Walleye. A 28” one day, and a 28 1/2 “ the next day. I do not know that lake well at all.

Check around the area of Carp where it narrows maybe might be a good spot.

Frankie_Paull: "Check around the area of Carp where it narrows maybe might be a good spot. "

That narrows is a good spot. I have base camped on Carp a few times but did the best on lakes one or two portages away. That's all I'll say, lol. -Goose

This is a great thread and I will use it as a resource for my next 3 planned trips, all to Quetico.

I did a Quetico trip last fall. A buddy and I went in at PP and paddled up through Agnes and Kawnipi to McKenzie, this was September 8 to 16. I had planned on taking the Wawiag river back to Kawnipi but it was windy and rainy almost every day and our heart just wasn't in it. Looking back, I was not made aware that the three campsites in the east end of the narrows in Kawa bay were closed. I did know you can't camp on the Wawiag but the ranger didn't say anything about Kawa bay. Nonetheless, the trout fishing really picked up as we headed back through McEwen and Louisa.

Mind you, this was mid September. We drug wiggle warts as we travelled and caught a bunch of lake trout in McEwen and Louisa. So I would put McEwen and Louisa on my Top 5 list but there are too many good lakes in Quetico to have a Top 5!

To be specific on a spot in Brent, on the Southeast shoreline from the point and south towards McIntyre, my daughter hooked the biggest walleye and the biggest northern we have ever seen in the park, minutes apart. I had a tiny net and we lost both at the boat. Would have made a nice picture before putting them back in the lake! That was a most-memorable spot and time of the whole June trip

And bumping this to the top.

I've enjoyed this thread a lot over the years. I'm not sure where the top five are, but I'll share a few favorites that come to mind.

1) The Meathole - I've heard this is the name of the outflow of Murdoch into Kawnipi. Great smallmouth fishing through the current and into the eddies just beyond. As is frequently the case in rapids sometimes you can find walleye in the deep water just beyond the faster current.

2) Conmee - I caught my largest walleye to date at 28" there trolling a shad rap past some islands. Conmee is no secret to walleye fishermen in Quetico. In fact, I saw 2 or 3 other groups in my day trip to Conmee, which was more than I had seen most other places that trip.

3) Brent narrows at mid lake between the larger eastern and western portions. This is a surprisingly narrow and shallow stretch. We had our best luck trolling gold shad raps through here, but it's tough since the depth changes pretty quickly and there are a lot of boulders on the bottom. I had what felt like a pretty nice walleye on here (felt better than 25", but who knows), but it rubbed the line past some boulders and broke me off. First time I've so obviously felt rocks through the line while bringing a fish in.

For the last 10 years this thread put a smile on my face everytime it pops back up.

And therefore it needs to be a STICKY so it is always at the top! It is always a "must consult" in preparation for my next trip.

Moderator? Buehler? Buehler?

Joe

BUMP! --Goose

OldGreyGoose: "BUMP! --Goose"

Nice try but I'm still not falling for it. By the bye, I wonder if some of the responses are fictional to throw people off the track. :)

I can't believe our brothers and sisters would do that to us

Personally I think giving lake names is ok in this group but actual spots should be earned. Or, only passed on to trusted buddies in man caves and garages. The BWJ is very guilty as well. Quetico needs to be kept as a well kept secret from the riff raff. Now, by riff raff I'm referring to those people who don't respect limits, leave carcasses at campsites or visible in the water, trash sites etc.

Posting what used to be highly coveted secrets in an online forum makes me think we as fisherman are breaking "the code". And to be fair I have posted in this thread years ago so I am guilty. Hopefully I'm not only older but wiser now too.

I just read this post this morning for the first time. It really helps to get a fisherman pumped up to explore new spots! I'm not too reluctant to give out information... a person still has to GET THERE.

1. McAree Rapids. May 2007. Fished below the rapids right in the current and caught lots of nice eater size walleyes. We kept 3 on a stringer for dinner and retired to camp (right at the falls) and had a few cocktails. The stringer became lost along with our dinner. We went right to the falls, replenished our fish supply quickly, and had a nice meal.

2. Siobahn River. May 2007. Float and fish from Middle Roland Lk to Little Roland Lk. Lots of bass.

3. Ottertrack Lake. June 2003. East of Little Knife Portage on the north side of Ottertrack across from Gijikiki is a small campsite. Walleyes from shore on a jig and rubber body.

4. Saganagons. 1998 - current. Endless possibilites.

Now that things are opening back up, let's get some new input for this ancient thread! Just lake names/species is fine... Thanks.
--Goose