# HEADING UP TO ELY, MN



## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

DRIVING OUT TO ELY, MN THIS WEEKEND AND HAVE MONDAY-FRIDAY TO FISH.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

I'M STAYING AT A CABIN ON MOOSE LAKE AND HAVE A BOAT RESERVED FOR ME, IF I WANT IT.

I HAVE A GUIDE HIRED ON TUESDAY AND THURSDAY THROUGH MOOSE TRACK ADVENTURES. LAKE IS TBD BUT TUESDAY IS AN ALL DAY SMALLMOUTH TRIP WITH SHORE LUNCH AND THURSDAY IS AN ALL DAY TRIP FOR PIKE. THE GUIDE SERVICE IS LOOKING FOR PERMITS FOR ME. IF WE GET THOSE, WE'LL VENTURE INTO THE BWCA.

ALL OF MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY ARE OPEN AS IS THE FIRST HALF OF FRIDAY.

WILL GLADLY POST PICTURES.

ALSO, ANY TRAFFIC WARNINGS/TIPS?

DON'T KNOW IF I CAN SWING IT OR NOT BUT I MAY TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME AND STOP IN MACKINAC ON THE WAY BACK. KIND OF A LONG SHOT RIGHT NOW.

ANY ADVIDE IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED.

MUCH THANKS AND TIGHT LINES!!


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Got room for 1 more? JK


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

Heck....my old lady would probably welcome it as she wouldn't have to talk to me for five days as a result.

And I wouldn't be wrong about anything for five days.

First time up that way. Very much looking forward to it.


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## ChappyC (Nov 17, 2004)

Try Kabtogama/ Namakan to the northwest of Ely. You'll catch all the fish you want to.


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## Steelheader88 (Aug 14, 2008)

My fiancee and I did a 6 day canoe trip up there last "Fall" for the leaf change. However, it was canoe in and we were on the busiest lakes that the place has to offer. I do know that the west side of the BWCA is more walleye water while the East is more lake trout oriented. I am sure your local guide will take care of you. It was one of the most beautiful drives we had ever taken up through Michigans UP, Wisconsin and then into Ely with the fall colors. Be sure to check out all of the gear shops, and Piragis outfitters has a nice library on the second floor of outdoor books. Maybe pick up a few Sigurd Olson books for reading on your way home, so you can be reminded of the scenery of that area. Have fun!


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## Super G (Oct 3, 2012)

Read up on Oly and Lena jokes! LOL! I lived in MN for 5 years and the lakes are great! If you fish walleye they are big on using leeches on jigs or slip sinker rigs and slip Bobber rigs at night. Minnesotans don’t eat perch - probably because the ones in the smaller lakes have small black parasite dots in their flesh from the weeds and warm water. I remember trading one rock bass I caught for every two perch she caught with an older woman on a Lake Mille Lacs walleye charter. She insisted there was no relationship between perch and walleye (“that’s why they are also called pickerel which is a pike” she explained!). 🤪. Good luck and highly recommend the northern route back through Mackinac! Beautiful up there!


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

Don't laugh....but I just started looking at driving through Mackinac on the way back to CLE. Total time difference appears to be less than an hour and I've never been up that way.
If I time it right, I may try to grab a charter there.
Getting pretty stoked about this trip...............


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Have fun Tony!


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Take the boat across Moose Lake to the dock right at the border, the truck will pick you up and shuttle you over to basswood lake… It's really a very awesome and convenient shuttle… A flatbed truck backs into the water, you drive the boat right onto the flatbed and turn the motor off… You never even have to get out of the boat… It drives you 10 minutes shuttle and drops you off in the next lake..basswood lake is split in half, just stay on the US side… Brings size 4/5 Mepps buck tail spinners… You will have a ball all day long on Pike! The first two days I was there we did a charter and A guide took us out for walleye… I could really care less about the walleye out there they are a pretty golden color but they're not that good... erie fish are much better. Once the flatbed tryck drops you off at the ramp in basswood lake… Immediately on the right hand side there's a large waterfall inlet… Fish that with nightcrawlers and leaches s… It's loaded, absolutely loaded with nice smallmouth right there... just 50 feet from the ramp! The lodge that we stayed at might be the one that you were staying at… It is called la tourels ...The people that run that place are super… You just tell them what you need in the morning...boat ,bait gas ...and he will have it ready at the Dockside when you get there in the morning.

The Best luck we had for walleye was nightcrawlers and leaches on a jighead… Spinners and tubes and flukes for Bass/Pike... there's a certain rig they use up there for the walleyes… It's exactly like a spinner rig that we use on Erie… But it has a gold blade or a silver blade...Pick a couple up at the lodge… They work… But liters in nightcrawlers on a jig head bounced on the bottom were very effective

If I ever make it up there again I would exclusively target smallmouth and Pike… The pike were an absolute riot and they just never stopped biting… On basswood lake we would leave the ramp and head left and stayed along the shoreline and in the great big bays and weed beds


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)




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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

If I had to rate Moose Lake… I would say it's a 5/10 … It's OK to fish… But it gets hammered by absolutely every tourist staying there… We finally figured out to take the boat over to basswood lake every day...I think the shuttle will cost you five or $10… But it was worth it every time


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

berkshirepresident said:


> Don't laugh....but I just started looking at driving through Mackinac on the way back to CLE. Total time difference appears to be less than an hour and I've never been up that way.
> If I time it right, I may try to grab a charter there.
> Getting pretty stoked about this trip...............


Do it! It’s beautiful up there. Might be longer drive, but no traffic and great scenery.


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

This place is amazing!!


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

I know what it smells like to stand in that spot. Something every true outdoorsman needs to experience. 
Kinda like knowing what it smells like to stand in the Sistine Chapel.


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)




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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

The Smallmouth was 19.5 inches but weighed over six pounds. It had massive shoulders and was really fat. Let it go.
To get into the BWCA, you'll see several boats rigged this like....with wheels.
The wheels can be fully removed....but are deployed DOWN for portaging, where 25 HP outboards are still allowed. They roll.....but are not light....and most portages are up and over hills of various sizes.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

berkshirepresident said:


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Tony - What is TIT boxing and where do you go to see it? Inquiring minds need to know...


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

Snakecharmer said:


> Tony - What is TIT boxing and where do you go to see it? Inquiring minds need to know...


Haha....I was wondering if anyone would notice that.
TITLE BOXING is a gym in Westlake. If you inadvertently hang a stringer of walleye in front of a sweatshirt, you get the new, highly sought after sport of TIT BOXING.
It's the only sport where nobody loses.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

berkshirepresident said:


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That’s a neat rig. Back in another life, I made those portages carrying a canoe &, sometimes, TWO packs. 
Congratulations, you are living the life! 😉


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Just catching a 6+ smallie made the trip worthwhile! ( IMO)


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

cincinnati said:


> That’s a neat rig. Back in another life, I made those portages carrying a canoe &, sometimes, TWO packs.
> Congratulations, you are living the life! 😉


I don't know how our Guide did just that. He had a front pack and a back pack...each of which had to weigh at least 50 pounds.. Then, he carried the 50+ pound Kevlar canoe on his shoulders....all at the same time.
But if that wasn't enough....the portage from Moose Lake to Wind Lake is 170 rods. In our terms, that's about 2800 feet...or a little over half a mile....each way.
There was at least (seemingly) 200 feet in elevation gain and then the corresponding descent....all over a very sketchy portage trail.
Dan, our guide, did all of the above while wearing a pair of Crocs.
The Wife and I did our best to carry as much as we could to help him out, although he refused such actions at first. That picture of her holding the paddles and leach bucket is what she carried on the portage.
The portage on our second guided trip was different - throw everything in that boat with wheels and then carry it up front by the handles.....up hill and then down hill. I grabbed one of the front handles and the Wife pushed from behind. Different...but still hard as Hell.


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## berkshirepresident (Jul 24, 2013)

Snakecharmer said:


> Just catching a 6+ smallie made the trip worthwhile! ( IMO)


Can't argue with that logic at all.
When I go back next time, I'll probably concentrate exclusively on Smallies. Their fight was great and they get very big, fat, and healthy up that way.
It was fun to catch a bunch of small to barely medium sized pike.....but the Smallmouth Action was the best fishing of the trip, IMHO.
Back home now....and it feels great. But I can't help but want to go back.


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