I would like to hear where folks have based camped. What did you like or not like. Was it crowded or roomy? Would you go back?

my favorite place to base camp has been on Lac la Croix. i like the site directly across form warrior hill. depending on when you go, this can be a crowded area, but there are plenty of daytrips possible from there. you have warrior hill, the pictographs towards the NW, curtain falls, and rebecca falls (i think thats the name?). its not too hard to get to either.

LLC and that campsite is great, Iron Lake is wonderful also. Same neighborhood.

1. Fourtown: Lots of people traveling through but you can find a site off the travel routes. Fishing was pretty good.

2. Brule: Fair number of people. Fishing was pretty good for smallmouth. Lots of wind.

3. The number lakes: Lots of people. We had the site in the narrows between Lke 2 and Lake 3. Great site

4. Saganaga: This lake is huge. We had the site by the Swamp lake portage so we saw all the people going through. I was amazed at the number of people that missed that portage.

I like to base camp because you can explore the areas more thoroughly than just passing through.

tony

BWCA: Alpine/Red Rock or "Ogish"

Quetico: Saganagons

I agree with Tony, when you base camp, you actually see more. I do do both, but am getting to like base camp more and more every year.

No way!

One of my favorite basecamps was on Gabimichigami. We usually go towards the end of May and have never seen a large number of people. We've day-tripped over to Howard, up to the Agamok Gorge, went and explored Little Saganaga, and oh yeah the fishing's pretty darn good that time of year too. The campsite on the eastern peninsula is one of my favorites.

I do 1 trip a year base camping on Brule. I haven't run out of day trips in 6 years. Good fishing and lots of good campsites. I enjoy spending more time fishing, cooking and relaxing.

We have base-camped on Lake Four; thought it would be busy, buy every just passed by, great day-trips, both paddling and hiking.

On Parent Lake; off Hog Creek and Parent River, this is a densely populated moose habitat, good day trips for three days, then mive down to Lake isabella for several days;

On Brule the choices are endless, but wind makes it a bit of a challenge. My best friend was wind-bound there for three days in a row in the middle of a vacation. Thats rare, but no unheard of...

The older we get, the more base-camping appeals, but we still like to travel more about every other trip.

On my last trip we base-camped on Gabbro Lake, then took our time fishing Gabbro and the surrounding lakes (Bald Eagle, Turtle, Little Gabbro, S. Kaw. River, etc). We decided we would rather get out and spend our time chasing walleyes, bass, pike, than worry about packing up camp and moving on. It all depends on your priorities, but to be able to relax and spend a lot of time on the water, base camping worked well for us.

Matt

Winemaker? its pErent lake and river. :) ya got hog creek right though.

North Bay is good for base camping, but you can get wind bound on it.

I basecamped on Ogishkemuncie for a week in 2000. It's very easy to get to in one day from Seagull especially with the tow across the lake from Seagull outfitters.

Lots of daytrip options and the fishing was real good.

Knife lake

I agree with TomT...

We do the same thing...go thru Red Rock, Alpine, Jasper, a little puddle called Kingfisher, and into Ogishkemuncie.

We go the last week of August when the crowds are way down and the fishing can still be awesome!

We try to get one of the sites on the west side of the lake.

I am a Crooked lake basecamper/mover once or twice within the lake. Day trips for mostly fishing and exploring, have to watch the wind, just like on any big open water lake, never had any real problem gettin back to camp, some days just takes a little longer then others! Love going in and out the basswood river, very scenic. Once into the lake, not much traffic, mostly just groups passing thru. Been there 12-15 times.

I base camp every time I go into the BWCA. Usually go in June for fishing. Based twice on Gun Lake. Once you get away from Fourtown the traffic isn't too bad. From Gun you can fish Moosecamp, Fairy, Gull, and day trip over to Beartrap. As far as traffic, we saw an average of 1-2 other parties per day on Gun. Takes about 5 hours to get to it via Mudro ep 23.

Look at the bottm end of lake three. Lot's of campsites and many options for day trips. You will be sharing this area with others but you can day trip.

We pretty much base camp every time we go in. Lately it has been on Gabbro Lake. People that want to go slow can do that and people that want to go fast can do that. Setting up once is great and we can bring more cooking gear.

I think it's a lot easier to bring new people into the experience this way. It works great for us.

I agree with patman, when I bring a new group in I always base camp, I don't want to burn them out.
As for myself I like base camping but after two or three days I start getting antsy and I have to move. When base camping it give us a better chance to find the honey holes, But when traveling we always see more wildlife.

Like most of you I also enjoy more than one night in a nice campsite. I also like to travel. I have tried to get more comfortable with not having a plan and just see what feels nice at the time. Sometimes if the weather is bad you want to curl up with a book, sometimes you just want to go somewhere else. Sometimes you get a bad campsite and some you wish you could spend the whole summer there!

I like not being too firm on a take-out day too. Makes my wife nervous but I try to give her a two or three day window and come out when we feel like it.

I have become a big fan of base camping. I go to the BW for 2 reasons: relaxing and fishing (primarily fishing). I prefer to base camp. I think the fishing is better because you start to learn a lake. The base camp also allows you to bring luxuries like portable depth finders.

With all that said, here are two great base camping lakes:

- Disappointment Lake (EP27). A nice lake with good fishing. Just requires one portage to get in from Snowbank. A good day trip is up to the falls between Cattyman and Gibson.

- Horse Lake (Ep23). A very nice like with great fishing. It takes about 5 hours of portaging and paddling to get in. You need to do either 3 or 5 portages depeonding on which path you take. Both paths have at least one pretty tough portage. There is a great day trip up the Horse River to Lower Basswood Falls, Wheelbarrow falls and the indian pictographs.

What other base camps have folks used?

Based on my criteria of good fishing and at least 1 interesting daytrip, what do folks recommend?

I have base camped on Lake Insula twice, now it has become a favorite of mine.

I spent about 5 nights with my Dad on Ogishkemuncie in 2000. It took about 5-6 hours to get there from Seagull Lake. Did day trips and had good fishing. We used the real nice site nearest to Spice Lake.

We are coming up Aug 23 (EP 29) and we are thinking of base camping on Clear Lake.
Does anyone have any experience with that lake?

i agree with madangler.

insula is a great place to base camp because there is a ton of lake to fish. and if you camp on the north side of the lake, you easily can make day trips to alice, kiana, and fishdance (for pictographs).

insula. good fishing in the lake, good fishing in fishdance, plus the picture rocks. i'd go back and do it again.

Do you have to go through the numbered lakes to get to Insula? Based on other comments, I've been trying to avoid the numbered lakes...

You don't have to, but I would say that would be the fastest route to get there.

Do my eyes see right?
This message was started by an author with a handle of "smokingmeat"?

Is that title a bit, conceited?

The audacity...

Prevert. He could just be big into BBQ. I have a nice smoker at home and that is the first thing I thought of. I use it to make ribs, brisket, pulled pork, jerky, etc.

What else could it refer to?

smokingmeat is a female type.

Hi all,

Would you say that Insala is pretty secluded? Going to the BWCA in July and want to basecamp (6-8 guys) but looking for some solitude. Sounds like the fishing is good from the posts I've seen but trying to avoid traffic.

thanks!

Insula is on a main route so lots of canoes going through. There's 43 (?) sites on the lake so I'm sure you can find one secluded in a bay where you won't see the traffic.

It's a large lake so it won't seem so congested. I was on Malberg last august and it was like a highway with canoes everywhere in the main channel. If you want solitude you need to find a lake off the beaten path. A long portage will usually do it. Greenstone comes to mind off the Kawishiwi river.

I like to basecamp also fourtown lake is a good one great fishing. lots of people but with all the islands you kind of feel alone. basswood is another but I just leave the canoe behind and use a boat if ya go there.