Where's the best wilderness fishing you've ever experienced?

[teddy12b]

I'm getting the itch for an adventure. I'd love to get far, far away and go some place where there's little to no people and the fishing is borderline stupid easy. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I'm thinking about anything from remote fly in trips to the Yukon, to some hidden hole in the boundary waters or whatever. I'm just looking to get outside.

 

[ghuns]

You don't need to go that far.

I've done a fly in with White River Air to their Shekak Lake camp.

Easy drive up there and a short 20 minute flight to the lake. Not the most remote, but you and whoever you bring along will be the only people there. Unless the fly in fish cops show up.

We were there at the end of September. They gave us a great deal because it was off season for fishing but they don't do any hunting at that particular lake.

We were warned it wouldn't be great fishing. I asked, what's a week of "great" fishing look like for four guys? They said probably over 400 walleyes. I asked what's not so great look like? They said we'd be lucky to catch 200 fish. I said, book it.

We ended up right around there. Most fish in the 18-24" range with a few around 30". Plus dozens of pike with a few over 45".

 

[teddy12b]

I've looked at White River Air the last couple of years. My father in law has a moose hunt on his bucket list and they seemed like a really affordable way to do it and I wanted to take my wife and kids to their cabin on its own island to go fishing. If it wasn't for their border policy due to covid I'd have already booked a trip there by now.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Not really far far away, but I've fly fished some awesome spots around Gatlinburg and West, SW Kentucky.

Some good Walleye sounds like a blast also.

 

[rooster]

Boundary waters canoe area is the answer

 

[Bigtanker]

A few decades ago, went went to Atikokan, ONT Canada and spent a week in a cabin. It's just north of International Falls.

Fishing was ridiculously easy. The cabin was shelter and about it.

Looking on line, it doesn't seem to have changed much.

Atikokan | Fishing Outposts

fishingoutposts.com

We portaged to several lakes deep in the woods and caught some monster northern. Over 40" seemed to be the norm.

 

[snapping turtle]

Boundary waters canoe area is the answer

Repeat with my vote

 

[teddy12b]

Boundary waters canoe area is the answer

That's been on my list for a long time too! Would that be something you think kids 9 - 13 years old could handle?

 

[snapping turtle]

That's been on my list for a long time too! Would that be something you think kids 9 - 13 years old could handle?

9-13 would be a minimum age and it would also depend on the 9-13 year olds. Not all can handle the bugs dirt water and extreme remoteness the true boundary waters area can be. Then again you could just paddle in a small amount and set up a base camp and canoe fish from their. It is a vast area. You can get a couple radio stations out there but that is about it. AM is your friend. Cell phone no. Me at 10-13 would have been fine a fishpole and a canoe were like hitting the lottery to me then.

We would put in (pre permit era) and the guy I went with several times wanted to canoe distance. If it was not for a days worth of rain on day four it might have killed me. I slept most of a day. After 7 days I was pretty well as good as he was. The first four were brutal it seemed every stroke his canoe traveled twice as far as mine. I upgraded canoe and equipment the following year and he seemed either to slow down or my recommitted attitude worked out well.

Now you have to permit in. And since I solo canoe mostly it has been pretty easy for me to find a spot on someone else’s permit. The permits were 7 people a group and most groups are 3 canoes of two for six with an extra seat open.

You can get a cabin and a boat in one of the main towns up their and for kids that might be the ticket. It can rain for days. It can be so buggy you wish you had a flame thrower.

 

[Michigan Slim]

The above is all truth. If you pick a camp site with a breeze it helps a lot. I went with six kids from my son's scout troop. Five were worth a darn and are now fine men. The worthless one had his momma there and he is still a mope. There is a steakhouse in Eli to treat yourself after the trip. I met a fine looking waitress from Poland. Would have been reeeaaallll tempting if I wasn't sitting with my son. She was something. And interested!
Anyways, the fishing was decent for walleye, perch, smallmouth and pike. We ate well. I would repeat that trip in a heartbeat. We went in early June and the bugs were just starting to get bad.

 

[Leadeye]

Another vote for boundary waters fishing and camping was great. After a few days out in the canoes I was standing next to the campfire after eating and looked back into the dark of the forest. I've camped in a lot of places, but I realized that here, if I walked away from the campfire, I would see nothing but trees until I dropped.

 

[Flingarrows]

Best fishing I ever has was about 3 hours north of international falls


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

That's been on my list for a long time too! Would that be something you think kids 9 - 13 years old could handle?

I did it with my grandpa the summer I turned 9. We were dropped of with a tent (that was almost impossible to put up), gear, and a canoe. They picked us up a week or ten days later. We did set up a base camp to return to every night, rather than tear down and set up somewhere new every day. It was a great time.

 

[two70]

If you want real adventure with a wide variety of fish species to target, all of which will give you a better fight than walleye and cost less than a trip to Alaska, then the answer is Padre Island. With the proper preparation and equipment you can drive 50 or more miles down the world's largest undeveloped barrier island from the north or 10+ miles from the south and camp in the dunes. While technically not far from civilization as the crow flies, it'll feel like you're on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere and you won't have to drive nearly the max distance in either direction to greatly reduce the likelihood of seeing any other people.

If you want a similar experience with a little less adventure, there are numerous small islands around Florida(and other coastal states as well) that can only be accessed by boat of ferry where you can camp and fish. If you go far enough south, you will also have the opportunity to fish for peacock bass, clown knifefish, or snakehead in freshwater or hunt iguana if that appeals to you while you're down there.

 

[EyeCarry]

Shoal Lake Ontario. BIG walleye. Use a guide. Not called Shoal Lake without a reason.
Perrault Falls lake camp. Great smallmouth fishing. All around good fishing for walleye, northern, muskie. The family that runs this camp is stellar.

 

[rem788]

Eagle Lake Ontario. Been going there since 1992. Great walleye, smallmouth, pike and muskie lake. Leaving June 3rd to take my grandson and sil up for a week. Looking forward to putting my grandson on some smallmouth.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Not exactly wilderness, but still 20-25 miles by boat to get to. We used to go here at least every other summer when I was growing up. I'd love to go back. The cabins we stayed are are no longer there, but the water was pumped straight from the lake (Namakan Lake) above the dam. We would walk down to the docks below the dam (about a quarter mile or so) and did all our fishing on Rainy Lake, where we mostly fished for walleye.

Also would take a 14' square stern canoe and portage in to Mud Lake (full of Northern Pike) and at the end of that, another portage to where a canoe was stashed (Salo Lake - nothing but smallmouth bass).

The hotel is really cool. It's an old logging hotel that was built with green lumber so the whole building is "warped". The bar room in particular is a trip. You'd sit in a booth (leaning against a wall), then walk up the hill across the floor and back down to the bar across the room. They had a bar sized pool table that required concrete blocks under one end to level it.

Kettle Falls Hotel, Remote Historic Resort, MN, US/Canadian Border

Kettle Falls Hotel, Voyageur's National Park, Minnesota - Kettle Falls is the official concession for Voyageurs National Park. The historic hotel was built between 1910 and 1913. It has a bar, restuarant, hotel, villas, boat rentals, portage service, and more.

www.kettlefallshotel.com

 

[ghuns]

The guy who runs this website, Mike Borger, can be a huge help for whatever kind of Canada fishing trip you might be interest in...

Canada Fishing Guide

 

[hooky]

Another vote for the boundary waters. This time of year through mid June Lake Trout are still shallow and can be caught trolling spoons or cranks like husky jerks or shad raps. You can cast too, but trolling lets you cover ground. Same with walleyes. June into july smallmouth and walleye. Pike are always eating. Gets a little tougher in the fall, but you can still load up on them.

9-13 year olds would love it if they like to fish and camp already. Just don't make it a death march every day. A hard days travel from your entry point and base camp might be the ticket. Tons of smaller lakes to explore and fish if you pick the right lake to base camp on.

 

[Limpy88]

The best fishing has always been places boats cant get, or ppl cant walk to. Kayaking/canoeing small rivers/creeks that have long stretchs in between put in/takout Like 14 miles or more.

Saw the biggest fish in the clearest water and no ppl for days.

The biggest bass I have ever seen were in this little bend. Me and my friend were hitting them in the head with our tackle. They weren't biting.
Called a buddy who knows the lake fed by the river. He said it was the shad spawn that week.
"Match the hatch" never hit so hard in my head.