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Quetico Questions?

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My dog Jake and I are planning a 6 - 10 day trip ( or so) in the Quetico. We have never explored her before. We prefer smaller more intimate waters as we do travel solo and try to avoid larger lakes in early spring as we have been wind bound before - can be a bummer.

My idea is to cross the border at Ft.Francis, get on hwy 11 and eventually enter #32, Beaverhouse. My plan is to travel southeast into Quetico lake, then south to Fair, Your, Boulder, Jean Creek and, weather permitting, explore Jean, then head back the way we came. However, this is a preliminary plan, noting etched in stone. We are looking for walleye as well as wilderness.

My questions (as I have never been in this area before);

~ Is this a plausible plan - good walleye water?
~ Outside of a longish portage out of Quetico are there any concerns I should be aware of?
I believe Perch Lake Resort (Marr's) on Calm Lake does allow dogs for overnights and is not terribly far from the Beaverhouse put-in.

If anyone has ideas relative to routes that include good walleye fishing I would appreciate it. I think Jean Lake is a pretty sought after area - will I be competing with others for campsites? Looking to be in country the end of the first and second week of June (around the 8th - 18th).

Any help would be appreciated.

Bob.
 
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Its been several years since we did Pickerel Sturgeon Jean Quetico Cirrus and out but we did have trouble on Quetico .It was packed. Quetico Lake has easy access. We had to spend about two hours campsite hunting

However if you avoid weekends and with your trip in June before camp starts and before school is mainly out you should be fine. Jean is a pretty lake.

Because you don't have to state where you will be on any given night feel free to adapt as the weather diciates. I love Queticos bigger islanded and well armed lakes.

Dont forget to hunt for the pictos on Quetico Lake.

I dont fish. I do eat walleye!
 
Quetico is great, fish are stupid and plentiful ....

Campsites are not marked on maps or trees ... do some internet research to locate the sites on your route, I didn't and searching for sites blind is a pita. There are a group of folks that have charted the campsites ... pretty easy to look up.


Brian
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses. Yellowcanoe, I appreciate the info about Quetico lake possibly being crowded. I am ok with seeing other trippers, but I would prefer to avoid "crowds". As I plan my route, I think some lakes Like Quetico may be a travel lake only. I have heard there is a huge beaver dam on Boulder and that has made portaging from there a flooded mess ... not a deal breaker by any means, but I will give it some consideration.

Paddle Planner is a valuable asset as well, Does anyone have any fishing intell they can share with me, specifically walleye?

Lastly, are vehicles parked at the BH put-in safe being parked for 10 days -ish or should I look into getting a shuttle?

Bob.
 
Bob, you should plan to attend the Quiet Journey Dinner meals at the Country Inn in Menona on Fri. an Sat. during Canoecopia this March. You can gather from those present info they would never post on-line. A camp site they would post, that Walleye hot spot, not so much.
 
Thanks Marten,

I was thinking of doing that, there are a couple guys Like Tom T I would to talk with in person. Good idea, thanks buddy.

Bob.
 
Quetico Lake can be busy or you may see nobody. Walleye fishing can be good in Jean Lake, we got skunked in September. Fishing was relatively terrible for everything until the last couple days. Weird weather freaked out the fish. I've only accessed jean from Conk or Burntside Lake a couple of different ways. I would try to make your way down Quetico Lake to Conk and make a loop out of it, maybe through Bentpine and on north. On second thought, I didn't really care much for that route. The lakes seem shallow and the shorelines swampy along that west side.

Mark
 
Well after talking with Jordan in the Quetico Park Office and his suggestions, I have decided to change my plans ... I will put in at Nym heading south through Batch, and ultimately toward Jesse. From there I think I can base camp and explore the area, even get to Jean from the East. I think the crowds will be minimal and most of the lakes smaller, walleye fishing should still be good. Hopefully I will have a trip report by end of June.

Bob.
 
Batchewaung is a big lake and can be a bit ornery depending on the wind direction. Get an early start. I've had my car parked at the Nym put-in multiple weeks on a number of occasions with no problems.
 
Ya know, I hate to be a wet blanket, but it would not be that much farther to reach WCPP and that would give you all the solitude and killer fishing you are likely to want. Just an idea.
 
I absolutely agree with you. However, I have 2 reasons I cannot go there right now. First the extra 5 plus hours each way eat into my timber time by a good day and I am on a pretty tight schedule this year. That said, the real reason is 2 of my favorite places in the world burned up in WCPP and I am not sure I could go to the park without losing it, it will never look the same in my lifetime. I can get choked up just thinking about it. The Boreal Forest and the fishing are beyond proper description in my opinion.

Bob.
 
I can relate to Bob B.'s reluctance. I am packing for a Florida trip .Mostly day tripping with canoe and camping in small travel trailer. I have to remind myself hurricanes are part of Natures plan but still I am going to choke up in the Everglades. Not everyones cuppa trip ,but the imagined snake and gator concerns aside from those who have not tripped there, I am at once afraid of what I will find yet will be amazed at the changes and the adaptations the Everglades have endured since Irma. I guess I am just curious and want to see the damage and sit on a key and think.. We will be out for more than a week.
 
I hear you both on the emotional damage that fires/storms cause to our favourite places. My spot on the Wanipigow roasted to a crisp 8 years ago and only two years ago was I able to go there to see the damage up close. It hurts. I should head back there in the spring to clear out the route again. It's a nice easy trip.

My new fave place kicked my arse last fall....we're going to have to have a talk.

Christy
 
Have to remember that fire and storm events are part of nature. But yeah, empty words for so much devastation. I've never seen those things with my own eyes, so what do I know. But what brings tears to mine are human caused. Brand new golf courses, cottage country suburbia. A Starbucks and trendy clothing shop on every new encroaching road. Nature can recover from hurricanes and fire, not so much from parking lots and green turf. Okay, sorry, my hissy fit rant over.
I get that the first few years post storm/fire event are ugly to look at. Who wants to pitch a tent on jetsam and cinder? But seeing the left bank of the Kap near the bridge take-out gave me hope. A few years after fire it was looking green and colonizing with young stands of trees again. Far less pretty than the climax communities further upstream I know.
 
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Bob, I have taken that path a couple of years ago with my son and two friends in late July. Aside from Quetico, which was very busy, we ran into no one from Jean to Beaverhouse and could have eaten fish every day had we wanted to. Some nice campsites, too. See you at Canoecopia. I am working it very limited this time so I can enjoy the show. I got up to Killarney PP last summer with my wife (if you can believe it) and have pictures to prove if you don't. It is a beautiful but busy park. I'm looking at Lady Evelyn Smoothwater PP for a near future trip. Skip and I plan to return to White Otter/Turtle River PP this year entering from a few miles north of Atikokan, ON..
 
Hey Bob! Great to hear from you buddy!! Going to Kilarney with your wife ... I could never get Cathy to do that, how awesome man! You and Skip going on a trip, I wish I had the time top tag along, I miss tripping with you guys. Thanks for the post. I look forward to picking your brain about fishing Jean and Jesse over a beer at the Copia show - lets keep in touch. I am glad you will not be working so much, more time to visit eh! Jake and I are really looking forward to this trip - it will be his first trip to Canada.

Bob.
 
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