BWCA in Spring--Lac La Croix to Basswood--World-Class Fishing and Scenery!
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- Опубліковано 21 січ 2025
- This video documents a journey from Crane Lake to Prairie Portage, with passage through La Croix, Bottle, Iron, Crooked, Basswood River and onto the mighty Basswood Lake. Timing was perfect as it occurred during the first major warm spell, with the male bass in the shallows protecting the spawning beds. It doesn't get any better than this from a bass fishing perspective! But if the great fishing wasn't enough, I met some unforgettable characters, hunkered down in extreme storms, and crabbed through treacherous wind and waves all while taking in the visual delight of the gorgeous Northwoods scenery.
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I'll be a week behind you, starting in Snow Bay again but hitting the smaller lakes between La Croix and Iron. Gong to enter Iron from the south this time and then work across Crooked to Basswood and Prairie Portage. Good luck!
Awesome video!
Hitting LaCroix and smaller lakes late may,
This has me pumped!
I found you.
Quetico is barbless. I dont know about bwca.
Either way I recommend grinding barbs off all crankbaits. 20 years ago a buddy needed to push a hook all the way through is thumb to cut the barb off.
You should be up at 5am for the topwater bass. Fish the shade as much as possible.
Also eat dinner at 430pm and fish until dark.
I was in Sag from May 26- June 4th. The first night was 25F. Five days later it was 94F.
It triggered the bass to move shallow to spawn. 63F is the majic temp. We had three great days of bass fishing then headed home due to the heat. Sounds like you were there about the same time
BWCA is not barbless, but I've been crimping them for about 20 years now since I had a small northern jump out of the water and implant a hook into my right tricep. I was solo, and could just barely see the entry on the backside of my arm by holding the line in my teeth and pulling towards my face. For one hour I had to push the hook through the skin, which hurt like heck, but once the barb was exposed I was able to snip it off. Once done, there wasn't even a drop of blood. I was so lucky to be able to see it and also lucky that the northern got off right when he planted the hook instead of thrashing.
As for the weather, you are spot on. I guess it was cold the prior week, and I remember the first night was cool and comfortable, but once the temperature rose, it never abated, even at night. I mentioned to my wife when I got home that I couldn't recall a single dream, the entire trip, because it was so uncomfortably hot that I had difficulty sleeping. I don't ever remember such a long heat spell, which evidently caused some fire issues later in the summer.
I'm glad you got to experience some of that great action!
awesome video buddy
I see you from Chicago where the closet one could go on such an adventure? Like I'm just starting off want to go slow
Jes: If you want to enjoy a nice day trip, I suggest the Kishwaukee River in DeKalb County. It's about a 75 minute drive from the city on I90. I actually live on the river and could help out with logistics or routing. As for a really nice introduction to canoe camping, look up the Namakegan River / St. Croix National Scenic Waterway in central Wisconsin. It's basically a national park that protects the entire river along with a decent amount of land on each shoreline. There are campsites situated all along the downstream route, and it's only about a 6-7 hour drive to the Hayward area, which would be a good place to start, on the Namakegan. Look up the visitor center located there. There are outfitters available all along the route which extends over 100 miles.
@@markpotaczek wow cool thank you for me the hardest part so far has been getting starting like where I can legally go and all the logistics. That sounds like great idea I'd appreciate it for sure!
So glad to have you back with a new video! Always informative. Always with a warm, positive perspective. I've learned a lot from you.
Jason, so good to hear and know! Thanks for watching and commenting and hope you get up there soon. I'm heading back later this month--can't wait.
Nice to see you had a Spring Trip. We were there during that heat wave too. Those birds definitely worked as an early morning wake up call. Thanks for sharing.
Once I had manhattans with ice at the campsite by 49.27, good memories!
Really nice campsite with some good fishing not to far away.
That old native campsite on friday bay is one of my favorite on crooked, with really good fishing nearby.
Great video as always.
Dennis, manhattans over ice at that remote campsite! That is hilarious and makes me think I'm not doing things quite right. And interesting to hear the "native" part of your recollection of the big island campsite on Crooked. Love these stories and factoids--keep them coming as it's obvious you should have your own Chanel going.
@@markpotaczek we entered from mudro and it took us like 8 hours to crooked!
Yeah they found artifacts and such at that island site. I’m sure they loved that site the same way we do.
Magical knowing people from a long time ago looked at the same stars sitting by their fire.
I would love to but I live abroad 🥲
Gonna try go for a trip next summer to crooked.
Enjoyed this video Mark. Thank you. Looking for Dave’s Chronicles. Do you have a link?
Mike, thank YOU. I reached out to Dave to see if he can reply directly to you here. I'm not aware of any link other than the one I listed in the video, which is: Quetico/BWCAWTripChronicles@utk.edu. I tried to access it with that and it didn't work so once Dave gets back I'll provide a link that works, or perhaps he will replay directly.
Great video Mark! We missed you by a week this year. Hope all is well.
I was originally going in May but had to push back a couple weeks due to a work conflict. I got lucky with the weather. Glad you guys got back to your Iron Lake compound. Nobody knows that lake like you guys do. . .
Able to watch on phone but roku keeps jamming up on this video
Terry, that's a bummer because as you know, the scenery is gorgeous and the bigger the screen, the better. I like your thumbnail pictograph--is that from Quetico? It looks familiar. . . Thanks for watching.
What app do you use for the map and route portion of your videos? Great video once again
Paddle Planner is the name of the website. You will love it as they have the maps with campsites and portages marked as well as chat rooms on various topics, info about outfitters, etc. It's a great resource. Thanks for watching and hope you have a great season up there come spring!
I don't know why more people in the BWCA don't use telescoping rods.They are so much easier to live with!
I agree. Having said that, I just keep the rods bungeed into rod tubes mounted in the canoe, so they are protected during portages. That way I can get away with one-piece graphite rods, which are the most sensitive. If I were renting a canoe I would definitely use a telescoping rod as they are so easy to carry.
Mark, yet another brilliant adventure. Wow those bass! I saw some walleye too, were they on the dinner menu? It would be impossible for me to pick a favorite video of yours, but this one is pretty darn close to the top. Thank you again.
Mike, you really know how to inspire a kindred spirit. . . I did have a walleye dinner on the Basswood River (Walleye Garlic Gumbo) but the bass fishing was so good that I never fished for walleye other than on the troll while traveling with the exception of that evening on the Basswood River, just before the big storm. There is a nice walleye hole just off that campsite. Thanks for watching and especially for your kind words.
Mark, really enjoying your videos. I have a question about how you handle battery management for your GoPro camera or cameras. How many batteries do you take with you; do you bring in any power banks or solar chargers? Looking forward to your next video.
OD G: I normally bring about six batteries per camera, along with a net zero power bank which has a solar panel and charging crank on it. I also bring a net zero tri-fold solar panel. The solar power bank will normally allow me to recharge the cell phone (a good camera) and the tri-fold solar panel can help to charge individual batteries (AA). I've not found an effective way to recharge the GO PRO batteries, but since they only cost around $20, it's not a big deal to have a quantity of them. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Do you add the constant bird singing in post? If so, may I suggest you stop for future videos... I love the content but that sound gets old.
I appreciate your candid feedback. Thanks for watching!