Yeah one of the guys wore a sports coat all week. No clue why. He�s a strange cat. Iraq did some odd things to him.

This is my 5th trip up there. I did take a garmin inreach this time Incase of an emergency. The previous 4 times i had no way to call for help. The inreach is only good for life or death situations though. They�d have to send in a rescue team on a float plane or helicopter. It would probably cost 30k to get rescued. So something like broke legs wouldn�t qualify for a rescue call. You would just have to pony up and work with your buddies to get out. It would take a full day best case. That day would really suck.

One of my very favorite trips!! I took a group of teenage boys through there several years ago in June, we also started in Gunflint Lake. Just an amazingly beautiful and peaceful place. I am going back some day for sure!!

BTW an overloaded boat usually means a flipped boat when the afternoon winds come and a flipped boat means if hypothermia up there very quickly even when it is fairly warm out...We had a couple of very cold young men a couple of times!

Trip looked awesome Josh, I am jealous for sure!!

Awesome trip; the BWCA is an exceptional destination...minus the portages. Thanks for sharing - brings back some great memories for me.

When I wa a kid we used to go to the boundary waters almost every year. Loved it but as I go older the h@#$ with those portages and paddling. Now we go to Rainy lake just west of there where it looks the same but we are in a bassboat. Smallies up there are just stupid. We always go prespawn and just got back. One day we caught 60 and the next day 70. One day last year we caught over a 100. Beautiful place and great times

Solid post and solid fish. Thanks for sharing.

Let�s see the largemouth pic! I lived up there for 5 years, caught a crappie, but never a largemouth, I only heard of a few lakes with them in it.

Caught walleye, lake trout, pike, smallmouth, rainbows, whitefish, etc...lots of water to explore up there. Even in a motorized boat. You passed over plenty of bass on your way to American point on sag...

I did not take a picture of the largemouth. It was a 15� fish, nothing special to warrant a picture. It was caught in the small bay immediately west of monument portage. I was waiting for the olds to finish their portage and caught two smallmouth and a largemouth in three casts!

Oh I forgot I also caught one on Toe lake. That largemouth was actually pretty good. A picture might exist of that one. I will have to check as it would be on my buddies phone. Pictures out of a canoe are a pain.

Nice report, that sounds like an awesome trip. I'd love to go catch some smallies until my arm falls off. Definitely a bucket list type trip for me

Ok - Very cool. There are a few lakes up in Cook Co. that have Largemouth and Muskie, but not many...@ least that I am aware of. I've always understood Basswood lake to be the spot for true trophy smallmouths in the BWCA. Lots of lakes produce the 2-4 pounders, definetely more bass than the local would prefer...cool trip, I have a lot of memories from up the Gunflint.

Did you happen to stop at Trail Center for a burger and a shake on your way out? That is by far in away the best post portage food stop in my opinion...

Yes very few of any lakes with musky. That�s always been a head scratcher for me.

We grabbed post trip burgers at Anchor Bar in Duluth. Top notch!

Sound like our trips to the devil's river 15 years ago. First trip we took coolers and all kinds of gear. Most horrible idea ever. 15 years later we take 1 float bag for 2 guys that has everything we need for 3 days. Much better experience

Sounds like an awesome trip Josh. I think I would pass on that one but I'm glad you got to have the experience.

Awesome trip report.