Advice for our first VNP trip

  • pool2fool
    Inactive
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 1709
    #1676076

    Hey friends. I am planning on taking my 10-year-old son camping in VNP for a week this summer. It will be my first time in the park, and it will be my son’s very first national parks experience. We figured we’d start with Kabetogama. If it goes well I’m considering a fall trip to Namakagon. I’m looking for some advice in terms of general preparedness, etc — but also would welcome specifics on camping spots, fishing trends, etc. Thanks in advance to those who are more experienced and willing to share their ideas. Specific questions below:

    1.) Timing — is there a “best” time to go? Weather will be weather. We want to be there when the walleye bite is on.

    2.) Camp sites — we’re hoping to camp on an island. We’re in a fiberglass tri-hull so we want someplace with a nice sheltered sandy shore where we can beach the boat at night, preferably visible from the fire ring/tent pad. An island with shore fishing opportunities would be a bonus.

    3.) Gear — any camping/fishing gear that I might not be thinking of that will come in extra handy in VNP?

    4.) Safety — how common is it to encounter black bear on the islands? Do people just bring spray, or are you packing a 12-gauge to be safe? I’d personally hate to have to pull that trigger, but I’d hate even less to explain to my wife that my kid was eaten by a bear while I emptied a can of pepper spray on it.

    5.) Fishing — we love to fish, but we’re not great at it and our boat is not a great setup for fishing. Our go-to methods are long-line trolling crank baits or dropping anchor and fishing live bait under slip bobbers. Are there general areas of Kab that are going to be best suited to amateurs these methods? Are there other methods or presentations that I should work on developing — or fishing gear that I should get comfortable with — before we head up?

    6.) Best spots on the lake to buy bait/fuel/firewood?

    Thanks so much!

    patk
    Nisswa, MN
    Posts: 1997
    #1676099

    1.) Timing — is there a “best” time to go? Weather will be weather. We want to be there when the walleye bite is on.

    Timing is subjective on “best”. I like the mid’ish June right before the walleye transition off of <14 fow out to deeper main lake structure. Cons are often super big clouds of mosquitos and possible multi-day soaking rains.

    I’ll leave the other questions to better people. I’m a north arm Rainy guy and not so knowledgeable about VNP.

    pool2fool
    Inactive
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 1709
    #1676105

    <div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>pool2fool wrote:</div>
    1.) Timing — is there a “best” time to go? Weather will be weather. We want to be there when the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye bite is on.

    Timing is subjective on “best”. I like the mid’ish June right before the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye transition off of <14 fow out to deeper main lake structure. Cons are often super big clouds of mosquitos and possible multi-day soaking rains.

    I’ll leave the other questions to better people. I’m a north arm Rainy guy and not so knowledgeable about VNP.

    Thank you for the thoughts! Mid-late June is definitely one of my open windows. I think I’m as prepared as I can be for the skeeters — we’ve had great luck with our Thermacell.

    I spent some time on the VNP website today. They have pictures of every site now, as well as basic descriptions (dock vs sand vs rock vs pebble shore, etc.) I’m looking at sites on smaller islands in the NW part of the lake — Duck Island, Maple Point, Grassy Island.

    Timmy
    Posts: 1235
    #1676107

    I like mid-June as well.

    Find a point/reef and anchor on the edge in 14-16′ with slip bobbers at that time of yr and you should be into fish in the mornings and evenings.

    Bears – keep a clean camp and remember that guns are forbidden in the park. A carry license lets you have a sidearm(I believe), and personally, people I know carry a pistol when they camp. Legal or not, some prefer to be judged by 12 vs being carried by 6. Probably never need it, but if you do, it’d be nice to have.

    It’s a great area and you will have a great time there.

    T

    Phil Bauerly
    Walker, MN - Leech Lake
    Posts: 866
    #1676110

    Camping on Kab is great. Go slow until you learn where the shallow reefs are. A GPS mapping chip is a really good idea. In my experience, fishing is probably toughest mid July- mid August.

    Black bears don’t want anything to do with you, maybe just your food. Use the bear vaults and keep a clean camp as stated.

    pool2fool
    Inactive
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 1709
    #1676143

    I like mid-June as well.

    Find a point/reef and anchor on the edge in 14-16′ with slip bobbers at that time of yr and you should be into fish in the mornings and evenings.

    Bears – keep a clean camp and remember that guns are forbidden in the park. A carry license lets you have a sidearm(I believe), and personally, people I know carry a pistol when they camp. Legal or not, some prefer to be judged by 12 vs being carried by 6. Probably never need it, but if you do, it’d be nice to have.

    It’s a great area and you will have a great time there.

    T

    Thank you! Mid-June is sounding promising. Of course you’re right about shotguns & rifles not being allowed in “public” in MN, which includes the park. I don’t own a handgun and I don’t think I’ll buy one just for the trip. Having a shotgun would be nice piece of mind, but I’m not overly concerned.

    Camping on Kab is great. Go slow until you learn where the shallow reefs are. A GPS mapping chip is a really good idea. In my experience, fishing is probably toughest mid July- mid August.

    Black bears don’t want anything to do with you, maybe just your food. Use the bear vaults and keep a clean camp as stated.

    Thanks for the input. Imagine the fish get deeper and more spread out as the water warms into August?

    I’ll be looking into GPS options. Looking at Navionics webapp right now and seeing just how many reefs there are!

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