Ely guide and lake advice needed

I think we will be going up near Ely early in August. Would like to get a mix of bass and walleyes or maybe bass and pike-Birch or Burtside might be goodany ideas?We may even want to get a guide. Thanks

White iron. I love that lake and it connects to the river and another lake or 2. I’m pretty sure you can only have a 25 horse and smaller motor. But we do so good up there everytime. Always a good mix of walleye and pike and bass plus we targeted crappie a few weeks back and did ok there as well

Wow great tip Bear-is it good in the ‘dog days of August?’

The kawishiwi river flows through both white iron and birch. Great smallmouth through out that river system. August should be no different.

If your planning on camping, there is a nice U.S. forest service camp ground on birch lake right off highway 1. There is a dam on highway 1 near the camp ground worth hitting for walleye and bass off the shore, above and below it. You can trailer your boat to nearby lakes if you wanted too.

I spent a year up there at school. The only thing to do was fish. WHite Iron is a great lake.However, you can have any size boat you want on the lake. The BWCA line is in fall lake. Garden is great when its on. Shagawa is in town and can be really good for smallies. Fall has some good perch in it to if you can find them.
Still, nothing beats the 25 minute drive to Vermillion!

I would assume August on that lake to be like any where. Might take a few tricks to locate. But once we do we have always pounded them. If you pm me your number I can text you a few target areas to shoot for. A friend of mine pulled a fat 37 inch pike out of white iron last week. Bobber fishing with sucker minnows

You guys are great, I will ask for details when we decide-sounds coolup there though.

Check out Steve Foss Guide Service if you’re looking for a guide in the area.

Jim orcutt is a pretty good guide up there as well. Shagawa gets my vote, went to school up there and fished shagawa alot, plenty of big smallies in there.

Charlie Lundquist wrote:

I spent a year up there at school. The only thing to do was fish. WHite Iron is a great lake.However, you can have any size boat you want on the lake. The BWCA line is in fall lake. Garden is great when its on. Shagawa is in town and can be really good for smallies. Fall has some good perch in it to if you can find them.
Still, nothing beats the 25 minute drive to Vermillion!

Do you mean Vermillion or Basswood? Driving by car, I suppose Vermillion…but by boat and portage from Fall Lake would get you into Basswood?

Intrigued that you mentioned Fall Lake. Back in the early 1970’s our family vacationed and fished Fall Lake at this resort.

Long gone now…and no more places using the name “Squaw”

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Couple of things: The DNR website does list at least one lake one the White Iron system that is restricted to 25hp.
Also-always thought Fall lake looked kind of cool anyone have experience with Fall? (andy know you do, what do you know?) Thanks

We’ll be staying on Burntside over Labor Day weekend. I was going to ask the same question at some point since I’ve never fished anywhere around there. I had been thinking we’d probably drive to Vermilion but am interested in all these recommendations.

Vermmillion is great when you can find them but honestly the luck I’ve had in the chain of white iron and kiwishiwi I’d target that

tim hurley wrote:

Couple of things: The DNR website does list at least one lake one the White Iron system that is restricted to 25hp.
Also-always thought Fall lake looked kind of cool anyone have experience with Fall? (andy know you do, what do you know?) Thanks

The last time I fished Fall lake was 1974…when I was a young teen. Back then walleye spot was below the dam, but scattered around as well as occasional smallmouth. Long time ago, but remember it was a beautiful lake.

Maybe go with Bearcat89 advice. Sounds like he would have far more current information on the best fishing. I would suspect that all the lakes in that area would be equally beautiful.

Fall lake is a good lake for eater walleye. There is a hydro electric damn on the south shore. Moving water=walleye. Kind of a community spot, but worth hitting. Fall, garden, farm, and white iron are all good lakes.

Reef-I have not fished BS either, the numbers of walleyes are not nearly as good as Vermilion, lake is full of smelt that eat walleye eggs and fry if walleyes can get to a certain size the tables turn and walter snacks on smelt-so #s are poor size is good. Supposed to be a good lake for SMB and big pike. Bet it has lots of dead water, thats why the guide thing is attractive to me supposed to have way less traffic than Vermilion too.

Tim, you might want to have a look at Big Lake, a few miles up the trail from burnt side. Good walleye and bass lake. Pretty sure Jim Orcutt also guides on Big. I once asked him if he guides on burntside, at the time he said no, but did in Big. That would be a whole lot closer than the others mentioned so far, if that matters.

Thanks Kevin

Booked a half day with Steve Foss will hit Burntside; might have some time for white Iron too-Thanks