Houseboat trip coming up fast. Help please.

As I mentioned in another thread, I have a first time houseboat trip starting on July 23. First time on Kabetogama in about 20 years, and first houseboat trip ever. I’d like to tap some of the experienced guys on here for some advice:

Houseboat:

– I’m looking for the best campsite ideas. I’d like lots of sand without sudden drops near shore and good weather protection as we have kids that want to be in the water about 22 hours per day. I was looking at some of the island spots at the west end of Namakan including:

– Blind Indian Narrows
– Wigwam Point
– Junction Bay North

Good ideas? Bad ideas? What

– Am I correct in understanding that we cannot enter Canadian waters at all?

Fishing Questions:

Is Namakan a good place to head first, or should I be trying somewhere else first?

What are your recommendations for live bait and how much is needed for 5 days of fishing?

Any other advice on fishing tactics greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys. Really looking forward to this.

Grouse

Hi Grouse. The family and I were up on Kab and Nam two weeks ago. Blind Indian narrows is a nice beach but wind from the north can be a little rough. McManus island in Junction bay is a nice beach also. It’s on the east shore just across from junction bay north. You can go into Canadian waters but don’t fish without a license and don’t have minnows in the boat with you. I like fishing on Namakan we caught a pile of smallies this year the walleye were a little more difficult for us this because of the unstable weather we had. I would think they are going pretty good by now on the reefs and humps. Leaches are a good bet and minnows of course. If you are using Voyagaire houseboats you can use the hospitality service to bring you fresh bait daily. Have a great trip can’t wait till next year for our next trip.

Ebols will be able to direct you to sand beaches.

Secure your permit asap.

I’ve never been on Namakan, but have taken a Rainy Lake HB out annually for a little while now. Here’s a few tips: Google Maps helps a ton on identifying campsites, you can’t have too much ice or bug repellants (we get a wide variety beyond just a spray), crawlers/leeches are a better bet than minnows, there is nothing worse than spending big $$$ on minnows then have them die after 2 days, and you can travel thru Canadian waters but don’t stop or fish there unless you are following ALL of their laws. As far as the fishing, reefs can be awesome, but there are almost always fish shallow also.

HYBES wrote:

Secure your permit asap.

Can you please elaborate? What permit?

Grouse

Thanks for the info guys. Really appreciate it.

Will take leaches and crawlers for sure. I was unsure about minnows, I’m with you on the difficulty of keeping them alive.

Anybody else going to be up there in this timeframe?

Grouse

Grouse,
I just got back last night from camping the last 5 days on Namakan (the east end, North Mitchell campsite) and will be up again from the 23rd to the 27th on the east end in the Wolf Packs.
A bit too busy at work today but I will post a reply tonight with beach areas on Namakan. We found eye’s from 22-30′ and both leeches and crawlers worked, with the edge going to crawlers on a two hook lindy rig.
Water levels are about normal. How far are you looking to travel on the houseboat?
I believe the permit HYBES was referring to is your overnight houseboat permit, which you will get at Ebel’s (probably already figured into your rental cost). Oh, and Ebel’s has a boat out everyday delivering/resupplying their houseboats if needed.

There is a nice beach campsite in a bay on the east side of Kubel Island, which is on the west side of Namakan. A nice spot for a night if you’re going to head up to Kettle Falls, which I recommend.

I forgot to mention that if your willing to travel a little farther east. Deep slough is probably the best beach on Namakan for kids and it’s very well protected. If it’s taken Ebels beach and beaver bay area close and very nice as well.

Got hung up in walk-in care last night but here goes.
Tho I dont do the houseboat thing, I have camped/fished Namakan for the last 19 years. Instead of Blind Indian I would go a bit further and look at Wigwam Point or the bay just north of the Torrey Fish Camp campsite (unofficial site but an awesome beach). Junction Bay also has a nice beach, with western exposure.

If you decide to head up towards Kettle Falls to visit the “Tiltin Hilton” the Mica Bay site has a decent beach. Voyaguers Narrows has a small sand landing that is protected, but the beach area is on the main channel side and gets busy with boat traffic. If you go up to Kettle Falls, houseboats are not allowed to dock at the main docks near the dam. They have separate docks on the left side of the peninsula, and a short trail that leads to the hotel/bar. You can also go to the overlook at the dam. They do have golf carts if anyone in your party needs assistance getting around, and they monitor channel 12 on the marine band.

Going east, the official McManus site is on the west side of the island, but on the east side of it is a beautiful big beach with very protected waters. Very popular. Not an official site but in 20 years I cant remember a houseboat not being there. Just east of there is Randolph bay, decent beach but faces NE so you loose the afternoon sun earlier. Once you get down to the Pike island area you have the three sites Stan mentioned, all very nice sites.

There were two sites close to our campsite last week, Mitchell Bay and Mitchell island. Both had sand landing, small beaches but pretty protected. Those sites are 15.5 miles from the Ash River Visitor Center boat landing, making it about 19.5 from Ebels docks for reference.

Surface water temps on Nam last week were between 70 to 73 on the main lake. I did go swimming (we had a shallow sand beach that was perfect tho) and saw limited tubers/skiers.

Hope this helps some. If you want to exchange cell #’s before going up message me. I have ATT and get service going east just past Fox island so will have it at our campsite. We’ll be setting up camp around 11 on the 23rd.

I’ve been on three houseboat trips up there, all through Voyagaires.
Sugarbush Island on Kabatogama is a nice site. There are many Sandy sites. We never stayed more than two nights at any spot.

What we got tired of quickly we turning a corner only to find the site we were all fired up to stay at already occupied. Our plan quickly turned to “deploying” one of the fishing boats to cover water quickly and secure a site. A run of the mill set of two way radios proved to be a smart investment.

Echoing others, don’t mess with minnows. We took a pound of leeches each time. We had large groups (family) and two houseboats each time. We always had good to very good luck just using lindy rigs for walleyes. For Smallies it was just trial and error until something worked. The hospitality boat drivers are a great source of information as they see many groups each day, we always tipped them well.

You’ll have a great time! Typing this makes me want to go again!

As far as Ontario waters, yes you can cross the border but you cannot step on land, and I would recommend not going toooo far into Ontario waters (my father in law once got twisted up and ended up on the far northern shore of Namakan, guessing he would have had a tough time explaining that if he would have been stopped).
When running up and down the main portion of Namakan, and especially up to Kettle Falls, I am frequently criss-crossing the border, but never more than a 1/4 mile over if that.

Each night a game of trivia is played with the questions coming from Voyagaires but I think all houseboats are involved. It’s a lot of fun. They bring a trophy out to the winner’s houseboat the following day.
I have a feeling you would do very well Grouse!

Terrific info guys, appreciate every last word of it.

Xplorer, I’ll send you a PM in a minute with cell phone numbers.

Thanks guys. I’m so fired up for this. I’ve wanted to do this for the longest time. My boys are going to freak out when they see the boat for the first time AND when they catch the first fish of the trip.

Thanks again guys.

Grouse