Noob to boat in camping at VNP

Thinking about planning a boat in camping trip in Voyagers National Park in early part of the fishing season in May or June. I have been to Kabetogama in the past, so somewhat familiar with that end of the park. Any recommended camp sights to try and get. Is the Kab side better for fishing that time of the season or the Namakan/Sand Point side better, I don’t think we are going to do Rainy? Is a site with a dock usually the preferred option for people? I have done a little looking on he rec.gov website to see what is available, is there a way to narrow down campsites so it only shows ones with docks? Any input is appreciate!

I’ve only been to Rainy, so can’t speak to fishing but here’s what I like for sites.

Dock sites are king, sand sites are OK if you don’t mind getting wet, rock sites are rock and not very pleasant to get in/out of. I’d look at the NPS site instead for searching campsites, halfway down this page is a nice interactive map, which links through to the recreation.gov page for each campsite.

We’ve been picky about where we’ve stayed based on site layout, landing type, and wind direction, some can be quite exposed to sun/wind and/or have a big hike up from the lake. Hope this helps, good luck.

I heard those campsites fill up almost immediately since the release of that website for reservations. Is that not true?

I’m not sure when they open the reservation thing up for the year or how it works because we don’t camp, we have a place up there but I use the recreation gov app sometimes to see if there’s an open site to use for shorelunch if we are at the other end of the lake. I’d suggest the app for scrolling through the sites. There was a list of all the sites with their amenities then you can click through the map and look at pictures of them. Who knows that might have changed, haven’t looked at that stuff for a while. It used to have a calendar attached to each site too that shows the taken dates with an “x” most of them look like someone shot the calendar with a 12 gauge.

Reservations for the whole May thru September opened up on Nov. 15th, so you may have a tough time getting a decent spot at this point. Tho I just looked and found 9 sites on Kab that I could reserve right now for May 16-19th.
Your gonna have to scroll thru the recreation.gov site, you can sort by lake (click on the “group” tab) but not by amenities (like a dock).
For the first time, they have a couple sites on each lake available for “last minute” reservations of only 7 days prior (I think).
Early in the year Kab tends to be better than Namakan, tho you can find plenty of fish on Nam also. I used to go every Memorial weekend, and again right when schools got out and fished east Kab/West Namakan and did well on eyes, smallies and pike in shallower water.
I’d start by picking dates and a site first and go from there. Yes, a dock is really nice to have, way easier to unload/load.

Look around the Ash River Visitor Center. You will be on the East end of Kab, West end of Namakin. Lots of protection from the wind. Straight out from the landing there is a site and I think it has a dock although I’m not sure. From there look for a site in Lost Bay. While the wind can blow straight down there the fishing can be pretty good.

Be sure you plan for black flies and mosquitos, that time of year they can be fierce.

Good Luck.

I’m not sure if they get it down there or not but the shallow water bite that time of year can be an absolute blast. If you aren’t familiar with fishing those lakes or shield lakes in general I’d highly recommend getting a guide for a day or even a morning or afternoon. The money spent will be well worth it so you can learn the techniques and where to look for them.

All personal preference. I actually prefer a nice sand beach.

Most of the really good spots are gone right away. Not that aren’t likely still decent spots available now, but most likely spots available now are for short duration or have some of flaw.

Best thing to do is to pick the best spot you can find now, and then make a list of your favorites to scout while you are up there. I think Kab is perfect for getting your feet wet with island camping.

Dutchboy wrote:

Look around the Ash River Visitor Center. You will be on the East end of Kab, West end of Namakin. Lots of protection from the wind. Straight out from the landing there is a site and I think it has a dock although I’m not sure. From there look for a site in Lost Bay. While the wind can blow straight down there the fishing can be pretty good.

Be sure you plan for black flies and mosquitos, that time of year they can be fierce.

Good Luck.

Good call on the bugs. A screen tent is a must for me that time of year for eating at a lot of campsites.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Ya seems like a lot of the dock sites are reserved already and I did notice that there are some that you can reserve until the week prior. Looks like Pine Point K45 is one of the only ones I can find that has a dock on Kab side. Worried that if its blowing out of the west it might be an issues, prob the reason its still available.

Looks like Sphunge Island East K31 is avaliable too, which is more wind protected and has a dock.

Looks like we will be going the weekend of May 31st and spilling into that next Monday or Tuesday. Any suggestions for good sites on the Kab side, doesn’t seem like we can get a dock site on that side of the park at this point for the handful of days we will be there. if we went more on the Namakan side I did find a couple with docks, Hammer Bay Point N69 or Steakhouse Point N42. Any feedback appreciated!

Personally I would not stay at Hammer bay Point or hammer bay sites. HB Point is low, buggy and weedy to get into the dock at normal depth. We stopped there one July and crossed it off the list immediately. hammer Bay is a super steep climb up to the site.
Would you consider a sunday to tuesday opening, with an nice site close to Ash River dock? Much better fishing in this area, than down in east Namakan, that time of year in my experience. PM sent