Looking at a trip where we stay at Trails End campground and motor into the Canadian side of Saganaga. Would be using a motor bigger than 25 hp so no American fishing. Looking for smallmouth.
Questions:
How much pressure is there for smallmouth on the Canadian side compared to say Voyageurs or Vermilion? Would be looking at July, during the week.
How does the fishing compare to say a Vermilion or Voyageurs?
My unscientific opinion is this…Sag would have less pressure than Vermillion. Of the Voyageurs lakes Crane, Sandpoint, Namakin & Kabetogama would have more pressure. Rainy because of it’s size will have the least pressure. Just my opinion, have fun.
We fish vermillion about 6 to 10 times a year and I target smallies most if the time. Honestly on vermillion on a regular weekend the fishing pressure isn’t bad at all. Most guys up there seem to be chasing walleye or later in the year there is musky fisherman. It leaves alot of smallmouth territory open and unpreassured. I don’t get up to voyagers often so I can’t say up there.
Sorry I just seen I didn’t read the question right.
Thanks! Just looking for something different and it seems like a neat area.
Ive been to voyaguers a couple times. Theres a lot of water in that area to get away from pressure. On rainy I dont think I ever ran into another boat fishing a reef i was fishing. Granted we were on a house boat so we were able to go way east. Vermilion is similar where theres so much structure you could get away from people fairly easy.
I’m more just thinking if I’m going to drive all the way to the end of the gunflint and then drive 5 miles into Saganaga, I would rather not compete with a bunch of other fisherman like a normal lake. I fish Voyageurs once to twice a year. Sounds like it would be no more pressure than that so I’m good.
I like trying out new lakes and new areas and like to camp. Campground camping isn’t normally my thing but it looks like a nice area that would be worth making an exception.
Consider Ely area as an option, Small boats only and little pressure compared to Vermillion. About an hour drive north of Vermillion to reach the good lakes. This will be my second year working up there. When I did target smallies last year it was truly world class. Some lakes have numbers others have size. Couldn’t even count how many 22″+ inch fish were caught, most I had in one night out of my boat was 5. Sag is great and you can spread out but it’s a haul for sure. Happy to help if you want some lake reccomndations.
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Nice. Those are some pigs. I fish the Ely area every year but not that far north. Definitely interested.
I fish Canadian side of sag every June. There is a good amount of boats honestly, because there are a bunch of cabins on the Canadian side. We are very rarely “alone” and we know the lake pretty dang well.
Also— and you may know this already— while it’s legal to use a big motor on the Canadian side, it’s only legal to possess that motor in a specific area on the US side, known as the Sag Corridor— it’s basically the straight shot up the seagull river toward the old Canadian customs station near red pine island. For that journey, you can’t use the big motor. You would have to have it tilted outta the water and use a kicker or trolling motor until you reach Canadian water, which will be slow going. You would also need a separate BWCA day-use motor permit for every day, as well as the RABC for remote border crossing if you ever plan to touch ground or anchor — and you are technically supposed to report back to US customs via an app every day when you get back to the US. I’m not trying to discourage you, but it’s a lot of hoops. We used to do it and it wore us down, so now we just stay in a cabin on the Canadian side the whole trip.
Good info. Thanks. Knew about the corridor but forgot about the kicker. How hard is it to get the day use motor permits? We would tentatively being fishing some of the lakes off the gunflint and a few days in Sag. But likely wouldn’t know until we were there and saw the weather.
Do any of the campsites have docks at Trails End? Or is there a community dock? Something where we wouldn’t have to launch the boat since we are usually on the water before light to catch the topwater bite.
Good info. Thanks. Knew about the corridor but forgot about the kicker. How hard is it to get the day use motor permits? We would tentatively being fishing some of the lakes off the gunflint and a few days in Sag. But likely wouldn’t know until we were there and saw the weather.
Do any of the campsites have docks at Trails End? Or is there a community dock? Something where we wouldn’t have to launch the boat since we are usually on the water before light to catch the topwater bite.
Permits are hit and miss. You should buy in advance, they are only $6 each and they can be used any time within a one week (Saturday-Friday) period. There are lots left still for 6/29-7/5 and 7/6-7/7/12, but 13-19 is nearly gone and 20-26 already sold out. The earliest you can actually pick up a permit is 24 hours in advance, and you can that at trails end.
I don’t believe any of the sites have docks and there is no campground dock. only some have water access, it’s not like voyageurs at all in that aspect. Again, lots of sites are already booked as well. If you don’t have an account on recreation.gov you should get on that. That’s where you reserve both sites and permits.
Thanks for the info. Big help. I know I’m a little psycho, but this would be for a 2025 trip. I always do my trip planning a year and a half in advance because I need to book Voyageurs sites November 15th and I don’t have time for proper trip planning once it gets warm.
I’m all setup for Voyageurs(onboard alternator) but this would be a little different in that Voyageurs has longer runs. Doesn’t look like a ton of room to get full throttle and get juice from the onboard alternator. Do guys normally bring a generator for batteries? Campground seems like kind of a hybrid between Voyageurs camping and state park campgrounds.
Thanks for the info. Big help. I know I’m a little psycho, but this would be for a 2025 trip. I always do my trip planning a year and a half in advance because I need to book Voyageurs sites November 15th and I don’t have time for proper trip planning once it gets warm.
I’m all setup for Voyageurs(onboard alternator) but this would be a little different in that Voyageurs has longer runs. Doesn’t look like a ton of room to get full throttle and get juice from the onboard alternator. Do guys normally bring a generator for batteries? Campground seems like kind of a hybrid between Voyageurs camping and state park campgrounds.
That’s great planning! The permits open the last Wednesday of January. If you know your dates by then you will have no problem getting a few Sag DM permits. Not sure when reservations open up for Trails End but that should be on recreation.gov as well.
I couldn’t tell you what folks do to keep batteries charged. I think generators are banned at Trails End and they are definitely banned in the BWCA. If you get a site with electrical hookup you could remove the battery from the boat and charge it overnight at camp. There are a lot of things conspiring to make this a difficult trip to pull off with a big fishing boat with all the modern conveniences, especially if you want to be fishing at first light. After a few years we figured out the best way to fish sag hard is to stay in a cabin on the Canadian side. This means we have a dock with power hookup, we are a 10 minute run to great fishing, we have access to live bait, and we travel on one single permit for the entire trip. If you are interested in info on the resort we use feel free to send me a PM.
Very familiar with Sag and trails end campground.
1. Double check, but I’m not sure you can take large motors in the sag corridor.
2. Campsites are booked pretty solid through the season already. There are no docks at campsites, but there are certainly a few that have good access. 1,2,4 for example are some of my favorites.
3. There is minimal to no pressure on Sag. Both American and Canadian.
4. Day use permits go fast. Get them ASAP.
I bring a generator at trails end. 4 stroke would be best in my opinion. I’ve lasted no problem for a week charging here and there.
Worst case scenario, reach out to Matt and Cass at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. Look into renting Black Bear Cabin on the other side of the seagull river. I do that in the fall. You can plug your boat in right off their docks. It is a bit of a hike to get your gear up to the cabin, but if you’re staying for a week, it’s worth it. You will have to navigate rocky rapids from either the campground or voyageur outfitters unless you trailer to the public landing.
Reach out if you have questions.
Thanks!
Looking at a trip where we stay at Trails End campground and motor into the Canadian side of Saganaga. Would be using a motor bigger than 25 hp so no American fishing. Looking for smallmouth.
Questions:
How much pressure is there for smallmouth on the Canadian side compared to say Voyageurs or Vermilion? Would be looking at July, during the week.
How does the fishing compare to say a Vermilion or Voyageurs?
Have you looked into this place? Had a reservation then Covid but I recall rates were very reasonable. We did a US side camp trip instead and boated by it several times – its just across the border line. One kicker motor trip in and you are in Canada for duration. Plus they rent boats so could do some USA side fishing if you wanted. We were there for walleye but were lots of smallmouth around our island campsite (not far from the resort). Seemed like a really neat place and relatively easy to get to.
Dan
Lots of big smallmouth on the Canadian side of Lake of Woods.
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