These are some stills from the canoe trip I did in June. Mostly these are in the video but they go by pretty fast in the video and not everyone wants to watch a video anyway. Here is a little info on a trip like this in case you think it might be for you -
Canoe Country is what they call it in the Midwest and it is sister wilderness areas on both sides of the border in northern Minnesota and southern Ontario. Access on the US side is typically from Ely, Minnesota and access on the Canadian side is from Atikokan, Ontario. Visitation on the US side is much higher and fishing is said to be better on the Canadian side. The easiest way to get there is to fly to Minneapolis, rent a car and drive five hours to Atikokan or Ely. Outfitters will rent you a canoe and any additional gear you need. Some will provide food, give you a good route to follow and some fishing advice and shuttle you to the put in and take out. After that you are on your own but if you can carry a 45 pound canoe on your shoulders over a rough trail for about a third of a mile it is doable.
Most of the people you run into there are from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Chicago, etc. Most of them are fishing but not that much and generally they are trolling or jigging for walleye and throwing lures for bass. I have not seen another fly rodder up there. I often get the question "are you getting anything on that fly rod?". There are smallmouth, walleye, pike and lake trout. All can be caught and in fact can all be caught on the same lake on the same day if you change gear and work at it a little. The main thing for the fly rodder is the bass, especially the top water bass. It takes some time to figure them out but it can be very good. Wind is generally not your friend and can ruin some days but that is all part of the program.
If you have backpacked the Sierra searching for the lakes with the best trout fishing or you are just looking for some DIY adventure this is probably your kind of trip. There is a magazine called Boundary Waters Journal that has a lot of great info including lots of fishing articles. If you are really serious about it PM me and I can give you all the info you need.
Check out the video if you have not -
https://vimeo.com/225173081
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