I spent a laid-back week base-camping and fishing on the Man Chain this June. We didn't do the whole loop, but from what I saw of it (and have heard of the rest of it), I think it would be a good trip for a 'first timer'. I had my 12 and 14 year old sons along, and it was the first BWCA/Quetico trip for them. We entered via Cache Bay. Traffic on Cache Bay and the Silver Falls portage was pretty heavy, but thinned out rapidly after that. Once past Slate Lake, we saw no more than 1 or 2 parties a day. If you do the 'loop', though, I hear the border lakes are much busier. Once past Silver Falls, the other portages we encountered were a 'breeze'. There are good campsites on Saganagons, Slate, Fran, Bell, and Other Man. We found some good smallmouth fishing (bass were spawning then), but it was pretty spotty for other species. E-mail me directly if you'd like to 'talk' more (harry.swallow@interpath.net).

Posted by Harry on September 07, 1999 at 10:34