jimmar wrote on Jul 15^th, 2009 at 5:02pm:

I am sure this topic has been covered many times but I'll ask anyway, so pardon my ignorance. I am thinking of doing my first solo trip on Quetico Lake, entering Beaverhouse, in early September. I will by using the kayak I just finished building  :). I have always secured my reservations through an outfitter, but not this time. Do I need to wait until 4 days or less before my entry to call the park for a permit? Do you think permits will still be available for non-residents? Seems like the requests would be down in Sept. Any advice will be appreciated. Maybe I'll just go to Sylvania if it doesn't work out.

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Jimmar,

I recommend that you do what I have done for years on September trips... show up the night before in Atikokan, go to the park office, grab a permit, fill it out, put it & your money into the envelope provided, & drop it through the slot in the door.  You won't have a darned thing to worry about concerning numbers of non-residents alreay issued permits, etc. & so on.  Basically, there AIN'T hardly anybody going into the park beginning in September.  ZIPPO competition.  I just fill out the paper the night before & go to my entry point (usually Beaverhouse) early the next morning, never talking to a single park official.  

Simple.  Very simple.

September is one of my favorite times of year to enter the park; preferably late in the month when the leaves start to change.  Best fishing for me at that time of year proves to be trout & pike.  Smallmouth are much more sporadic & they've moved off their early summer locations.  Walleye fishing can be decent but in my experience not as consistent as earlier in the year.  Also, listen for the moose in the pre-dawn hour.  Many are on the move & looking for companionship....

Jimbo   8-)