I am planning a paddle trip to Isle Royale this summer and in preparation I went back and read my old scrapbook about a hike I took in 2000. I thought I would share it. There's no pics as it was film and I'm to lazy to jump through the hoops involved to post pics but the story has some entertainment value (if your bored stiff and there is absolutely no other options ;) ).

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I enjoyed that!
Assume you boated over from MI?  Thought the ride was shorter from MN?  Wife and I have mused about going for years.  But we are more paddlers than hikers.

That's what most folk think Wally. Isle Royale is very much a paddlers park too. With water taxis to shuttle you and your boat around a variety of trips can be had. We are planning between 10 and 13 days this june with the canoes. Here is a forum where you might find some info.
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Jim DuFresne has an excellent book on Isle Royale which includes both hiking and paddling aspects of the park. Ferry costs are certainly offset by the inexpensive backcountry fees of $4 per night.

I've paddled the inland lakes on Isle Royale 4 times, from McCargo Cove down to either Chippewa Harbor or Malone Bay.  Excellent paddling, good pike fishing (walleye in Chickenbone, Lakers in Siskiwit), good moose sightings and relatively few paddlers.  The portages are steep, the campsites are pretty nice and the area is beautiful.  Highly recommend it.

That was a great read. Thanks mastertangler.

Pat

My son works for Americorps and just found out his next 6 week assignment is trail maintenance on Isle Royal starting the 2nd week of July. He's roughing it in a tent camp for 6 weeks - lucky dog!

My father just got back from a trip to Isle Royale on June 19, he said they were backpacking and it was ROUGH, apparently there was a wind storm back in December that hit the park rather hard so if anyone is intending on backpacking just a heads up for this summer.  He did say they had crews in there cleaning up but it was still a tough 5 days.

Back from 12 days on Isle Royale. First time paddling and it is definitely an option. I would go back. Not to tough a trip but I am a wreck. Back is killing me. Big days fishing nonstop throwing big lures. Then like a complete nitwit we were horsing around after the trip was over and I did a spinning back kick and blew my knee up coming back from the snack bar. Still hurting 4 days later but I can walk.

It gets better ;). I rolled my boat out in the middle of a small cove when I hooked my dream pike. Popped a musky marabou spinner and it rolled 14 lb test like it was butter. Hung me in some weeds and instead of getting vertical on the fish I tried to pry him out sideways. When the line popped over I went. Quite a shock! I like the self inflating life jacket. Worked great. I kicked to shore and thought I had lost 2 high end outfits and all my tackle. Somebody up there likes me as I lost absolutely nothing. My Loomis muskie rod floated behind the boat and somehow the other rod stayed in the boat. Weird!

Biggest pike was 14, nice fish but I handled him easily. This other fish was the one I had been casting and trolling for. Rats!

Lots more including a hypothermia case with my crew. We had really tough conditions for a week with lots of cold, wind and rain. They loved it though and want to go back.

I thought this was just a warm up for WCP but I'm a wreck. Picked up a back brace and knee brace and am looking at a seat with some back support. Still hopeful I can rebound. I could barely get out of the truck on the drive home. Kinda scary looking in the mirror. I looked really old and felt it!
   

The last 1 Posts were moved here from Other Places to Paddle [move by] db.

Master...I hope pics are coming.  Especially the spinning back kick!  IR seems like no easy place to get to.

Wally my buddy is a black belt and his kid is a phenom wrestler. I was feeling pretty good after the trip with nary a nick and heard the knee pop on my second move. I forgot...............

The boat going over was a complete surprise. A good argument can be made to having a PFD on all the time. It enabled me to kick the boat to shore instead of just hanging on (I was able to get an arms length away). Looking back it all adds up. My salt water wiring in my diminishing gray matter has become wired to pull full body instead of just with my arms. Add in I dearly wanted the fish plus my boat was lightly loaded for a day trip and well................I'm actually glad it happened. Superior learning experience (no pun intended) with no loss whatsoever. My newbie pals who reached me as I got to shore will also benefit as they just recently picked up 2 bell solos. "Don't let this happen to you............you might not fare so well" :P

Island is not at all tough to access. 3.5 hour ferry ride at about $150 round trip including boat. We took another smaller ferry to our start point which adds another $80 or so. $4 per night camping fee offsets boat ride nicely. The inland lakes remind me of the Q and can be reached by a 1/4 mile or 2 mile portage. What I like though is Lake Superior itself. Much protected paddling can be had. Gorgeous.

mastertangler wrote on Jul 4^th, 2011 at 9:33pm:

I rolled my boat out in the middle of a small cove when I hooked my dream pike.

Boy, even Old Salt or Jimbo haven't come up with a fish story quite that good. And after all of the pollyhumpers those two have tangled with.

MT
What lake(s) were you on? Siskiwit?
Overall was the fishing good?

Its a wonderful place Zski.......

One day I will post the TR, I already have it written up, just busy is all. We started out in Lake Superior (Chippewa harbor) via water taxi and went into Whittelsey, wood, siskiwit, intermediate, Richie, Lesage, Livermore, Chickenbone. This chain of lakes went across the island from south to north. Then we went back into Lake Superior and paddled the "five finger region". Very nice. Then into Duncan Harbor where I rolled my boat on a fish I still am kickin myself over.

Then the switchback portage up and over the Greenstone back into Tobin Harbor and Rock harbor. 12 days. Piece of cake. Very nice.
I liked the fishing. Only 2 of the lakes had walleye. Lots of Pike.......no smallies. You better like Pike fishing. There are some real whopper pike there. The kid had one on he said was as big as him. He could hardly talk for an hour. That made him a fisherman right there.......... ;D 

Thanks MT. This will have to be a destination point for us. My daughter wants to catch a bigger pike. I traced your route. Somehow the mileage is less than i had anticipated. It looks like much of the Lake Superior water is sheltered and that's good. Was the big lake rough going at times? Did you pick up any trout?

The island is not a place to take lightly. Lake Superior water is ice cold. Life threatening cold in a short period of time. The big lake is no place for an open canoe unless you are experienced and safety prone. We did a couple of miles on the big water coming around Indian point from McCargo cove.......stunning but nerve wracking. Even during calm conditions there can be big rollers.

My suggestion for a fun trip with a daughter would be to take the water taxi to Chippewa harbor and stay there for a few days. The campsite intersects the trail system there and is good for day hikes. Very beautiful and fairly protected water. Then portage the .6 mile to Whittesley. Unfortunately even though I wanted to fish there I just passed through. The lake has a good population of walleye I am told. Stay there a few days and then continue on to Wood Lake. Good average size on the pike. Wood gives access to huge Siskiwit as well.*****I would never stringer a fish this size but it was bleeding like a stuck pig and I waited to see if it would recover.......it did not.
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Yeah I'd rather avoid the big open water if possible and following your route didn't see a way to avoid it entirely.
That is a nice fish, at 5'1" it would be a monster if she were holding it. Thanks for the tips MT!

Quote:

Did you pick up any trout?

Never canoed it, but did backpack the isle 4x times, covering the 3 main routes east to west and the center route 2x.

Caught a few small lake trout casting from shore at the campsites directly on Superior.

Don't know if you like to catch Brook Trout, but there are numerous streams that dump into Superior and I'm told that they hold Brook Trout and some hold " Coasters" which if you don't know are Brook trout that feed/grow in Superior and get to humongous size, compared to the stream Brookies. They have special rules for Coasters, but I believe you can keep (1) over a certain size?

I didn't know about the Brook trout/Coasters until way after I made those 4 trips.
If I ever go back, I'll make a point to fish for them.

MT, is right about Superior waters. Even in calm conditions you want to stay clsoe to shore, pay attention and have a plan B if you or someone else go over. You wouldn't last long or swim far in that frigid water.

I saw some reference to 'coasters' while scouring a couple sites but didn't stop to study. Interesting, will have to do some research....  Looks like late June will be the time frame at this point. I thought maybe LT on Siskiwit if the wind isn't too bad. From the shore eh? what time of year?

You might be able to find some useful info on this forum concerning Isle Royale. Most of the guys here are fairly generous with info.

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Quote:

From the shore eh? what time of year?

Late June/early July. One thing to remember with the water temp being what it is year round, the trout seem to be in fairly shallow or at least close enough you could cast from shore with a suitable rod/line combo.

I caught them on Mepps spinners. In the protected bays, you could probably anchor/troll and do well too.

I don't know if its still open, but they used to have a lodge at Rock Harbor that served fresh caught Laker dinners. Not a bad way to start or end a trip.

Fresh caught Laker in a restaurant!  I've only had it that way once and I will never forget it!  Fillet only, no breading, rubbed with oil and spice, pan-seared then oven baked.  I'm transported back to heavenly music just reminiscing.

Thanks guys. This Isle Royal thing has been good. Not only for the raw information which does have weighty value, but also helpful getting thru the day to day grind lately... I hear the music too.... and hey, there's a banjo in there somewhere.

So. I stopped in to a room (diagnostic center) at the office where some guys from my old group were working. We share vacation stories etc... I asked "anyone here ever been to Isle Royale?". A new guy that i don't know hollers "i used to work there!". Turns out he's from Jordan and worked there as restaurant wait staff during the summer while finishing up school. You could tell he loved the place. After living in the desert his whole life he moves of all places in the world, there for a whole summer  ;D.