"Your trip starts on the north side of Seagull and you have four miles of paddling along the island-studded north shore of the lake," according to the outfitter's Web site. "Then comes the longest of your three portages during the trip -- it is a bit over 100 rods -- about one-third mile long. Beautiful Alpine Lake just begs to be explored and fished, and is a very good spot to spend your first two nights camping. Then you move on to Red Rock Lake for another two nights. This lake tends to be more remote with fewer visitors. The fishing is usually good for walleyes and bass. On your last day, you take the short portage over to Saganaga Lake and are met by a towboat for a fast ride back to the roadhead and our waiting van. This easy trip works well for soft fishermen, easy-going couples and families."

Want something a bit tougher? Check out this trip Gunflint Northwoods Outfitters offers.

"We start you on West Bearskin Lake and you head north through Duncan Lake and on toward Rose Lake," says their site. "You cross Stairway Portage, a particularly scenic spot, as you leave Duncan Lake. A few feet off the portage is a beautiful overlook at the top of a cliff. The entire Canadian valley opens up north of you with Rose Lake sparkling in the foreground. Fortunately, you are going down Stairway Portage (108 log steps) as you journey on to Rose Lake and a pine-studded campsite for the coming night. The lake is known for outstanding fishing, so it is worth casting some of the shoreline for your dinner. Rose Lake is a border lake, so the north half is in Canada. You continue your trip heading west through Mud, Rat, South, North and Gunflint lakes. You cross the Laurentian Divide between South and North Lakes -- you leave the Atlantic watershed and enter the headwaters of the Arctic watershed, much as the voyageurs did. You paddle back to our dock on Gunflint at the end of your trip."

When fishing the Gunflint, take plenty of 1/8-ounce jigs and 2- and 3-inch scented plastic grub tails. This simple fishing setup catches walleyes, bass, pike and even lake trout. I also bring along a few weedless spoons like the Johnson Silver Minnow so I can strain some of the cabbage in the bays for pike.

If there is one mistake that anglers in the BWCAW make, it is that they always feel compelled to fish too deep. Seldom do I find myself fishing much more than 12 feet deep, even in the middle of August. I have discovered that if I find a spot on the lakes where there is some water flowing into the lake, I can fish the edges of the current and always catch some walleyes or smallmouth bass. Be sure to key on the cabbage beds and bulrushes for pike. Lake trout anglers may have to search deeper, but the hardcore laker chasers usually carry portable sonars.

My first couple of days on Fall Lake were perfect. Slaughter had drawn me a map on the back of a paper placemat from Sir G's restaurant where we gorged ourselves on fine Italian cuisine soon after I arrived in Ely. The spot he showed me that was holding walleyes was producing a fish on every pass. Most were only around a pound, but about one out of seven fish were in the 20- to 22-inch range. My best spots in front of the spillway from Fall Lake into Newton and the reef on the east side of Mile Island didn't produce, so I was lucky I had the makeshift map Slaughter provided or I wouldn't have had any walleyes for dinner.

The pike on Fall Lake were predictably back in the bays and unpredictably very shallow. I had to drop a spinnerbait right on the shore edge and drag it back through the heavy grass to tempt the northerns.

Anglers who are pushing into the BWCAW to camp and fish for a few days at a time like to set up their routes in loops. This is where you start out on a lake and make a big loop with a few portages, never backtracking but ending up back at your starting point. You will find many loop options where the lakes are densely packed like what you find out of Sawbill.

One of my favorite loops out of Sawbill is the Temperance Lake Loop from Cherokee Lake. It's a four-day jaunt that will get you into some big pike and decent walleye fishing. Heading north out of Sawbill, you'll slide through Ada and Scoop lakes, and make a long portage before getting to Cherokee, which is a great lake to spend a night and soak up all the BWCAW beauty. Spend one day on Cherokee chasing the big pike. You may be tempted to ply some of the deep water for lake trout, but don't waste your time. Try the bays and chuck spoons for pike, because there are some nice ones in Cherokee.

When you are done with Cherokee, head down to North and South Temperance lakes, where you will find some decent walleye fishing. South Temperance was always my favorite for walleyes because you can find them on the saddles between islands. I cast a jig and twistertail, let it sink to bottom and slowly retrieve it back to the canoe.

On your way back to Sawbill, you should make it a point to spend a half-day on Smoke Lake. On the south side of the big island on the northeast corner of Smoke, you can suspend a jig in 10 feet of water to catch 2-pound walleyes with some consistency. If you don't find them there, cast a grub-tipped jig into shallow areas between the smaller islands. There are plenty of walleyes in Smoke, so you should find some.

When Slaughter and I could finally get out in the canoes, the sky took on some clouds and the air had that heavy feeling of humidity. Not wishing to get stuck too deep into the wilderness with the potential for heavy rains, the decision was made to head up to Lake One.