Last year was our 1st time staying on Sagnagons. Normally it is a pass through lake. We were heading back from the falls chain. We stayed on the mid/eastern part. A nice site on a point. It was on the last big Island, sorta in the center of the lake.
We saw a bear and a moose not far apart near camp as we got to camp early evening. Only of either that we saw on the whole trip up and down the falls chain.
We fished but didnt do well at all in this area. Did average/pretty good on the rest of the trip.
We hope to camp in the area again this year around June 10th at the end of our trip this year.

Any tips on this area? Good sites? Fishing opportunity? I heard this is a decent lake trout area late may, early June, east side of the lake, east of where we hope to camp. Need to find a couple walleyes this year for our last night dinner or we will eat Ramen like last year. LOL

I will give this tip. We did the REALLY LONG portage that has been mentioned on this site before. We appreciated the tip and it worked well for us. It is the longest portage our group has ever done but it saved a lot of paddling way back down to silver falls and through cache bay. We broke it into 3rds. Easy overall with very little elevation change and wide open. Just a LONG WAYS. Was significant mud in 1 area.
It is hard to describe without a picture. Hopefully I added it correctly. There is a small portage (due to beavers) before the actual BIG portage. It was probably a 3 hour portage double portaging. We saw moose and wolf prints in the mud, had a momma grouse chase us down the 4 wheeler trail, i wouldnt call it a portage really. We turned right at the actual (but small) stop sign.

Any tips in this area would be great...and just to get some discussion going around here. Normally this time of the year this site is just humming with questions and discussion.
thanks

We've gone out via Dickie's Portage 6 or 8 times. It is long but saves a full day of travel back to Cache Bay. We skip the short "starter" portage by pulling over the large beaver dam at the end of the creek. Your description of the portage is accurate... 4-wheeler trail, muddy section by a beaver dam, take a right at the stop sign. And don't forget the snowmobile tracks.

We also go in three legs of about 20 minutes each and end up walking about 5 miles total.

We will be doing Dickie's on June 2 this year.

Heading into Saganagons over Memorial Day weekend for our first ever Quetico trip. Haven't decided what direction we will be going. We discussed possibly staying on Saganagons if the fishing is good. I have a feeling, however, we will get a wild hare and check out the falls chain and maybe try to get to Kawnipi.

We will be there for 6 days - so also looking for any tips/advice/suggestions in the area, or if there are any "must see" areas or fishing spots.

The trip is coming up fast, I can't wait to wet my paddle!

"Right at the Stop sign".

This depends on direction...so, right when heading NW & into the Park, or when exiting?

sns: ""Right at the Stop sign".

This depends on direction...so, right when heading NW & into the Park, or when exiting?"

Right at the stop sign when exiting the Q. You can't enter the park on this portage... no ranger station!

bobbernumber3: "

sns: ""Right at the Stop sign".

This depends on direction...so, right when heading NW & into the Park, or when exiting?"

Right at the stop sign when exiting the Q. You can't enter the park on this portage... no ranger station!"

Sure you can - just have to hit Cache Bay first.

Of course, the time saving evaporate then...

sns: "Sure you can..."

Well, technically, you leave the park somewhere between Cache Bay and Dickie's Portage and your permit would be kaput?

I've never seen anyone entering on that portage. Or exiting either.

Exiting & re-entering during the permit timeframe is OK in Quetico since you are paying per night...unlike the BWCA.

However I agree that virtually nobody would use this for entry.

sns: "Exiting & re-entering during the permit timeframe is OK in Quetico since you are paying per night...unlike the BWCA."

I've never heard that, but that would explain how you can get from Saganagons to Mack Lake!

Any tips then for the 1st part of my original post? Fishing and camping along the north shore of Sagnagons or in the middle of it, before you get to the open expanse of the east half? We had trouble finding Walleye here (we only really fished one evening and one morning) . Is it worth our time to target lake trout in the evening for breakfast the next morning?

Any good campsites that are not marked on our normal maps?

thanks

Thanks for reviving this thread. I love to talk about Saganagons and share my experiences. Outta town... I'll send you an email Monday night.

What are your dates?... nevermind, see you are ending on the 10th.

I’ve been on Saganagons on two different trips. We caught a few decent fish each time, but had worse than average fishing there overall. I know some people go back year after year with great results, so it could have been a fluke or they could just be better fishermen than me :)

The places we’ve done better than average on Gons were at inflows. My wife’s first ever fish in Quetico was a 27” walleye near the outflow of Silver Falls. We also caught a lot of nice bass and pike at an inflow from a shallower, warmer lake (I think Smallie Lake?) one cold end of May trip.

Tons of fantastic campsites on Saganagons though. Within a mile or so in either direction from Deadman’s Portage you have 4-5 great campsites to choose from. I’ve stayed at a couple of them personally and I’ll likely be on one of those again in about a month as we connect the Man Chain and Falls Chain.