Lake Four

Lake Four covers about 611 acres in the Kawishiwi district, the fourth and last lake in the well known Numbered Lakes chain that starts at Lake One and runs east through Two and Three to reach here. A run of short, easy portages carries on to Hudson Lake, the last step in the chain before the corridor opens onto Lake Insula.

The lake reaches 25 feet at its deepest point, and most of that, over 80 percent, stays shallow enough to count as littoral water. Nearly 23 miles of shoreline folds the lake into bays and points rather than one open sweep, so there's almost always a sheltered pocket to duck into when wind picks up on the main body. Boulder dominates the bottom near shore, with patches of rubble, gravel, and muck mixed in.

The south shoreline still carries the mark of the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire, burned down to bare bedrock in places with charred logs still lying where they fell. It stands in contrast to the unburned shore elsewhere around the lake, which keeps its cover.

Northern pike are the standout here, showing up in the best numbers recorded on this lake and averaging close to three pounds. Walleye are present too, though they run smaller and grow slower here than in nearby lakes. Lake whitefish and cisco also turned up in some of their best numbers on record, holding in the lake's cooler water, and bluegill, rock bass, and smallmouth bass work the shallower bays.

Twelve campsites are spread around Lake Four's bays and points, with enough shoreline between them that the chain's traffic rarely means competing for the same site.

Lake Four suits paddlers finishing the Numbered Lakes corridor and staging for Hudson and Insula beyond, more a link in the chain than a destination to linger on.