South Farm Lake

South Farm Lake covers about 564 acres a few miles southeast of Ely, in the Kawishiwi district. It's one of three connected lakes, along with Farm Lake and Garden Lake, that make up a small reservoir behind a hydroelectric dam at Garden Lake's outlet, and like the rest of that reservoir it sits outside the wilderness boundary rather than in it. There's no portage into South Farm Lake: it's reached by a navigable channel off Farm Lake or by a small gravel boat ramp near the Kawishiwi Trail.

The dam keeps the lake's level fluctuating with the season. The water runs brown and bog-stained, with visibility down to around 6 feet, and holds enough oxygen through the summer to fish comfortably down to 15 to 21 feet. Shoreline is mostly rocky, with muck bottoms and patches of wild rice and other vegetation tucked into the back bays.

Walleye and northern pike carry the fishery, with pike running notably large, many over two feet. Cisco are thick in the cool water below the surface and serve as the forage base behind those bigger fish. Bluegill and black crappie round things out for anglers after panfish.

Two campsites sit on the lake, reached by the same channel or boat ramp as everything else here rather than by a wilderness permit route. It's a lake people boat to and fish rather than one they carry a canoe into.

South Farm Lake suits a day or weekend of boat fishing out of Ely more than a backcountry trip. It's reservoir water with road and channel access, not one of the portage-connected lakes in the wilderness beyond it.