Wind Lake

Wind Lake is a 926-acre lake in the Kawishiwi district, set into the corridor between Moose Lake and Basswood Lake near the international border. It doesn't connect to either by open water. The only way in is a rough half-mile portage from Moose Lake, rated a difficult carry, and it keeps Wind Lake quieter than the motorized chain sitting right on the other side of it. Basswood's Prairie Portage, once a customs checkpoint on the US-Canada border crossing, sits close by on the other side of that chain, though Wind Lake itself stays well back from the border.

The lake stays shallow for its size. It reaches only 32 feet at its deepest point, and close to three quarters of it is shallow enough to fish from the surface down. Seventeen miles of shoreline wrap that modest acreage into bays and points instead of one open sweep, which gives its seven campsites room to spread out along different arms of the lake.

Walleye are the strongest fishery here, growing to good size, and northern pike run right alongside them with some real length in both species. Smallmouth bass hold along the rockier stretches, and bluegill, rock bass, and yellow perch work the shallow bays and weed edges.

Seven campsites ring the lake. With that much shoreline folded into separate bays, a full site on one arm usually still leaves an empty one within easy reach on another.

Wind Lake suits paddlers who want distance from motorized traffic without a long trip to get it. The wilderness on the far side of that one portage starts almost right away.