Fishing appears to be pretty fruitless in Fay Lake. According to the Minnesota DNR, it supports a small population of lake trout. Appears to have the occasional escaped brook trout also. According to the DNR, these brook trout are most likely sneaking in from Bingshick Lake. Bingshick Lake is stocked with brook trout.
There are no campsites on this lake. That is just as well as the 2006 Cavity Lake Fire probably would have destroyed all the campsites anyway. Nearly the entire shoreline of the lake is fire scarred, except a few small patches of forest along the south shore.
Just reaching Fay Lake is a bit of an accomplishment. The 45 rod portage from Warclub Lake/Chub River on the west end of Fay Lake is a real bruiser. The portage follows the same route as the Kekekabic Trail mostly. If you are planning on doing some hiking, the Kekekabic Trail looks pretty rugged through this area. The portage to Glee Lake is actually pretty good. Fay Lake also has an unmarked portage on its east end that is the first of three portages and some paddling that you need to do if you have your heart set on reaching Flying Lake. That portage of 87 rods in the southeast corner of Fay Lake, going directly to Flying Lake seems to have faded into the forest (helped along by the recent forest fires). There is a landing at that point for the no-longer-existing-portage and there is also a trail...at first. Soon the trail peters out and you are left with no obvious way to go and a load of gear that you now have to haul back to your canoe. The unmarked portage is up the Chub River a few hundred feet from the east tip of Fay Lake. Head up the Chub River. When you run out of river that is paddle-worthy, look to your right and you will see it. This unmarked portage is no walk in the park either. It does lead to a rather interesting drowned forest that you will paddle through to get out into the open part of the Chub River again. From that part of the Chub River there is a portage to Flying Lake.
The Chub River flows east to west right through Fay Lake. A beaver dam usually blocks the Chub River where it flows out of Fay Lake to the west. A number beaver dams may block up the Chub River east of Fay Lake. Only a trickle of water flowed through the Chub River from this direction in 2020. Along the unmarked portage to the Chub River (upstream of Fay Lake), you actually can step across the river in a single bound, the river is so starved of water by beaver dams.
References:
Beymer, Robert, Boundary Waters Canoe Area – Volume 2 – Eastern Region (Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 2006), 156, 158.
Pauly, Daniel, Exploring the Boundary Waters (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005), 331.
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PADDLING FROM THE CHUB RIVER PORTAGE TO THE CHUB RIVER UNMARKED PORTAGE (EASTBOUND)
After lugging your gear over that nasty portage, you are greeted with a view to the east of Fay Lake from the Warclub Lake/Chub River portage landing. A beaver dam is out of sight, just to your right, where the Chub River flows out of this lake.
From the Warclub Lake/Chub River portage, you paddle southward to the south shoreline of Fay Lake. From there you follow the shoreline eastward until reaching the east end of the lake. Once arriving, you look about for the portage shown on your map that leads to Flying Lake. You can see the landing for this portage from the water, if you look carefully. It is exactly where it is shown on recent BWCA maps. The problem is this portage leads no where. If you try to follow it, the portage trail dies out. From the location marked on the map as the starting point of the now-not-to-be-found 87 rod portage to Flying Lake, paddle a short distance north up the east end of the lake and into the Chub River. Follow the river until it becomes impassable and to your right you see the landing for the unmarked portage. This is the way to the Chub River and eventually to Flying Lake.
View to the southeast across Fay Lake from the Glee Lake portage. Notice that the south shore of the lake has some standing pines that survived the Cavity Lake Fire of 2006. Unmarked Portage to Chub River -or- Explore Another Route **********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
Route Connections for Fay Lake
From Fay Lake you can portage westbound and downstream into the Chub River in the direction of Warclub Lake. You can also portage into the Chub River headed eastbound and upstream. This is the direction you want to go if you are trying to get to Flying Lake. There isn't a portage (as shown on many maps of the area) directly to Flying Lake. Finally you can portage to Glee Lake. Note that you can portage from Glee Lake to Bingshick Lake and then into the Chub River. From there you can portage to Flying Lake. This is the longer way, but more straightforward. Also consider in your route planning that the portage between Glee Lake and Bingshick Lake is quite difficult. The portage from Bingshick Lake to the Chub River is short, but rugged.
