Gordielocks wrote:

I'm thinking of doing a loop this spring. Enter at Tim, go to big bob, take the Nip to loontail, then down to Rosebary then back to Tim and out.

I was doing that exact loop when I took the alder picture above. If MartinG is right that the alders aren't a problem in the spring (my trip was early August), it could be a nice trip. In my case it was a 2 night trip, with the first night on Big Bob and the second on Rosebary. The second day (Big Bob to Rosebary) was the longest travel day I've ever done... which we blamed mostly on the alders, but looking at Jeff's map now the estimated travel time isn't that much less than what we took. That map didn't exist back then and we had to just estimate the distance by looking at a normal map, which is impossible since the Nip is so bendy. MartinG's assessment of the Loontail-Floating Heart portage may well be correct but all I remember is how happy we were to see it after such a long day of creek travel. So yeah I'd recommend breaking up that stretch with a night on one of the river campsites, though they're generally not as nice as the lake ones.

We weren't fishing on that trip so I can't comment on that first hand, I gather there are brookie holes along the rivers and Rosebary lake trout are better for size than numbers. We did see a good amount of wildlife and the area is generally pretty and not too crowded. Rosebary Lake has a bit of a fan base, the two sites on the north shore have a beach between them and would tend to be the first to go. The southeastern site might be the next best. Alternatively, camping on Longbow instead of Rosebary might make for slightly more seclusion.

The creek up to Indian pipe is no passable but the portage is not a bad one.  Indian pipe is a nice little lake

Gordielocks wrote:

Thanks for the tips everyone, lots of great advice.

Just in response to MartinG - Of course I don't expect anyone to give way their favourite fishing spots, and to be honest, fishing is a secondary aspect of a trip for me. Mostly what I was looking for was advice on sites, routes and portages and to see if anyone had some favorite spring routes. Just to reiterate, I'm not planning on over fishing or stealing anyone's favourtie spot! Sorry if the topic of the post was misleading.

 
Not at all - your request was reasonable and responsible.  I think both Martin and I were directing our comments at whomever was, or will be, following this post.  Public forums are so educational but it's impossible to control the exploitation of valuable information in the wrong hands.