Planning a September 2019 trip with my five adult sons and 12 yr old tail ender -along with a friend with 15+ BWCA trips under his belt. For my boys and me, this is our first. We have varying levels of sportsman skills - from avid to novice. All were Boy Scouts, so we can usually get along fine in the outdoors and aren't afraid of an adventure getting to a good location. Would like some feedback on routes to accomplish the following goals:
We want to see a lot more fish than people.
Base camping from one or two sites with the ability to explore and fish day to day.
Lower risk of intimidating water for my youngest who has Down syndrome - he'll be fairly limited helping me maneuver in rough seas.
We are planning on six days and are willing to paddle hard getting in and out.
Thanks for your suggestions!

I'm not a fisherman so I can't help there but get a 3 man canoe for you, your youngest, and another paddler. Preferably a Souris River Quetico 18.5 or something stable (vs. sleek & fast like a Wenonah MN III). The younger one can contribute plenty from the center (or even the bow seat on smooth water), but if he gets scared on rougher water, it's okay if he just holds on to his paddle or his seat, or even gets down lower in the canoe if he feels more comfortable. He'll be a big help on portages. I hope that you all have fun! We look forward to a trip report. I thought that I planned well in advance, you got me beat.

8 people, decent ways in, avoid big water, base camping, fish.

Baker Entry 39 leads to South Temperance Lake. It is a bit of a jaunt but not terrible. Camp there and you can fish there, go north to North Temperance, check out the side of Brule without dealing with the entire lake. You could even make a day trip to Cherokee (a beautiful lake).

One of my personal favorites is Kawishiwi entry 37. Go north to Malberg Lake. Once you get to Malberg you can go a ton of places. Some pictographs nearby and the largest rock face in the BWCA is a few portages past. Fishing is great. Kind of a popular chain but you would be far enough in to where it isn't really crowded.

Those are my two recommendations

Large rock face is where the pictos are or those are 2 different places?

I suggest going in on Moose and getting to a remote part of Knife. Day trip from there or keep going.

Two separate areas Cyclone. Pictographs are a lot closer. Rock face is amazing though... but it is a trek. But all short portages and small lakes isn't terrible if you are just carrying a canoe.

I don't want to hijack but if you could email me more info on the rock face we're headed to that area for our first time in June.

Will do

x2jmorris: "Two separate areas Cyclone. Pictographs are a lot closer. Rock face is amazing though... but it is a trek. But all short portages and small lakes isn't terrible if you are just carrying a canoe."

I'd be interested in knowing where the "rock face" is? Always looking for unique places.

Smoke the lake it is on is Mackwa Lake.

Here is a photo of it and it is in my opinion worth seeing. I think people jump from it but not this guy.