Thinking about going on a spring trip. I've gone on trips in July for the last four years, but would like to take some more my college friends for a trip after school. If anyone has experience with taking spring trips I have a few questions:
-What is the earliest you would suggest to take a trip? (too cold at night, some lakes still froze?)
-We all enjoy fishing, do fish tend to be still in their winter mode in spring or are their species of fish that become more active after the ice goes away?
Thanks, any advice would be helpful!

You will need to wait until the fishing opener and the fish will be primarily shallow.

I generally don't fish but this year my trip coincided with the the fishing opener weekend. We went in that Saturday. We had to change our trip and EP because the first 2-3 lakes still had ice cover. We were going to enter at #47 Lizz/Swamp and exit at #50 Cross Bay Lake but we had to do it in reverse hoping that Poplar, Lizz, and Caribou would be ice-free three days later, which they were. Unfortunately 48 hours before our trip the area received nearly a foot of snow, making the portages muddy and icy. Hauling canoes and heavy packs is difficult enough sometimes on those steep climbs along that route but then add in knee-deep snow and it becomes a real challenge. Mid May is mostly bug-free but it's way too cold to swim. I wouldn't recommend wet-footing.

We have gone the week leading up to Memorial Day weekend a couple times and have had very good luck. Missed ice out by a few days one year and water was cold, but daytime temps were in the 60s and night temps in the 30's to mid 20s. No bugs. Good fishing. Beautiful days and few people. Head out before the weekend and miss the crowds.

If fishing is the priority, which it is for me the first week of June would be my choice.

I like late September and 3rd week of May, as long as the ice is out. I DO wetfoot and as long as you have good socks you are ok... Your feet aren't in the water for that long. Trout fishing is great, the rest not so great. That is spring.

It'll be cold at night. Late May or early June is a great time to be there though. I wet foot no matter what time of year it is. I hate trying to be careful. I keep my boots in the canoe so after a portage I can put some wool socks on with the boots to warm them back up.

I did my first May trip this year after late June/early July trips. It is a different trip. No issues with heat and easy to sleep at night. Foliage is not all the way out so the scenery is a little different. Wet foot portaging was easy with wool socks. I never noticed my feet being cold. Did not have issues with bugs.

We had rain and wind two days. This made time in camp very cold and one day of traveling pretty cold. Be prepared for the weather changes and make sure you respect the lower water temperatures. I would not want to dump the canoe in the cold water when the wind was blowing. We saw quite a few people so don't expect any additional solitude.

I've frozen, and sweated my butt off in May - prepare for either!

walllee: "If fishing is the priority, which it is for me the first week of June would be my choice. "

X2 Absolutely my favorite time to fish in the BW.