My 8-year old daughter and I will be going into Wood Lake on May 25. We plan to fish as much as she'd like which might be every moment she isn't building a fire, carving sticks with her knife, etc. We are planning 5 nights total, mostly on Wood Lake, and might spend two nights on Good Lake depending on how things go. This will be her first BWCA trip but she is not a stranger to camping, hiking, or fishing. Just this weekend we hiked a mile and half in the snow, cooked a Mountain House meal, then hiked home...she loved it!

I would appreciate suggestions on the following:
1) What other activities can we do to prepare?
2) Any suggestions to make the trip more enjoyable for her?
3) Any kid-friendly fishing tips for the Wood Lake area?

Thanks!

Maybe see if she is interested in menu planning? Nothing wrong with Mountain House but you can use prepackaged dry foods and foil pouch chicken to created “almost like home” menus...what fresh foods will keep...use powdered milk to make instant pudding...hot chocolate and instant apple cider are a big hit with our youths. She can add up the ounces to see if your weight allowance will work with menu choices.

Practice orienteering with a map and compass. Since your lake footprint is fairly small you could create a worksheet based on Wood and Good lakes and have her identify/memorize landmarks.

Assuming the flies will be hatching - I’m a big believer in Ultrathon. Insects could make all the difference for her first trip.

Enjoy the planning!

I have a 7 year old that has been on a number of trips.

Her favorite thing to do is explore small islands and pretend. She likes making things out of rocks and sticks.

I will say May 25th around wood lake could be interesting with the bugs. Black flies (Simulium) and mosquitoes could be brutal. I guess have plan for that.

For campsite fun, our 7 year old loves uno, slap jack, and "war" card games. "Cat Crimes" is a fun logic game that could kill a few hours. There is also another one called Rush Hour traffic game that is pretty small, but somehow that seems wrong for the BWCA. Maybe if it was canoes or beaver dam building or something instead of cars.

Wood lake is fairly easy to catch northern pike just trolling around a silver hammered spoon (maybe 3.4 inches).

If you’re looking for a fun day trip, you could go up to Hoist Bay of Basswood and see the big hoist engine from the logging days in the water not far from shore. It may be slightly submerged in May depending on water levels. I believe it’s located not far from where Good Creek dumps into Hoist Bay. Also, I’ve always had good luck fishing the channel between the east and west side of Wood Lake, just out from the campsite located on the south shore of the channel. I’ve had luck there in all seasons.
Tony

I've taken my younger kids often. They won't get bored if you keep your eyes open and point things out.

Activities:
1. Make a checker board - a saw will cut up some nice discs. Find different types of woods for black and white.
2. Research different fire starting techniques. Work on starting with just a fire steel.
3. Bring colored pencils and a sketchbook. Draw with her. Set an alarm for 3 minutes and take turns on the same picture.
4. Read a book TO her.
5. Hammock, hammock, hammock. My kids love the hammocks.
6. Hide some treats and bring them out after a couple days. Little things like a pack of starburst end up like Christmas morning.
7. Make sure she has a camera and commission her as camp photographer.
8. Build a fort in the woods. (Practice no trace still, but if you're at the same campsite, build a special place with her and let her decorate.
9. Another dad and I had three girls between 8 and 11 last year. I did an impromptu scavenger hunt while I was drinking coffee by the lake. Go find pine needles / birch bark, stone the size of ___ / cedar bough / etc. Once they gathered all the material, I had them make an image of a person out of the materials. This lasted for a solid hour.
10. On a calm day/morning, let her paddle from the back of the canoe.
11. Be creative, adventurous, and she'll join in. You don't need to bring a lot of extra gear if you have a bit of fascination and wonder.

My son and I did a trip to Wood Lake in August quite a few years ago. The fishing was very good and occupied much of our time. But we did manage to do a nearly full day trip over to Good Lake and from there, over to Basswood Lake. Crossing Hula was a bit of an adventure as it was almost completely covered in wild rice. Getting your bearings was nearly impossible. The shallows surrounding the narrows site on Wood was crawling with crayfish. We caught enough for a "crawfish boil". My son still talks about that!

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions and ideas. Very helpful!

Coffee - nice list! We'll try out several.

Snake - if warm enough I know she'll enjoy searching for crawdads.

Gopher - Hoist Bay engine would be an excellent excursion, especially if we camp a night or two on Good.

Heavy - thanks for the silver spoon pike tip. Hoping she can catch a few!

SoundGuy - I'll include her in the menu planning and I like the math idea of adding up pounds and ounces...and see how much she figures we should each carry!

Yes, we anticipate a bug infestation and will do our best to be prepared. Probably take a no-skin-showing approach along with the usual arsenal of chemical weaponry. Might rent a Nemo bug out and see if that is worth it too - another thread makes it sound like I shouldn't go without one.

Again, many thanks to each of you for your feedback. It makes a difference!