I'm headed out on Friday for my annual Daddy-Daughter Trip (4 of us total). I was considering entering S. Kawishiwi River (#32) - and base camping there, or Little Gabbro...and either base camping (on north end) or pushing another portage north into the other area of the S. Kawishiwi. Won't fish a ton, and mostly want good scenery, good campsites, fewer portages, and opportunity to explore a bit. Want to avoid bigger lakes this time of year with potential wind. If you've been to both areas, I'd love a recommendation!

My opinion on the options;

S. Kawish is better fishing for walleye.

L.Gabbro is better for scenery and campsites.

If you get down to Bald Eagle - fishing picks up again.

If the wind is right on the Kawishiwi, paddling can be a problem on certain stretches. Both Gabbro and Bald Eagle are large lakes that can produce some large waves as well. With that said, I'd choose the Kawishiwi. There's a nice day trip loop you can do. Paddle to North Kawish and down through Clear or Esquagama. If the weather is nice you can easily get to Little Gabbro and Gabbro.

I’ve used South Kawishiwi River twice and Little Gabbro once and I prefer South Kawishiwi River.

I was just up there a couple weeks ago for the first time w a couple buddies and their little gabbro permit. We went up the kawishiwi to lakes one and two and turned around back to lil gabbro and camped the last night on the island camp on the west side of gabbro. The kawishiwi felt safe and pretty w the waterfall portages and all but lil gabbro and gabbro have a lot of nice camps w sprawling rock outcrops (might it be gabbro?) that make for great vistas and easy to move around for exploring. There are no portages from lil to big gabbro and you don’t really need to get on the big water to reach the island or the other site/s on the west end.

Also, KP index looks decent friday and saturday nights so keep an eye northward if it’s gonna be clear skies