I have a trip planned on MAy 20th.
I am thinking with this absoloutly horrible weather if it is going to be so cold it will be miserable?
I prefer the weather to be in the 70's
what do you think that I can expect?

I may have to move it back a week.

Andrew,

Never plan any fishing trip in May or early to mid June if you prefer the temps to be in the 70's!!!

70's? Bad weather equals good fishing.

Haha. I put this post in beacuse I had gone to weather.com and put the duluth area code in to see what average was. I was nervous beacuse it said 45 or so.
According to the weather.com ely should be in the 60's- which is fine.
I forgot about the lake's cooling effect.

Could still be 40s...or it could be 80s...it's May in Minnesota.

Two years ago, late July one day we had a High of 48 and a low of 30 with snow flakes. Yes I said July!

Never count on the weather in the BW. Average temps reported are just that "averages" and the high and low extremes varie widly.

Last year first week in May we had highs in the mid 80's for 3 of the 6 day trip and we still saw a night below feezing during the same trip.

Yep-temps varie widly and if you don'tlike the weather wait 15 minutes.

We go in almost every May. We've had wonderful trips with weather in the 70s, trips with highs in the mid-40s & horizontal rain. Last May we had both in the span of five days, including one day where I ended up with no clothes in my pack because I was wearing every scrap of clothing I brought. Good stuff.

Be prepared for anything.

Just a SWAG but for May 20th, especially this year, I'd plan for highs in the mid 50s (and feel happy if it gets to 60) and expect night time lows below freezing. As Bogs said, even in July it can get below freezing at night.

I don't know if moving it a week will help. It can easily be colder a week later. Just luck of the draw. You may be lucky and have highs in the mid 60s (or higher) and night time lows as high as 45.

I'm heading to Insula 5/27 for 5 days. Planning on bringing both winter and summer gear. IMHO as long as you can have a fire at camp it doesn't matter if it is cold. Also, cold weather delays the arrival of the bugs. The fishing will be good either way...

This is the woods boys and girls.

Expect the unexpected; prepare for the worst, hope for the best; improvise, adapt, overcome; pray to God but row (or paddle/swim as the case may be) toward shore; bring a landing net, and an ice auger just in case; the Good Lord helps those that help themselves; and so on & so forth... all right, enough of that BS.

The simple solution is to pack the warmest gear that you wish to carry.

Here's some examples: Pack your winter gear, all 457 pounds of it, and it'll be around the upper 70's and you will say "Who in the *%#& packed all this #@*%?!" or , pack lightly, as in, "I won't need anything more than these thin long handles and this wool shirt" and it will be in the upper 20's and you will say "What $&@*&^* idiot forgot the #!& #*%^ cold weather gear!?".

Such as it was, is & will be... you are powerless to change it.

I agree with Pirate

I also have a trip around May 23. I plan on bringing many layers for the possible conditions. Nothing new there.

One idea that I have used is to look at the actual forecast the night before hitting the water. If your trip is only 3-5 days, the forecast should give you a pretty good information for fine tuning your clothing list...

Northwoods....10 months of winter and two months of tough sledding..

This will be my first spring trip. I decided long ago that I will take the same clothes that I use in late September. 70's? heck that is a gift.

We have 3 trips planned for this year..... spring, summer, and fall. I am tired of thinking about ice out, and the fire bans of fall are looking pretty good to me right now.......

late season...... no water, no people, no bugs, no fires that is the way to go

Yeah...it'll be miserable if you allow it to be miserable.
Plan ahead and plan accordingly.


By the way...this is exactly why I go in August.