When is the best month to plan on going to the BW. I went a couple years ago and what we called army worms (not sure if thats what they were) covered everything it was impossible to find a spot without them we did not let them get in the way of our fun though. I was also wondering where a good place to go for "beginners" when i went i was with a few other people that had been their many times learned a little bit. Also one of the guys that we went with caught a 11 pound walleye it looked huge considering most the other walleyes were rather small we then took a picture and released it would have been a fish for the wall but we didnt want to take the chance of it getting ruined and not being able to use it. Kinda looking for a adventure and some good fishing spots. Would like to go as soon as possible all this nice weather in Minnesota is really givin me the itch to get out camping and fishing.. thanks

Does the fishing season open the same as the rest of Minnesota?

Forgot something how long is a rod.

one rod is 16.5 feet. There are 320 rods in a mile.

Example a 100 rod portage is 100/320 or about 1/3 of a mile.

The fishing regulations in the BWCAW are generally the same as the rest of the state. Double check size restrictions, limits and seasons on trout especially. The main season opens at the same time.

Anytime you can go is a good time to go. The army worms peaked a couple of years ago and are not much of a problem right now. Most people will tell you the bugs are worst from June to early July. I personally like May and September-October but that is getting too cold for many paddlers. If you go in July and August you will see lots of people. So you need to decide what is more of a bother for you:

Bugs, crowds, cold and possible snow etc. What you want to avoid will steer you to when you should go.

The army worms go in cycles. I believe it's every four years that they are around. In the summer of 2002 they were terrible and the DNR introduced this fly that laid it's eggs in the eggs of the worm and that was suppose to take care of it. They tried to fight evil with evil, and it didn't work very well b/c the next thing they had to worry about were the flies. I worked up there last summer as well as in the summer of 2002 and there were no army worms last summer so if there are any this year they shouldn't be too bad. They really don't cause any harm they are just annoying, same with the flies they don't bite but having a hundred on you at once isn't exactly relaxing. The earlier the better to escape the bugs. The colder the weather the less bugs there are. It really doesn't matter though, you're going to be battling some sort of insect no matter what time you go.

Humbled