I didn't read the other posts (sorry). Depends what you mean by Southern Canada. I live in Southern Ontario and by July the black flies are generally done and the mossies are getting less bothersome. You'll be getting into deer fly season though. Much of the black fly and mossie populations will depend on the trip too. Black flies breed in moving water and mossies like it stagnant. If our Spring is very wet and moderate temperature wise then there is a chance that the mossie populations will be large and if we don't have some good and hot days in June, they'll still be around.

If you pm me a little about your trip I can give you better advice especially if it is an area I've travelled. I'd recommend bug wear over deet and other chemicals when it comes to children. I can send you a Health Canada report as to why, if you like.

Oh, and South River has their annual Black Fly hunt in July. It's a contest to see who can use a ziploc to catch the most bugs.

I can't day that I know how things are enforced recently but I was somewhat involved (providing citizen feedback) when the current management plan was adopted and followed the entire process in great detail. At that time we were told that the plan banned "craft designed to be powered by sail".

But there's really no reason to rely on anecdotal info. BWCAW is administered by the Superior National Forest and I would expect them to answer questions if submitted with good lead time. If you get a favorable answer (in writing of course) then bring it with you in case you run into a hard nosed ranger.

In 2007, my Venture Crew and I went through an outfitter in Grand Marais, MN and spent six days on the water along the U.S.- Canadian border. The bugs were really bad and 100% deet didn't even phase them. One of my advisors takes garlic pills for his heart and he didn't get a single bite the entire week.

Went in 09 to Atikoken. There were several places where the bugs were really bad. Head nets, Deet, long-sleeve shirt, long pants, really good rain gear, and Jungle Boots.

We hit a lot of rain on our trip. Some of the portages had really bad 'moose muck.' Several ended in mud that was thigh high. Pretty funny to see them try to get out. In these bad portages, we didn't carry the canoes on our shoulders. We had people at either end of the canoe. We'd lift the canoe up, move it forward a little bit, set it down, and use it as floatation so we wouldn't sink so much.

We chose a lot of large lakes on our routes. Really fast paddling in calm weather. In rough weather, we swamped a few canoes (3 people + gear per canoe overloaded every one of them above their listed capacity). Of course, we had a few big boys and adults. :)

If I had it to do all over again, I probably 'steer' the youth to routes with fewer big lakes and more streams and smaller lakes. One adult leader used a hammock to sleep in. That looked like a good possibility for future trips.

The issue tents they used were in pretty sorry condition. Take your own tents if they're decent.

Which base is the best? My Venturing crew is investigating this for a summer trip, but I don't know a lot about it.