coosbo,

Those are good waters for lake trout and I've fished them quite a bit (with the exception of McAlpine, where I've always just "passed through").  My recommendations:

1.  Bring a depthfinder & seek a minimum of 40 feet depth (preferably 60).
2. If you are inclined to "jig fish" or if you spot several fish on you screen, the Klos Brothers lures advertised in the BWJ can be productive.
3. Unless I spot a cluster OR I happen to know of a productive "hole", I almost always troll.  On Kas & Quetico lakes I've done well with fat-lipped, deep-diving "cisco- like" lures.  White "Hellbenders" are my favorite. Flashy six-inch feather-lite Sutton Spoons a close second (trailing behind a clip-on weight).  You don't have to get your lure down to 40-60 feet.  Trout will come up a LONG ways to attack a flashy lure IF they're feeding.
4.  For some reason (probably a change in the forage fish available), I
haven't had as much luck with cisco-like lures on big Pickerel Lake. Rather, I do better with Reef Runners, Bomber lures, & spoons. I've seen some folks put flashy mylar straps on whatever they're using & do well.
5. On Quetico Lake I'll fish straight down the middle of any arm of the lake, as long as I'm in/near 60 feet of water.
6. On Kas, it's the same approach, though I try to fish parallel to the big reefs.  Also, I, for one, have had far better luck fishing for LT in the western half of the lake.
7. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't bother fishing McAlpine; probably that's a mistake.
8. On big Pickerel Lake. I like that stretch of water above Wetasi Island & running east from there a couple miles to where it opens up wide & that big white whale rock sits in the middle (nice beach campsites near there, too; just a mile or so north of the dam above Beg, Risk &Bud).  Frankly, there's good LT water all the way east on Pickerel out to the Pines.  A lot of folks jig their favorite spots on Pickerel, more so than on other lakes in my experience.  Pick an island, find 60 feet of water nearby and start
trolling or jigging, whichever is your pleasure.
9. I've had my best luck with lake trout between 10am and 4pm.  However, that could well be because I'm almost always fishing for other species earlier & later.

That's what comes to mind at the moment.  Feel free to PM me if you'd like me to add a few specifics.

Jimbo 

Good point about changing up tactics, OS.  It's not unusual for me to go through 4-5 different lures & 2-3 different presentations before I figure out what's working.  Patience is definitely a virtue when fishing for LT.

Also, getting someone knowledgeable to divulge a "fishing hole" can really pay off.  Old Salt put me on one spot that yielded not just one but the TWO biggest lake trout I've ever boated.  One of those fish earned nearly a full page picture (with the smiling kid holding it) in an issue of The Boundary Waters Journal.

Jimbo 

A very small handheld is all I ever bring. Takes up little space & weight is negligible.  I don't even bother looking at fish symbol details. All I ever focus on is "what is the water depth?"

I expect you'll be happy to have brought it along.

One additional thought... while LT  are not technically a "schooling" fish, many LT fishermen will start jigging for them once they've located 1-2 in the same general vicinity.  They may not school BUT often you'll find them feeding in the same area.  For example, those two monsters that OS put me on we're taken in the very same spot, about 25 minutes apart (it took all that long for the teenager to play the first fish & for us to take a lot of pictures).

Good luck!

Jimbo 

Lots of good advice already given.  We usually do pretty well trolling a variety of deep diving crankbaits including tail dancers or sometimes a spoon and a snap weight.  LT tend to follow your lures sometimes and not bite until you reel in or change speed.  We sometimes end up with LT doubles while reeling in one line rapidly to prevent line tangles during a hook up, it can trigger a bite reaction.

One other thing I will add. I have recorded some sonar logs on Quetico, Cirrus and Kasakokwog lakes over the last couple of years trips and submitted them to the CMAP social map.  It is a free depth map you could load on a Lowrance fish finder.  The mapping is far from complete, but it's a start that others can build on.  I know you mentioned buying a Garmin, so the map won't work on your unit.  You can however view the map online(free registration required) ahead of time to perhaps get some ideas of where to fish.  The online version of the map displays depths in meters, while on my unit I have it set to display in feet. 

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Just wanted to report back and let those of you that helped know that I was able to land a couple of lake trout. We covered about 50 miles over a 5 night trip so we were on the move quite a bit, but I feel like I fished pretty hard and still only caught two. So I'm thinking I still have a lot to learn. Perhaps stop going in September would be a good start . Thanks again all for the advice. I'll pull together a trip report for those interested. Colby