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Couples of other things just came to mind.

• There's a cheap book called The Back-Country Kitchen that was (and still is) our main source for recipes, ideas, and technical know how. It has all you need to know about dehydrating. We dehydrate our own cooked ground beef, but we bought dry onions, freeze dried chicken and powdered eggs. Please don't dehydrate onions in your house!
  
• Carry some essentials in a separate dry bag than your backpack. Ours has: a fleece jacket, a Tilley, light rain coat, light rain pants, medium size towel (synthetic), tuque, headlamp, matches and a roll of TP in a Zip-loc bag. When the weather changes, the light goes out or nature calls, you don't want to have to open (or even move) your backpack. We just attach it to the backpack in portages.
  
• We take a blue foam sleeping pad (or a yellow one) and cut it in four or five "sections" along the width. And we carry the 4 or 5 mini pads with us. We use them for everything. Put one (or more) on your canoe seat, protect your knees when kneeling in the canoe, keep one in the tent vestibule so you can remove your boots (or sandals) in the vestibule and put your feet on something dry and clean before getting in the tent, put some under your sleeping pad when the site is not as level as you though it was, sit on them when stopping for lunch (way more comfortable than wet rock!), extra padding for your shoulder on long portages, workbench when you need to dismantle your cooking burner, etc. That list could go on and on. They don't absorb water, they're cheap and they weight close to nothing.
  
• Carry and use a diary. Note everything: distance covered, animals seen, what you ate and how good (or bad) it was, gear performance (good or bad), weather, and how you feel. It's very important for remembering, for sharing your route with the next canoeist, for improving your canoe-camping skills. Believe me you won't regret it.
  
• During winter remove TP rolls from the bathroom when they're half used. Half TP rolls are easier to carry and manipulate and they fit better in zip-loc sandwich sized bags (use the freezer type bag with heavier plastic, not the thin lunch ones). Put TP rolls everywhere: your kitchen bag, your essentials bags, your barrel, your backpack, everywhere! Once on the Natashquan river in Labrador we met a group who was ready to give us a full bottle of single malt scotch in exchange for 2 TP rolls in ziploc bags. You do not want to be without TP.
  
  That's all that comes to mind right now.
  
  
  

The Kickapoo river isn’t north country paddling, but it’s a great multi day paddle fairly close to Chicago. There are several outfitters based out of Ontario, Wi that do rentals and shuttles.

There isn’t anything quite like the BWCAW in Wisconsin, but there are great multi-day river trips. The closest thing to the BWCAW is the Sylvania Wilderness on the border of Wisco and the UP. It’s small (30k acres maybe), but you can portage and paddle some beautiful lakes.

St. Croix, Black, Wisconsin, nemekagon, Wolf, and bois brûle are great Wisco rivers to do multi-day paddling trips on. St croix, Black, Wisconsin, and namekegon would be the two I’d recommend for beginner level canoeists.

You’ve got some nice reservoir paddling with campsites on the flambeau and willow river flowages.

“Paddling Wisconsin” is a good source for trip info:

https://www.amazon.com/Paddling-Wisconsin-Guide-States-Routes/dp/0762738286

Went for the first time last Aug 2017 and had a blast. The weather was rain/cloudy though so my experience may be unique in that it wasn't too crowded (forecasts of thunder for the weekend). The difference being that I understand it can be a madhouse in the summer months with good forecasts. I also had all the equipment and truck for transport. No rentals or help from local stores.

http://www.sacobound.com/images/maps/SacoMap.pdf (I refer to #s on this map).

We put in at Saco Bound 2nd site (saco bound landing) cause I couldn't find a free site to park up river. The Saco bound landing parking was like $20 for the weekend. You buy it at their main building. We got off at the Hiram spot (bottom right of the map) which is free parking. This route allows you maximum time on the river while not encountering any portages if your glamping like I do and don't want to carry a ton past the swan falls dam.

The Sand Bar stories are true with a ton of them along the Saco banks - moreso in drier weather. Our wet weather reduced a few. If its super wet out with a lot of preceding rain I would check with the local rental places. It could surge enough to cover all the bars. In the beginning and end there are plenty of sand bars. Near 15 on the map they start disappearing and only appearing again towards the end when it starts getting curvy again. I would camp before 15 your first night - probably a little before. Don't want near 15 to be your last resort just in case its full. Again our weekend had bad weather so there were plenty to go around. If you go on a beautiful weekend i would get an EARLY start to claim a plot before others fill in. Can't guarantee you will get a bar to yourself, but people are generally friendly if not a tad roudy. Aim for a small bar if you want isolation.

Putting in where I did and getting out at Hiram was a solid 3 day trip, starting a late morning Friday and finishing up Sunday afternoon.

If you camp near one of the connecting lake/ponds/swamps MOSQUITOES are everywhere. ENEMY NUMBER ONE. Eaten alive our first night when parked near 15 on the map. Next time I am glamping with a mosquito gazebo so we can get some peace. Second night down the river was much more sane. I also recommend one of these for #2 trips in the woods for mosquito defense:
https://www.amazon.com/WolfWise-Portable-Changing-Dressing-Backpack/dp/B071RHQP6V/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1520992497&sr=8-7&keywords=pop+up+changing+tent

Bring a lot of firewood - has to be Maine sourced. I would see if you can buy some a little further away from the Saco to reduce tourist traps $$$. We were lucky due to the weather that we were able to find some driftwood to add to ours. However, if its a row of popular weekends I expect the river will be picked bone-dry for driftwood and you can't cut fresh wood.

I didn't fish, so can't really help you there. I didn't see too many fish in the water while travelling through, but I don't know if that is an accurate measurement.

Also, I got this after the fact but know it will be useful next time:
https://www.amazon.com/Saco-River-Map-Guide-Amc/dp/1929173199

Let me know if you have any other questions - I found information so sparse when researching it myself that its a joy to be able to share.

Nice. We'll definitely not be carrying 8+ days of water. Probably won't drink straight from the lake either.

I prefer a water filter for camping trips like this. Just scoop up lake water into the 'dirty' bag, attach the filter, and squeeze or let gravity do the work, out comes clean water. This is a great way to eliminate the bacteria (like giardia) from the water, while still using it from the source.

Sawyer Squeeze is the brand/model.

• https://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP131-PointOne-Squeeze/dp/B005EHPVQW
  
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  I'm a light weight backpacker traditionally - so I think keeping weight low in the canoe will be easy. I guess that's until we start adding in the luxuries like chairs and coolers.
  
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  The umbrella is a great idea. I'm gonna look into that one!

I am on the river often around the St Joseph to Kansas City area. I live in Leavenworth and serve as a river angel here. The absolute best advice I can give you is to join the Missouri River Paddlers Facebook page and start reading. I believe almost everyone who has paddled from the source (Browers Spring in Montana) to the Mississippi is on that page. After joining the page you can set up an itinerary and the veterans and River Angels will pretty much talk you through planning and executing your trip.
I have hosted probably a dozen long distance paddlers as they pass through here. All have been organized through the page. River Angels take people in, feed them, do their laundry, etc. all in exchange for stories and kinship of like minded people.
Also, highly recommend the book by Dave Miller.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Paddler-Guidebook-Paddling-Headwaters/dp/1560373253

If you want to get in touch with people that have paddled the entire river, and don't use Facebook, let me know. I can get you in touch with some wonderful people who would share advice.

If you're looking for a whole week trip, shuttling down to Corvallis and paddling the Willamette back up to the pullout in West Linn is a good 5-day expedition. I did it with the Boy Scouts one summer, and except for the one day of unseasonally torrential rain we had a great time. The Willamette River Keepers has a pretty detailed "water trail" map of the river with marked camping locations and points of interest.

I don't know if they're the best books on the topic, but I have these two:

• Canoe and Kayak Routes of Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington: Including Southwest Washington
  
• Soggy Sneakers: A Paddler's Guide to Oregon's Rivers
  
  Soggy Sneakers has more whitewater stuff in it, but both have a good number of flatwater trips as well.

I really like the sawyer water filter. Whatever you get, the best thing you can do is fill up a 'dirty water' container in the middle of the lake, and use that to refill your gravity filter. Over 5 gallons starts to get tricky to bring back into the canoe. We tend to pour the filtered water directly into a container rather than use a 'clean' bag. Pro tip - if you are boiling water for cooking, you don't need to filter it. Just use that big jug of fairly clean water you pulled from a good distance from shore.

As a pot, a 9 cup coffee peculator works really well for just boiling water. Bonus as it also acts as a peculator - heat water in another pot, then poor over the filter/grinds rather than wait for a full boil to peculate. I'll usually pack a 600ml pot that heats smaller amounts of water and doubles as my coffee cup. Nice to have a single walled cup you can set on the fire grate.

For the morning oatmeal, I just pack in a paper bowl. Easy cleanup in the fire.

Depending on how many days, a canister style stove is hard to beat for groups of four. Longer trips, or trips with more people, a white gas stove starts to work out better. There is an entire cult around building beer can stoves, but they tend to be a bit slow for 4 hungry people.

We tend to do a fair bit of freeze dried foods when we go. A long handled spoon - either from a DQ malt or something fancy titanium works nicely for eating directly out of the bag. No real cleanup.

I'm packing in an $0.88 pizza pan as an aluminum surface to cook fish if it is over the fire, an aluminum foil pouch for in the fire. Semi-disposable Tupperware works nicely to keep crackers from getting crushed in a pack.

Going in this weekend as well. Will be in the bars in Ely the Friday night before. Possibly see you in that corner of the world!

OP, if you are paddling long distance flat water, you will get more bang for your buck with a bent shaft paddle. The bend makes for a much more efficient stroke resulting in you being able to go farther and feel less fatigued. I use this one:

Bending Branches BB Special Canoe Paddle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00404YQCU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_aYBPzbJMXWKEY

I use this paddle on flat spots on rivers here in the southeast. And when rapids come, I bust out my straight one. There Are a bunch out there though, have fun!

MSR Alpine cookset that I'm not going to get.

I love that they're stainless and how well they nest for compact storage. I'd also like the matching frypan.

I know it's not going to happen as I don't get out enough to justify the cost.

I have 1 of these things. It's pretty handy. Also makes a good side table to keep next to the camp chair to put lanterns and/or drinks on.

I have the Klymit Static V. Better than a foam pad. Packs down small. Within your budget. https://www.amazon.com/Klymit-Static-Lightweight-Sleeping-Green/dp/B007RFG0NM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499701452&sr=8-3&keywords=klymit+static+v

My "go to" is my Exped SynMat 7. Packs small. Very comfortable. Built in pump. But outside your budget but worth the money IMO. https://www.amazon.com/Exped-SynMat-Sleeping-Terracotta-Long/dp/B0018MC976/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499701508&sr=8-3&keywords=exped+mat

I had a good time with these Marchway Amazon bags

I have the 10 & 20 L

You really can't beat the GCI Sitbacker. Been going on an annual 4-day canoe trip for about 10 years and some of the guys still have their original chair.

I'm planning on buying these : https://www.amazon.com/GCI-Outdoor-SitBacker-Adjustable-Support/dp/B0018S0R38/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=canoe+seat+backer&qid=1555533334&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

I myself am using folding saws of various brands with changeable blades - at the moment my go to saw is this one

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B002CJM3JI/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_60_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PM9ED9Z3D1M196MQYRD9&dpPl=1&dpID=61f%2BFqKEE3L

They weight next to nothing and can be very very usefull

This one by the same brand has the lighter aluminum poles (and more mesh so better breathability?) but I had mostly ruled it out for costing so much more. Would you say it's worth the extra money to lose that little weight?