I don't have much time to reply now, but I'll write a little now and more later.

The time it will take to get to Malberg depends, of course, on your paddling speed and especially how you portage. Do you single, double, or triple portage? Here is a route with the defaults of 3 MPH paddling, 2 MPH portaging, and double portaging - Kawishiwi to Malberg. Change the settings to match your tripping style and press Find Route again.

You'll catch walleyes, SMB, and northerns in that area. A good northern area is in the outflow at the end of the portage on the northeast end of Malberg. through the shallow area to Campsite 1050 - good northern area. I've also seen a lot of people make the loop here - Malberg-Kawishiwi Fishing Loop.

I did Kawishiwi to Adams a couple years ago, via Malberg. We got to Adams, single-portaging, with no lunch break in about 8 hours, so that would have put us on Malberg within about 5. A few thoughts from that trip:

- There are a fair number of boulders just under the surface on the river between Square and Kawasachong Lakes. Not a big deal, just be aware of them.
- The two portages between Kawasachong and Polly aren't terrible, but they do come pretty much back-to-back. Combined, that is 275 rods. That said, the elevation change is minimal, so they are just a little long. Make sure to mentally prepare yourself for a half mile and then quarter mile cool down. :)
- Our group had a lot of first-timers (myself included). Many were about ready to be done when we fnished Malberg, so your distance is probably good. We always try to get as early a start as possible.

I can't help much with fishing since that isn't really my specialty. That said, this trip convinced me to keep coming back to the BWCA - I thought it was fantastic. I would go that route again if it wasn't for my tendency to want to see new territory. Have fun!