Cisco Chain of Lakes

[IllinoisRip]

I have a chance to visit the Cisco Chain over near Land o lakes this next summer. I have not fished there for over 20 years. Does anyone have any current info on the fishing in that Chain? What lakes are good? Which ones to avoid during a limited time on the water? Any blogs or sites from guides in that area? Any help would be appreciated. Rip

[Jax]

I have fished it a couple times. My ex-girlfriend has two cabins on Big Lake of the Cicsco Chain. I have only fished Big Lake and I believe (West Bay?) of the chain and have caught a 40 incher and saw a couple about the same size. I am not familiar with the lake as i said I only fished is a couple times and that was 2-3 years ago. There is a very large weed bed on the southern end of Big Lake (right out in front of the several cabins) that I fished several times and actually caught my 40 incher there. I also saw several other musky fisherman there as well throughout the day. Might want to give that area a try.

[Favrefan]

I fished the Cisco Chain for 20 years. Best musky lake is Big because of some good weedbeds. Fish the large weedbed from the marina north. It's a large bay in the southwest part of the lake. There are two islands that mark the east edge of the weeds. I've taken quite a few fish out of that area. There is also a nice point and bar that run from the east end of Pickerel island. It's a very narrow island with a camp site on it. This is a big fish spot.

West Bay lake also has a deep weedbed running west from the bay west of the sand cut to the point the bay ends. There's a small point that comes out from the western most part of the bay. Lost the biggest fish I ever hooked on this spot. Shoreline on the south side also has a weedbed that has produced for me.

Lindsley lake has the best bars on the chain. You'll need a map and GPS unit to find them.

Fishhawk is a small lake with good weeds. Fish the wedbed to the right of the entrance. It runs toward the island and then east from there. Deep edge is best in summer.

If you want a guide, I'd recommend Bruce Becker.

[IllinoisRip]

Thanks Fan.....I believe the cabin that we will be a guest in may be at one of the northern lakes in the chain. Thousand Island, Cisco, etc, Do you have any knowledge about the productivity of those norther chain lakes? Also, what's the name of the Marina on Big lake? Thanks for all your help...your a great resource.

[twells]

Thousand Island Lake is very nice. There is weeds, steep drops, islands. It is a nice body of water. With the chain you have tons of options for fishing (ie: woods, weeds, rocks, humps, shoreline, step breaks, clear water, stained water). The chain offers some good fishing with-out a ton of traffic except for holiday weekends. Guides in the area that I would reccomend would be Bruce Becker or Pat Sheehan. I've fished with Pat a couple of time and great guy to fish with. I have heard a lot of good things about Bruce also. Don't forget to fish the passage ways to the bodies of water (Morley) there is some nice fish in there. I beleive the ame of the Marina is Big lake Marina. Good luck fishing out there.

[Mark Benson]

Illinoisrip:

While the Cisco is a decent musky water, it also holds nice populations of 'eyes, perch, other pan fish & smallmouth bass. The northern lakes are all good, but you will need a MI license to fish them. The best bet is probably to buy the MI license and then fish all waters either as MI waters or boundary waters. In the MI waters, you can also motor troll. Only Big, West Bay and Mamie are boundary waters to WI and could be fished with WI license. It is one of the great bodies of water in our area!!!

Mark

[IllinoisRip]

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I had the priviledge of working on the staff at this scout reservation between these two lakes. It was a large canoe base lodge built by Walt Williamson out of huge timbers from an iron oar dock. The lodge was very majestic, perfectly postioned in Nature, abundant wildlife and looked like a postcard. I know the camp closed in the 80's and the last I heard was that Wayne State University purchased it. Does anyone know if it still stands, who owns it, and who may be its present occupants. As staff we worked all week supporting canoe trips and outdoor skill building but on the weekends we could take off by canoe and go out into the chain to camp on the islands and fish all weekend. I had no idea what a great experience this was until I got older. Any updates or news would be appreciated.

[Favrefan]

Cisco lake has 2 main weedbeds. One is on your left as you enter the lake from the channel. There's a defined weed edge that runs about even with the edge of the channel. The second one is down by the dam on the north end of the lake. Fishing the east side of the channel can also be productive. Good weed pockets and drowned wood. Wouldn't recommend getting too close to the standing timber with the boat. A lot of the tips are just under the surface. Raised a nice fish in this area last year bass fishing.

The spots on Thousand Island are hard to describe. Easiest one to find is the sunken island west of the boat launch. Mainly rock, but it holds fish all season. There is another one just west of it that is large rock and marked. Be careful when fishing it. My favorite spot is a smaller sunken island on the north end of the lake. It's behind a series of islands (3) with a fairly small opening. Best way to describe how to find it is to bear right as you come into the lake from the channel that connects with Cisco. You'll eventually come to the opening. There are weeds on this spot and a small bay south of it with good weeds.