Hey Steve, I can't be much help on this one, but I did fish there for a week several years ago. We stayed at a resort on Thousand Island (which I'd have to look up) and it was on the NE point. With limited knowledge, no guide, and nothing but a youthful casting arm in my arsenal, it was tough to say the least. Even with limited experience I still felt we fished good musky locales, unfortunately we were hit hard with a early September cold front the first night. Even the guide was having trouble finding fish…..We ended up settling on a trolling run that produced a couple of mid forty inch fish. Two fish in 40hrs I'd bet…..I know it can be tough. Several lakes in the chain with different structure and depths. Historically, it has produced VERY LARGE fish.
Just like Adam I also spent one week at a camp there, plus several other single day excursions to the chain over the years. I would definitely stay on 1000 Island for the only reason that I would be fishing its clear water and giant fish at first and last light every day.
We stayed at Wilderness Bay which is fancier than I would go for if the wives weren't along, but it was I think slightly quieter/isolated from the other resorts.
Like Adam mentioned, the Chain is cool because you can see lots of different types of water just by taking relatively short boat rides between lakes. But there are quite a few houses/cottages/boat traffic, so it is not a wilderness experience. I stayed the July 4th week though, and I still wouldn't say it hindered the fishing much.
As for the fishing I would say its about right on par with your typical Wisconsin experience. Respectable numbers and size average, but with the added wildcard of 1000 Island which is home to some exceptional fish. And the rock/reef structure on 1000 island is somewhat different than most, in an awesome sort of way.
We stayed there the week of July becoming August this year and got our asses handed to us the whole week by water temps and ridiculous amounts of boat traffic. Any given day there were thirty to forty musky boats doing the exact same thing in the exact same patterns. We ended up driving to Chicagon and Emily with Emily the only lake showing fish. If I were you I would stay between the two and fish both. Staying on TI is awesome but it makes a really long drive to go anywhere else. If you are just going to vacation and cruise Wilderness is a great place to stay. If you want to be mobile and get after fish I would stay off the lake [smilie=2c.gif] FWIW that was my third week on that lake with zilch to show for muskies 
had our chances before but this last year the weather killed us.
Kevin
Guy's does it make any difference that were going like the third week in Sep. Alot of the families won't be there and alot of the yahoos have put there toys up. There looks like 5 or 6 resorts in that NE corner of the lake. Some look like the family orentinted type, were just looking for a good clean not fancy place. So any thoughts on any of these places. I lso figure we can go into Record, Africa, Lil Africa, Ciscoe and some of the others, plus trolling is in. Is there a ton of islands? I've been told it's clear and alot of rock bars and rock reefs. Any info you can throw in would be welcomed. Thanks guys, Steve
Sept will definitely be better the problem is when the weather is real hot the fish disappear, this last year they didn't start catching skis until October. With the whole issue of booking ahead that becomes a problem. The little lakes look good on the map but are extremely shallow and weed choked in much of them even late in the year. There is a ton of GREAT water though that is easy to access and fish trolling is a great option to cover the vast areas of water. It is a great place for the scenery alone but the fishing can be fickle (I guess thats true everywhere though) Worth the trip for sure and if you decide to go I will be glad to go into more detail.
Kevin
Steve, I've spent 3 weeks or so fishing the Cisco chain, fishing mainly 1000 island lake. Great scenery and really not alot of boat traffic compared to many of the Vilas county lakes. Stayed at wilderness bay which is a nice place with a store and gas at the docks. Camped at Sylvania wilderness area as well which is just down the road from the launch about 5 miles. Really only ran in to a few other musky fisherman during my July trips. Easy access to the other connected lakes as well. E-mail me if you need more info.
Tim
I've also stayed at wilderness bay, nice place, glad it's under new ownership now. The old owner (about 10 yrs ago) hated the muskies because they where eating all his walleye [smilie=brickwall.gif] . Therefore he didn't care for us. But just like the others have said the bait shop is handy and its right there.
Steve, what I would do if your thinking of wilderness bay resort is to call ahead and talk to the owner and see if his live bait distribution person could get you some large suckers. That's what I did when I was there, and they where big. The only problem was is that he( the owner) wouldn't let me keep them in his live bait tanks with his minnows. He said they would steal all the oxygen away from his walleye minnows [smilie=bs.gif] . So I had to keep 2 dozen 12-16 in suckers in my live well and in minnow baskets over the dock……..most of them died.
I've also stayed at the Cisco lake resort. Not quite as fancy and a little cheaper, but the bar/ restaurant is right across the road.
As far as the fishing— I got my ass handed to me as we'll. No excuses when your there a week. I know there has been some real giants though that have came from that chain. I talked to the DNR officer that was involved in shocking thousand Is. Lk. a few yrs back and it made my jaw drop what he claims is in there. I think the density is fairly low there, but its probably one of the prettiest lakes I've been on.
Brent
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