I'm sure I'll catch all hell for this but I had planned to go to LOTW. Then to Vermillion. And now I'd like to take my summer camping/vacation trip to the U/P.
First let me say that both LOTW, and V, are on my list, but want more experience before hitting them.
So what are your top 5 picks for U/P lakes. I want the best chance of putting lots of fish in the boat. But I also don't want 25-30 inchers.
I guess part of me wants to find a sleeper somewhere in the northwoods of MICHIGAN, that gets no pressure and has a bunch of hogs. Maybe I'm just dreaming.
Any other things I need to know about your picks would helps, such as camping locations nearby, and if H.P. limits are in effect.
I would say you are definitely dreaming!!! Most of the West UP gets hit hard by Cheeseheads and the East UP gets hit pretty well by tha boys from below da bridge. The size thing is pretty tough to conquer and I would say your best bet to break 50 inches is in the West but it isn't very good anywhere in the UP to be completely honest with you. I don't like name dropping because that kind of ruins the quest of finding the fish in the UP. There's no real big sleeper that I know of. There are some lakes that have low fishing pressure that produce decent size fish (low 40's) but the big waters hold the biggest fish and they are pretty well known. Hope I didn't ruin your dreams! Have fun exploring the waters we have to offer and good luck!
Go west young man! If you are looking to spend a whole week, and want numbers with still a chance at bigger fish, the only choice is really the west end. The east offers only a couple small, stocked lakes but they are separated by many miles- not the right ingredients for a week of fishing. As John E. said, you're not going to discover any hidden gem anywhere up there, but the pressure is not going to be anything like on Vermilion either. You could have a dynamite trip in the native musky waters of the Wisconsin border area.
Everybody in the U.P. is so secretive. Ok here are the secret lakes up there…just kidding, I don't want anyone getting mad at me for info I have obtained, sorry can't help you. I did vacation at Thousand Island lake about 8 years ago. It was really nice and had nice structure and the DNR netted a very large muskie(40+ pounds) in the chain a few years ago. I was just a rookie when I went so I didn't really fish it hard.
MuskyTom
You might need more than a week…
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I'll throw in my limited knowledge on the up. I thought lac view desert was a real cool lake to fish. Saw some real nice ones also. I liked it because it was like bass fishing. No real cabbage bed breaklines and mostly tossing your lure into little pockets of thick grassy stuff. It was different, and unlimited structure. Only drawback is there are alot of fisherman on it, but mostly walleye guys. If you want a bunch of follows, go to lake emily. If you wan't to spend a week trying to see one fish, go tho chicagon lake. But I guess there are some massive fish there.
AK
Most of the lakes in the Upper peninsula are beautiful and many have decent Muskies and some have very nice Muskies and some have huge Muskies. Reminds me of down here except for the beautiful part. I have fished most of them and can tell you this . Just pick several and go. You wont regret fishing anywhere up there. Shell and I have enjoyed fishing for Big Brookies,Walleyes, Pike and even Muskies . We met John (Hi John) esox on one of our trips. Dont pass up a chance at fishing Wisconsin waters while you are at it either. The Eagle river chain has some nice numbers and big fish as well. Even some extreme northern western lakes have some surprises for the curious exploring Musky fishermen. If you have a small dog beware of Eagles as they eat small dogs right off your boat 
kidding of course. Kingfisher
A member of the club in the members only area and people are still being pretty secretive, makes me laugh when I see this stuff whats the point of the members only.
This is what I would do, look at the list of lakes in the fishing reports that will get you started. Then get a cabin or camp on Chicagon and trailer over to Emily. You will see lots of fish and have fun!!! I have never been up there but that is what every single person I have talked to has told me. Good luck and have fun!!!
Should we tell you every single spot and what to use? I don't understand why people think we should get on here and blab our guts to everyone. It took me a long time to learn all the water that I know and it was fun doing it. I don't mind sharing info with people but I'm not going to invite the whole world to where I fish. I don't steer people in the wrong direction and will give general information but I'm not going to tell somebody about spots that have low fishing pressure (these spots are decreasing every year by the way). I have spots that I never used to see anyone and now there are boats there on most days of the week June through November and some of them are really small water. These fish used to suck down bucktails and now I can't hardly force feed them a jig. I know the value of fishing unpressured fish. If you can find the spot on your own then that's great but don't expect me to give you a waypoint. I, personally, don't want to be told every little bit and piece about the water I am fishing. I like to figure it out on my own. That's the funnest part to me. It's not too tough to figure things out anyway. Give me a contour map and tell me that there are muskies in the water and let's rock.
I don't disagree but somebody doing research is going to find out about the lakes I or anybody else mentioned. Spots in the lake no way that is the fun part!!! But the lake itself, why not help another member and shorten the learning curve a little. At least with a club member you can trust in CPR.
I am not talking about anyone specifically so don't take offense. I am just asking what the point of a members only section is if we can't point each other in the right direction.
I got yelled at one time for sending a picture of a fish to Musky Hunter magazine and it was a picture of a fish I caught on a broodstock lake!!! Now we have a challenge on the lake inviting clubs from other states.
I guess I am venting here and the point of the post is to lend someone a hand so that they can get the most out of there hard earned vacation time so I will say once again, make sure you fish Emily although I don't know if it has a camp ground. Also I was just looking through an old Huggler book and I see Grassy, McKeever, and Dana lakes and would bet they are all worth a try.
Finally I know of some cabins on the lower stretch of the Taq river between the falls and the mouth that are awesome. If you are interested in that PM me because it took me a long time to find those cabins for myself and I don't want to just give that info away for free because someone might hoard in on me.
MuskyDan-
Understood… and that's all I've really ever done. I will tell people if they are wasting their time on a lake or not. There are few secrets in the information age anyway.
Of the lakes you mentioned, McKeever is the best for both numbers and size. It is deep and clear for its acreage and grows some nice ones. Grassy has lower numbers with the same size potential as McKeever. It is not as deep but is clear and has an occasional tanker. Dana has decent numbers but the size is not very good. It is only about 100 acres with stunted perch for the main forage.
I have fished the Tahq for muskies for many years and am still learning it. It doesn't give up many big fish but is pretty fun to fish because there is a lot of productive water… it just takes a LOT of casts to learn where that water is. You mentioned one of the best areas and I wouldn't give anybody any details more specific than that but certainly don't frown on you for giving it… especially in the members only area.
Good luck this year and let me know how you did in your UP fishing.
No I don't want spots.
Really just an idea where to start and I got that right away. And FWIW I got a few PM's about a few more specific things. I think that is the way to go to help prevent over pressuring.
I'm probably going to the Cisco chain area. I now just need to find a suitable campground that my wife can tolerate. My little boy will be happy being outside ANYwhere.
I'm going up on Sat the 1st of July I think it is. And will probably stay until wed night. Leave thursday morning and then hit something on the east side or even the taq river thursday evening, friday, and maybe saturday morning.
Might hit Black/Mullet/Indian River, Brevort, or S. Maniste
Or if We are having fun, and catching fish, including some panfish, bass, and walleye for dinner, then I'd just stay on the Cisco chain until saturday morning.
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