I'm lucky enough to be returning to the UP for my annual fishing trip this year. I will be fishing the greater Iron County/Crystal Falls area for 12 days 😀 I definitely want to hit up Emily & Chicagon, but does anyone have any advice on other waters to find muskie in this area, or tips on where to start at these two lakes? The guys at Crystal Bait talk highly of the Paint River but couldn't (or wouldn't) offer any advice on where to launch, etc.
Last year my buddy and I decided on the last day of the trip to try to catch our first muskies, and we both did. 1 on Emily and 1 on Chicagon. 1 year and over $1000 later I'm headed back with proper equipment and a tiny bit of knowledge. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!
Also, if anyone has any tips to help us boat a few of those football sized smallies on Chicagon, I would be happy to listen!
Thanks fellas
You might even want to call ahead to see what size they have. If they don't carry bigger sizes, that doesn't mean that the truck that delivers the minnows doesn't have them. Ive done this before. Just have the bait store call the distributor (minnow truck) and see if they can get them. If so, they should sell them to you individually. Then the bait store just puts them in their tanks until you pick them up. They'll be expensive, maybe 5 bucks per sucker, but the last time i did this they were nice big suckers.
Just make sure you have a suitable place for them to live for a week. A minnow cage would be ideal in Chicagons colder water.
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Brent
I'm sorry to say that I totally missed "the good 'ol days" on Sanford. I'm a converted bass and pike guy who only caught his first muskie a year ago…to the day actually. But I caught 2 of them that day on 2 different lakes, so that's something. Maybe?
But anyway, I will be going up to my uncle's deer camp for a glorious 12 days of fishing, adult beverages, 4 wheeling, shooting, and catching up with old buddies (not necessarily in that order). It's been a yearly tradition for nearly a decade…literally the highlight of my year! Last year we decided to hit a different body of water on the last day of the trip, and now I'm yet another obsessed, poor, muskie guy [smilie=biggrin.gif]
And Weatherby, if you ever need a boat partner to not catch muskies on Sanford, let me know 
it's the closest lake to my house with any opportunity to hook into one of these elusive monsters. I even bought the $50 boat launch pass!
Sounds like a great trip- it just don't get no better!
There are 3 ramps to get you into different parts of the Paint River musky water. In the Crystal Falls Impoundment just above the dam right near town, just above the Little Bull Dam down towards Peavy Lake off of Lake Mary Rd., and in Paint Pond Impoundment. Crystal Falls Impoundment has the least to offer for fish size and awesomeness of the water/habitat, but it does have good numbers.
Tons of water to cover in the rivers & impoundments, very tough to narrow anything down for you. But my favorite is probably the Little Bull to Mud Lake stretch.
Just got back after an awesome week at Mckeever the 23rd. Fishing was slow. Bunch of lazy follows. Good weather till Friday. On the second day of the trip I lost the go to lure of 40+ fish on a local lake. My Chad Sandy Wabull hit the side of a Lilly pad cluster and I saw a giant swoosh up from the depths towards the lure. I pounded it back towards the fish on habit, and felt a gentle tugging and saw the fish flare and felt my line go limp. I saw her flash around and head towards what looked like my falling lure and pound the bottom on her way out . Many follows on inactive fish, chased out by bad weather at the end of the week bit definitely one of the best fishing vacations I have ever been on!
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