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Posts: 18
| Hi Folks - was hoping for a little help on Island Lake Reservoir. I'm not looking for spots or anything of that sort. Looking for a family cabin and thinking about this lake, but would like a decent population of musky to fish too hopefully. It's been stocked over the years. The Muskies Inc. Lunge Long doesn't have a high quantity of fish recorded from it though. Read a few other posts from a few years back that it's kind of a tough nut to crack sometimes. Any feedback or info on the lake would be appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer.
Thanks much!
Marc |
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Posts: 1828
| I haven't fished it for muskies and don't know anyone who has, but it actually seems like a cool place for a cabin. Lots of walleyes, mostly small, but you could figure out how to get the big ones. And it would be fun to crack the nut given that your cabin is right there, so you can put your time in. It's not a lake I'd travel to, but if the cabin's there, it becomes a cool project to figure out the muskies. |
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Posts: 897
| Things to consider about purchasing property on Island.
1) Almost all property around that lake is owned by Minnesota Power. So, you can't get traditional mortgages. It also means you're leasing the land from them AND you still get to pay property taxes! On a 300k house, you're looking at about $7200 per year for taxes and lease payments. That's a lot.
2) The water level fluctuates greatly. 3 of the past 7 years the water has been 3-4 feet below full pool for the majority of the summer. Every winter Minnesota Power draws Island down 7-10' and guesses on whether it will fill up again. They're wrong frequently.
3) There's not much for sandy beach property on Island. You're very likely to have a gravel beach.
4) As far as fishing, there's a reason not many people fish it regularly for muskies - including locals. It's a tough nut to crack, even when you're out there all the time. There are some nice fish in there but you can go days without seeing anything.
5) As far as walleye, you're looking at a ton of 7-12 inchers for the most part. Some folks have figured out the bigger fish, but not many.
Personally, I'd pick another lake to have a cabin on. |
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Posts: 386
| I used to fish Island quite regularly from 2002-2006 and had some really good days but had substantially more bad days. It's a really tough lake to fish with not many fish in there. If I were looking at buying a cabin with muskie fishing being one of the top priorities, it wouldn't be there. |
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Posts: 444
Location: Duluth, MN | I agree with everything said so far. Myself and Whynot above probably fish Island more than anyone at this point as most people have moved to other lakes. 6-8 years ago it was fantastic fishing. On weekday evenings you could see many muskie boats out hitting all the popular spots then the decline started and the floods a few years ago took a toll. Now you can pretty much have the lake to yourself...you'll maybe see 1-2 boats fishing muskies. Like most lakes that had a boom several years back the fishing has pulled back....seems bigger fish have taken over...i haven't seen a fish less than 40 inches in quite awhile. That might seem good but there are so few BIG fish that you really need to put in a lot of time to dial anything in and even then it's very difficult.
The DNR is slowly realizing that but haven't really done anything about it other than increase fry stocking which popular belief seems to point to that doesn't really help as they end up getting eaten by the walleye and pike. Hopefully they will figure out a way to start stocking yearlings instead.
Yes you can catch a true trophy out there but it's not easy. I'm not saying any of this to keep anyone from fishing Island. It's just the reality of a lot of lakes in MN from what i hear.
Funny thing is i am looking for a cabin\property on Lake of the Woods as i've been going up there twice a year the last few years and my boat in is Island Lake 24hrs a day:}
Good Luck
Edited by Lundbob 5/26/2016 9:54 AM
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Posts: 18
| Yeah, thanks guys. I had a feeling it was about like that but was hoping to hear different. That's odd to me about paying a lease and property taxes too. I'm not doubting it but seems strange to pay property taxes on land you don't own and need to pay a lease to continue to have a cabin on too. Good info I didn't know. Saw the lease listed with some of the properties and figured it was to the power company.
Thanks again,
Marc |
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