Pine county musky lakes

[mainbutter]

I'll be in the pine county area musky opener weekend and am hoping to do some fishing.

I'll be in a canoe with the girlfriend along.

I'm hoping to do some all species fishing with a chance at muskies, so I'll probably be throwing lots of bigger pike and bass lures.. gliders, cranks, #5-6 bucktails, and maybe 5-8'' swimbaits.

Right now I'm trying to narrow down where to go, assuming weather permits. Looking at lakefinder, the only two pine county lakes that are STOCKED with muskies are Cross and Island. Island was sampled in 2004, and while northerns were plentiful, there wasn't a single musky sampled despite stocking efforts going back to at least 2001.

Should I hit one of those lakes? Does anyone have suggestions for other lakes in the area that have non-stocked populations?

In addition, I've been told by a non-fisherman in the area that Big Pine is supposed to have muskies in it, but the DNR HSOforum seems to say otherwise. Are there any muskies in there?

Thanks!

[AnglerX]

Cross and Island are both good choices. Otherwise if you are in a canoe a trip down the Kettle would be really fun and there are Muskies in there as well. Good luck!

[Zelmsdawg]

I've seen fish in both lakes within the last couple years so don't worry about that. Best way is to just pick one try it out a couple times and if you're not feeling that lake or river try the next option. Exploring new lakes is one of the best parks of fishing in my opinion

Zelmsdawg