Isle Royale Forums

I'm planning a trip up in August with three others. Myself and one other have been up before, but neither of us has fished on the island, just hiked.

I've read all the threads on here related to fishing, and I think I have a pretty good handle on what to use for lures.

I think we will only have one afternoon/evening to fish at Chickenbone so I want to be efficient. We are planning on staying at Chickenbone East on our way across the island. I'm just wondering if anyone has fished on Chickenbone recently and if so if there's any particular hot spots or specific lures you had success with.

If we only have half a day should we just spend it all at Chickenbone? Or would it be worth hiking down to Livermore to give a try there as well?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You'll catch a lot of fish at Chickenbone, guaranteed. Good eating fish. It's a beautiful area, too. You'll probably have a moose hanging out with you while you fish as well.

I would strongly urge you to stay at West Chickenbone instead of East Chickenbone, FYI.

Can't speak to Livermore, as I've never fished it.

Certainly West Chickenbone would be the best option for total experience package.
East campsite is some hundred+ feet above lake so up and downs for drinking water/
fishing/dish cleaning would take a toll. West campsite is on lakeshore.

And for fishing opportunity, West is better as well. The east end is a weed choked shallow
drainage area with little brush-free shoreline access. The west end has a trail on edge of
lake all the way to McCargo Cove (lots of shore access points). I have fished lake on five
different canoe trips and have has best catch on West Side for both Northern and Walleye Pike.

I spent a night at East Chickenbone on my first trip to Isle Royale 14 years ago. I'm still irritated that the Ranger I scheduled my itinerary with didn't give me some kind or hint, or at least raise her eyebrows with a questioning look. I think it must be an inside joke that the rangers laugh about when they get together in the evening and tell their daily backpacker stories. The bottom line is that friends don't let friends stay at East Chickenbone. I don't even know you and I don't want you to stay there - unless you're one of those people who snores like two wolves snarling over a hunk of moose meat. In that case, East Chickenbone offers extra privacy and a great view of the stars.

Thanks for the feedback. I think we will be changing our itenerary to stay at West Chickenbone based on all of the feedback provided here. It will add a tad to the hiking mileage, but nothing we can't manage.

Anythoughts on Livermore? Or would you expect that we would have enough success on Chickenbone that we would be better advised to not spend the time hiking down and back and rather spend the time fishing Chickenbone?

Thanks again!