How many lakes are in the Cisco Chain?

Locals count 15 and the state counts 14. The difference is Clearwater Lake, which connects to Little African Lake only by a small creek, not a navigable channel.

Is the Cisco Chain in Wisconsin or Michigan?

Both. Most of the lakes are in Gogebic County, Michigan. Big Lake and West Bay Lake are split by the state line, and Mamie Lake is entirely in Wisconsin, in the Town of Land O' Lakes.

Do I need a Michigan fishing license on the Cisco Chain?

Most of the Chain is in Michigan, so check the border-water rules and carry the right license for where you fish. Tackle Box in Land O' Lakes sells both states' licenses.

Where can I rent a pontoon on the Cisco Chain?

McCormack's Cisco Chain Marina on Big Lake rents pontoons, boats and motors from April through October. Land O Lakes Boat Rentals and Lindemann Rentals deliver pontoons to launches and docks.

Can you camp on the Cisco Chain?

There are no campgrounds directly on the Chain. The nearest options in Land O' Lakes are the Lac Vieux Desert Campground and two RV parks.

Is there a restaurant you can reach by boat?

Yes. Bent's Camp Resort on Mamie Lake has a gas dock and a bar and kitchen. On the Michigan side, Cisco Lake Bar and Resort sits on Cisco Lake.

Cisco Chain of Lakes: Big Lake, Mamie & West Bay

Fifteen lakes joined by channels, more than 4,000 acres of water and about 270 miles of shoreline, almost all of it wooded: that is the Cisco Chain of Lakes. Most of it lies in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but the south end crosses into Wisconsin at Land O' Lakes, where you'll find the Chain's only marina, a resort that has been renting cabins since 1896 and the easiest launch points for a day on the water.

On the Wisconsin end, three things matter: where to fuel up, which channels to take slowly and where to tie up for a fish fry.

How the Chain fits together

The Cisco Chain is 14 navigable lakes plus Clearwater Lake, which connects to its neighbor only by a small creek, so locals count 15 and the state counts 14. Together they cover just under 4,000 acres, and Clearwater pushes the total over.

The lakes were not always connected. Loggers dammed the outlet of Cisco Lake in the 1800s to float timber down the Cisco Branch of the Ontonagon River, and a permanent low dam built in 1931 raised the water 4 to 5 feet, opening the channels you boat through today. Water levels now move only about six inches over a season, so the channels stay open all summer.

Thousand Island Lake is the biggest at 1,009 acres and the deepest at about 40 feet. It is also the busiest, with water skiers and fast boats. Cisco Lake, at 567 acres, gives the Chain its name. Half the water in the whole system is less than 20 feet deep, which is part of why the fishing is so good.

The Wisconsin lakes: Big Lake, West Bay and Mamie

Three lakes touch Wisconsin, and they are the ones most Land O' Lakes visitors start from. Big Lake, 733 acres, and West Bay Lake, 362 acres, are split by the state line. Mamie Lake, 337 acres, sits entirely in Wisconsin.

Big Lake is the hub of the Wisconsin end, with the marina at its south shore about 11 miles west of downtown along County B. Mamie is the quieter one and home to Bent's Camp, and because it sits wholly in Wisconsin it is the simplest lake on the Chain for license questions. West Bay connects north to Morley Lake through the Sand Cut, a narrow channel that the Watersmeet township has mapped among its proposed no-wake zones.

Getting on the water

You can launch your own boat at a public landing, rent at the marina or have a pontoon delivered to your dock.

McCormack's Cisco Chain Marina

McCormack's Cisco Chain Marina, at 7550 County B on the south end of Big Lake, is the only marina on the Chain. It rents boats, motors and pontoons, sells gas, and handles repairs, prop replacements, shore stations, dock installs and indoor storage.

Google lists hours of 8am to 4pm on weekdays and 8am to noon on Saturdays, from April through October. Sunday is closed, so fuel up on Saturday if you are out all weekend.

Land O Lakes Boat Rentals

Land O Lakes Boat Rentals delivers pontoons and fishing boats to the launch you pick and picks them up again, free anywhere in Vilas County and Gogebic County, which covers the whole Chain on both sides of the line.

It is the easy option if your cabin is on the Chain but came without a boat, or if you want to start from a Michigan landing without towing a trailer up from home.

For a boat delivered right to your own dock, Lindemann Rentals rents pontoons by the day or the week and does not charge you to refill the tank.

Navigating the channels

The channels are the fun part and the part that catches people. Most are navigable by nearly any boat, but sunken logs and sand bars sit in and near several of them, and most hazards are marked on navigation maps. Buy one at the marina before you go out, and keep your speed down in the cuts.

Expect boat traffic on Thousand Island Lake on summer weekends and much less on the smaller lakes. Several lakes still have no development on them at all, and those are where you are most likely to hear loons in the evening.

A first day on the Chain

If you have one day, start at the marina on Big Lake in the morning, when the water is calm and the rental pontoons are still at the dock. Fuel up, buy a navigation map and head north through the channels toward Thousand Island Lake, the largest and liveliest lake on the Chain, with islands to circle and a few cottages perched on them.

Work back south on the smaller lakes, where the shoreline is quieter, and time your return so you reach Mamie Lake for a late lunch at Bent's Camp. Leave enough fuel and daylight to get back through the channels at slow speed. A day like this covers a lot of water without ever leaving the Chain, and you will cross the state line more than once without noticing.

Fishing the Chain

The Cisco Chain has been a fishing destination for a century, and Dwight Eisenhower came to its resorts to fish before and after his presidency. The main targets are walleye and musky, with northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, perch, rock bass, bluegill, crappie and the cisco the Chain is named for.

Thousand Island Lake produced Michigan's state record silver musky, and the sunken logs that trouble careless boaters are exactly the cover the fish use. Most of the Chain is in Michigan, so check both states' licenses and the border-water rules before you go out.

In town, the bait shop that sells both licenses also stocks live bait, lures and rods. Pick up a navigation map there too if the marina is closed.

Ice fishing and winter on the Chain

Ice fishing is popular here, with one serious caution: some areas of the Chain do not freeze solid because of springs near the surface. Ask at the bait shop or the marina about current ice before you walk or drive out, and stay off the channels, where moving water keeps the ice thin.

Watersmeet and Land O' Lakes work together on snowmobile trails and maps across the border, and the Chain stays busy in winter, with sleds on the trails and fishing shanties on the safer ice. Bent's Camp has hosted snowmobile poker runs in January, which tells you the lodge bar stays lively when the lake is frozen.

Lunch by boat

The best way to eat on the Chain is to arrive by boat, and on the Wisconsin end that means one place.

Bent's Camp Resort

Bent's Camp Resort sits on Mamie Lake with its own gas dock, so you can tie up, fuel and eat in one stop. The Main Lodge bar serves comfort food, cheese curds and a Friday fish fry, and summer weekends bring live music.

Google lists the kitchen from 11am to 9pm, with the bar open late on Fridays and Saturdays and closed on Tuesdays. The outfitters shop sells what you forgot to pack.

Across the line in Michigan, Cisco Lake Bar and Resort is the other boat-up stop, on Cisco Lake itself. For dinner back on dry land, the supper clubs and cafes in town are a 9 to 11 mile drive east along County B.

Keeping the Chain clean

The Cisco Chain Riparian Owners Association works on water quality and invasive species across the Chain, and Wisconsin law requires boaters to remove plants and animals and drain all water from boats and gear before leaving a landing. Do it at every launch, especially if you are moving between the Chain, Black Oak Lake and Lac Vieux Desert in one trip.

Staying on or near the Chain

There are no campgrounds directly on the Cisco Chain. Most people stay in a private rental on the water or at Bent's Camp, which has 14 lakeside cabins on Mamie Lake. If you would rather wake up downtown or camp, cabins, motel rooms and campsites around Land O' Lakes are all within about 11 miles of the marina.

Two watersheds in one town

Here is a detail most visitors miss. The Cisco Chain drains north through the Ontonagon River to Lake Superior, while Lac Vieux Desert, a few miles east of downtown, drains south into the Wisconsin River and on to the Mississippi. Land O' Lakes sits on the line between the two, so a boat trip on the Chain and a walk to the Wisconsin River's source on the same day put you in two different river systems.

When the Chain is busy, try the next lake over

If the Chain feels crowded on a July Saturday, Black Oak Lake is the quiet alternative: one public launch, a beach, and water clear enough to see your anchor 30 feet down.

For the rest of what fills a week up here, from the bike trail to the museum in an old ski chalet, start with what to do in Land O' Lakes when you are off the water.