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Phillips

The Phillips chain of lakes is one of the best kept secrets in the northwoods for catching muskies. The locals have known for decades the lakes abilities to produce numbers of muskies and big fish, but it is only until recently that the word has been getting out about the chains productive muskie fishery. For half of a century, the Phillips chain has been a go-to lake for area guides to guarantee their clients a successful fishing trip.

The four lakes of Duroy, Elk, Long and Wilson, along with the Elk river that connects them, make up the Phillips chain. The water here is coffee stained, 1236 acres and 54 feet at its deepest. Although a good number of anglers pursue muskies here, walleye, crappie and bass angling receives a great amount of attention.

Spring is one of the best times of the year to really score on a big fish and to catch great numbers. The dark waters warm quickly in the spring sun and the muskie action keeps in step with heated activity. Lake Duroy's expansive shallow weed flats on the west side is the first location on the chain to produce, but the whole chain quickly follows suit, especially on the abundant weedy shorelines of Wilson lake. Perch and sucker colored jerk baits, along with small bucktails with a silver blade work well here in early in the season. Although the water can have a little chill early in the morning, as the temperatures rise and the sun begins to dip into the western sky, a slow moving top water bait can be very productive here, even though it's early in the season.

As the season progresses into summer, many of the Phillips chain muskies are found along the outside weed edges and on Duroy's large weed flat. Numerous rock humps, many of which are not found on maps, can also produce some of the largest muskies. Chartreuse and orange colored jerk baits and crank baits work well now in the chain's darkening summer waters, however perch colors should still be in your arsenal. Crank baits should be worked in a steady retrieve, with just a few subtle twitches used. At this time, bucktails should be switched to fluorescent colors and also copper blades; however, muskies here get real color selective and changing color combinations to find the right combo can make all the difference in scoring on fish.

In the cooling waters of fall, it is hard to find healthy aquatic plants, so sharp breaks, rock humps and the old river channel are keys to locating muskies. Big jerk baits casted around rock humps are just the ticket to connect on the chain's fall muskies. Large suckers on quick strike rigs, fished on the sharp breaks and old river channel can produce some whoppers!

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