Island Lake has some monsters and some guys love it, but the St. Louis River has more muskies and yes more big ones. I am not the expert but several really good muskie guys do stop by out here and belong to our fishing leagues. Most any muskie gear has a place and time on the river, my favorite are top waters and spinners. Most any place with cabbage and deep water nearby seems to be muskie territory. You can catch a muskie just about any place, but everyone has a favorite location. I know lots of people like Barkers Island area, between the bridges, near Spirit Lake, anywhere along the channel breaks and good weed edges, cabbage, points, etc. Up by the 23 bridge and on up too. So most any place can have a muskie and some bigger than others.
I have heard that about them, but haven't fished them yet. So many places near here with nice muskies, it is hard to fish them all. I know that Joel Tinker does and even lives next to Amnicon. I like to get to Grindstone, Tiger Cat Flowage, Vermilion, and the St. Louis River every year and pick up a couple others in between regular fishing tournaments, so the time is short. Have you tried the Eau Claire Lakes? I have heard good things of them too. But all the lakes and flowages near Hayward and Minong have some monsters. Or Leech, Cass, etc. I even saw and caught a small muskie in the upper Mississippi River last year. That was fun, but when we go there we are normally have walleyes, lots of them, or the BIG pike late in the season. Either way we have a blast.