1-29-14 Minocqua Area Fishing Report
Uncle!!! We’ve had enough! Another polar vortex, schools closed, temps 20 below, wind child to 50 below. Hopefully Mother Nature will reward us with a nice February.
When you could fish, catching wasn’t so bad. Good reports from the less the average amount of anglers on the ice. A few places seemed crowded if access way easy, yet overall participation has been down.
Pike: Good-Very good. Flags were flying Friday and Saturday. Nice pike in the mid 20” to low30” range on big shiners. Most anglers finding pike in 8-12’ edges and slots in the weeds, but anglers reporting nice pike in as little as 5’ during warm spell on Friday.
Perch: Good – Very good. Natural lakes, deeper is better in 18-30’ mud flats producing limit catches of 8-10”+ perch using wigglers, red spikes. Hali jigs, Flickers, Pimples, Champs all good at drawing attention, plus getting back down quickly when the school moves in. On Flowages, rosie reds (don’t be afraid to use the large ones) are tops for perch typically running 10-12+”. Don’t expect limits, just nice quality fish.
Walleye: Fair-Good. Walleye suckers over sandgrass humps of 14-22’ at dusk. Jigging Raps and Rattlin Spoons tipped with minnow heads bring in nice walleyes of 18-24” also.
Bluegills: Fair. Best on the warmer days (above 10 degrees). Use #10 or #12 darts, #3 Fiskas tipped with a single waxie or spike. Fish 6-10’ heavy weeds. Some lakes giving up nice gills over sandgrass flats of 16-22’ using heavy tungsten jigs to get down quickly.
Crappies: Fair. Due to lack of mobility only anglers set up in good locations with shacks seeing any action, mostly spotty. Glow jigs along transition breaks tipped with waxies or small minnows. Thirty minute “windows of action” just before dusk.
Largemouth Bass: Fair. They like it warmer. Had some reports during Friday’s “heat wave”.
Cold looks to continue, though high windows in single digits later in the week could help.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop