Ice and Fishing Report for the Upper Chippewa Basin for January 21, 2014
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With the more seasonal and consistent weather this past week, ice thickness has been holding in the 15” to 17” range on most lakes across the Northwoods. However, there is about 8 to 12 inches of snow on top of the ice and this has made vehicle travel rather tough in undisturbed areas. Most ice traffic is sticking to the packed-down trails as the frozen ruts and deep snow have still been getting some 4 WD vehicles stuck. In addition, areas of slush have been showing up on many lakes and this is also contributing to the difficult travel conditions. Temperatures in the mid-teens with light winds seemed to bring out a few extra anglers this past weekend – but angling success continued it generally slow trend. Walleye have still been the main species of interest across the area and action has been very sporadic at best. Some days have produced decent action but it seems the fish have been very finicky on the bait they'll hit and the spot where it's being presented. The most consistent spots have been the mid-depth break lines and the mud flats in 6' to 10' feet of water, with small sucker minnows or large fatheads as the preferred bait. Most of the walleye caught have been in the 12 to 15-inch range, but a few fish in the upper teens have also been landed. Northern pike fishing has been fair, with the bright sunny days producing the best action during the middle of the day. The best success has come on large golden shiners and sucker minnows, fished near any green weeds in the 4 to 8 feet of water. Some nice pike in the low 30-inch range have been reported from the area in the past week. Panfish have been providing generally slow but consistent action in the area, with some fair catches of perch and bluegill being made. Perch have been found just off the bottom in water from 5 to 15 feet deep, while the bluegill have been suspended over deeper water and near any green weeds. Crappie seem to have been especially tough to find in the last few weeks. The most successful panfish anglers have had to move around quite a bit to find the active fish. Will also attach a few pictures from ice fishing over the weekend - the Butternut-Schnur Lake Association had its annual Fisheree this past weekend on Butternut Lake and the attached pictures are of the winning walleye (18 7/8” walleye (C&R)– Beth & Brooke Sommerfeldt ) and northern (32 5/8” pike – Nick Schneidewent). P Skip Sommerfeldt Fisheries Biologist - Senior Quality Customer Service is Important to Us. Tell Us How We Are Doing. Water Division Customer Service Survey |
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