Minocqua Area Fishing Report 12/9/14
Well, Its starting out to be a great ice fishing season! Enough ice to get around on... with not to much snow on the ice to worry about access or travel. Caution is still advised on some larger lakes (Trout, Fence, Big Crawling Stone) where ice thickness varies from 2-6" but overall averages of 10-12"+ cover most of our Lakeland area lakes.
Walleyes: Good- Very Good. Anglers fishing the dusk and just after dark bite are doing very well on tip-ups baited with chubs, suckers or shiners (depending on bottom type). Also jigging rappalas, Rippin Raps and Glassic Vibs scoring on larger walleyes. Even morning anglers finding success in weedy areas of 7-10' using tip-ups with shiners or jigging raps. Bites lasting till 10:30-11am on some lakes.
Crappies: Good-Very Good. Daytime anglers catching crappies in bays with weeds in 8-12'. Minnows good, but slow dropping rockers tipped with plastics, Moon jigs tipped with single spike and Ken's jig tipped with waxies out producing minnows at times. Schools of larger crappies being found over deep water (up to 30'), these fish are best tempted with crappie fatheads or rosie reds.
Bluegills: Good-Very Good. On some of the last weeks hot lakes, the average size has dropped, which is typical of the first ice. Big gills giving way to smaller fish- look a bit deeper to find those larger gills again. Gill Pills and Diamond jigs tipped with waxies tops for several anglers catching limits this weekend.
Northern Pike: Good-Very Good. Big chubs, shiners or suckers on tip-ups as usual tops (one angler iced a 31"er on 4# test and an ice jig). Jigging Raps & spoons are also effective. Lots of nicer pike in the 26-30"+ range.
Largemouth Bass: Good-Very-Good. Though rarely targeted by ice anglers, largemouth bass have kept many anglers busy chasing flags as well as hammering jigs meant for other species.
Yellow Perch: Fair- Good. Anglers finally starting to find some perch in numbers, not lots, but enough to target. Shallow weeds , perch taking Northland Forage minnow spoons tipped with waxies. Anglers also finding some perch cruising mud flats just outside weed edges in 14-18'. Wigglers or crappie minnows on Pimples, Flickers or the VMC Flash Champ spoons.
The big question is ice travel. We are not going to recommend vehicle travel at all until there is a solid 14" of ice, but there is on most lakes enough for ATV and snowmobile travel. Still be cautious, but with very mild weather in the forecast, conditions look great for the next week or so of ice fishing.
Kurt
Island Sports
Minocqua, Wi 54548