Minocqua Area Fishing Report
Following two consecutive very cold weekends, this past weekend was a nice change weather wise. Unfortunately the fishing wasn’t as great as the weather for a lot of anglers. Initial reports were slow, though as the weekend progressed into Monday, better reports came in from anglers who didn’t give up.
Crappies: Fair-Good. Action slowed from a good bite on Thursday. As the bite got tougher, anglers did the best with plastics. Scent seems to help when crappies are tight lipped. Try a small pinch of Gulp Alive waxies on the hook along with a small Wedgee plastic (Purple, Red) to entice reluctant biters. Gulp Alive 1” minnows cut down to ½ - ¾ “ also worked on slow drops.
Walleyes: Fair-Good. Action spotty with successful anglers rarely reporting more than two walleyes a night. With fish less aggressive, live bait has been best. Smaller suckers, shiners and even large fatheads or rosies were better producers over the weekend. As we get out of this full moon period and fish hopefully get more aggressive, Rippin’ Raps and jigging spoons will again be good choices.
Bluegills: Fair. Despite warm temps, catches of better gills were hard to come by. Down-sizing to small #2.5 or #3 tungsten or #12 or #14 teardorps tipped with a single spike or mousee (*see editor’s note at the bottom). Make sure you are tight to the bottom (6-12”) and light 2# test were needed in most cases to tempt bites.
Perch: Fair. Anglers probing mud flats found wigglers on #25 Hali jigs, #2 pimples or small Perch Talkers best. Use a #4 (size 10) Tungsten jig or 1/32 oz Flash Champ spoon tipped with waxies or a minnow head over sandgrass. These areas gave up the better numbers (though not good over the weekend). Fishing weeds of 6-12’ on bars surrounded by deeper water, anglers reported best results on small to medium fatheads or Northland Forage spoons tipped with waxies.
Pike: Fair. Usually the fish to make flags fly even during tough times, the pike action was noticeably off over the weekend. Try tip-up rigs with small blades above the hook for added attraction. Also try raising the bait higher off the bottom on at least some rigs to see if pike may be cruising higher for some reason (possibly low oxygen levels on some lakes).
Largemouth Bass: Fair. Surprisingly slow over weekend with the warm up. Those reporting success found best action on tip-ups baited with medium shiners in weeds of 6-12’.
A couple inches of snowfall on Monday and Tuesday should make the snowmobilers happier, but, will surely suspend any more ice building. Most reports seem to be stuck in the 9-12” range. We still aren’t recommending truck travel, but snowmobiles and ATV’s (for now) still good. Forecast of 4 days of above freezing temps this coming weekend will make for another nice change to get out on the ice.
Reports of a lack of standing weeds is a concern. Not sure why, with such a mild December and not much snow, that weeds aren’t in better shape. If fishing is slow and you can’t find standing weeds (try snagging a few if you don’t use a camera), move on. The fish have moved to better feeding areas. With the lack of December ice fishing, it stands to reason there should be more hungry fish out there for us.
*Editor’s note: For those of you who know us, you may know that my husband, Kurt Justice, hand writes this report which I then type. While joking around during typing the Bluegill section, I asked him “How do you know a single spike from a married spike.” He replied, “the single spikes are smiling.” Just thought you might want an explanation if you see him with a black eye. J Christy Justice
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop