Minocqua Area Fishing Report
Following a chilly week, temps got nice enough over the weekend to get anglers out on the ice. Many experienced good, though not great fishing- but after the way things were in mid-January, good is pretty darn nice.
Northern Pike: Good. Action is picking up. Fish of all sizes doing well on large baits (suckers & shiners) in weeds of 6-12', with larger (28"-34") fish hanging along deeper edges.
Yellow Perch: Good. Varying depths. Weedy bays seeing good perch action with the best sized perch (9") hitting medium fats or large rosies. Over deep mud flats its wigglers followed by red spikes as the best bait choices. Flash Champ spoons, #2 pimples, Halis, Flickers and smelt sticks. Use fast drops to get back down to roaming schools of fish and to stir up mud to attract attention.
Walleye: Good. Bite is best at dawn, dusk and again between 10-11pm. Walleyes becoming active as the sun is going down in weeds as shallow as 6' and as deep as 14'. Shiners are a top choice in weeds. Jigging spoons, Raps and Chubby Darters are working well also. Try a slender spoon or Tumbler jig with a minnow head.
Bluegills: Good. Most action in 8-12' weeds on small dark jigs of purple, black or red. Moussees, waxies, spikes crushed on a hook to get the juices flowing are working best. Plastics users finding red, maroon the best colors this week. Some gills being caught on very clear lakes over sandgrass of 14-20'. Use #4 or #5 Tungsten jig tipped with moussee or a red spike.
Crappies: Good. As with perch, two places to fish. Weedy bays (standing plants) using rockers (#8, #10), Moxy jigs and cecil jigs tipped with plastic (rockers) or waxies (moxy / cecil). For deep suspended fish use rosie reds on tip-downs / slip-floats or glow jigs loaded with waxies in 18-30' of water. No reports of limits, but nice "meal or two" catches of 10-13" fish this week.
Largemouth Bass: Fair-Good. Most bass catches on tip-ups- medium shiners or incidental by anglers trying for gills.
With little new snow for the past few weeks, existing snow drying up and giving way to cold in some areas. Travel conditions are improving, but not everywhere. Mostly truck and snowmobile travel. Ice averages are 16-22".
Kurt
Island Sportshop
Minocqua, WI
715-356-4797