12-16-13 Minocqua Area Fishing Report
Awful cold for early December. Wind, snow/rain/sleet and below 0 temps have kept anglers off the ice. Despite a few areas where snow has piled up a bit and is insulating slush- most areas building good ice. Averages in the 8-10” range for the most part with some small protected lakes reporting a full 12”+.
Walleye: Very Good. For those willing to fish the evenings (or at all). Jigging Raps have accounted for good action for above average walleyes of 17-24”. Tip-ups with shiners (weed edges) or suckers (gravel, sandgrass) also producing. Set up pre-dusk or pre-dawn for best results.
Pike: Very Good. Big chubs, suckers in 6-12’ weeds. Anglers jigging # 5 pimps with a shiner head, #10 fireline and wire leader caught pair of 30” pike this weekend. Most fish in 25-28” range. .
Crappies: Good. Bite back to finess fishing, which is tough with such cold weather. Black, purple or red plastics, pinched small to fit on #12 jigs best. Once things warm and barometer lowers, minnows on tip-downs should pick up.
Bluegills: Good-Fair. Better last week. Slowed with cold. Waxies, spikes on tear drops, moon glos of #12 sizes. As with perch-starting to filter out a little deeper with thicker ice.
Perch: Fair. Not a lot of attention since cold. Moving out from real shallow (3-5’) to deeper (6-10’) as ice thickens.
Bass: Poor. Don’t like this super cold. Expect action on days closer to 20+ degrees.
We are getting lots of good ice making weather. Unfortunately it has been so cold (High of -2 degrees today) that few anglers want to venture out to fish. As weather breaks; expect fishing and reports to improve.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sports
715-356-4797