Good afternoon, The Minocqua area fishing report from Kurt’s Island Sports:
More super cold held most anglers at bay last week. A break in the weather (temps over 0 degrees) brought anglers out on the ice Friday and Saturday before chilling down below 0 degrees Sunday & Monday (lows of -20degrees) kept all but the crazies off the ice.
Ice thickening. Large lakes such as Trout, Fence have 8” (safe for A.T.V.) most others in the 12-13” range. Fishing tailed off as high pressure moved in on Sunday/Monday- yet picked up considerably on Tuesday as the barometer dropped and temps were a bit warmer.
Walleye: Very Good-Fair-Good. Best reports on Friday. Best on tip-ups with suckers/chubs at dusk. Some anglers on Flowages experiencing good morning bite. Jigging raps good on top of humps after dark- yet action with super cold has been slower.
Pike: Good. Nicer pike on large suckers, chubs; shiners. Fish in upper 20-lower 30” range hanging around weeds of 8-12’. Mid mornings best. .
Crappies: Good-Fair. On warming days use meat (tip-downs with minnows, teardrops with waxies) on cold, high sky days finesse with small tungsten jigs and tiny plastics of red, purple or black. Most action weed related in 10-12’. Dusk and dawn best for larger crappies (12-14”), daytime fish have been smaller.
Bluegills: Fair. If warmer, action improves. Too cold on some days to hole hop. Small #12-#14 tungsten jigs with single spike or Moussee best. .
Perch: Fair-good. A few big fish caught by walleye anglers. Not a lot of attention here yet. Use medium fatheads in 6-8’ weeds adjacent to 10-14’ drops.
Largemouth Bass: Fair. Typically a warming water bite- yet on the Chain, good numbers taking shiners on tip-ups.
This week weather warming (if you want to call single digit/teens warming) some. Noticeable improvement with above 0 temps. Access very good and should be full on truck travel by weekend with exception of biggest lakes.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sports
715-356-4797