Minocqua Area Fishing Report
Some intermittent rain, but mostly cloudy weather has been hanging over the Northwoods this past weekend.
Fishing overall good, if not great. East wind on Saturday may have slowed bite but action has been considered steady with some periods of excellent action.
Crappies: Very Good – Fish of choice for many anglers at this time of year. When bite on, tip-downs baited with crappie minnows or small rosies hard to beat. As bite slows, slow dropping Lethal Cecils tipped with sliver of Chena, white plastic or waxie best. If fish shy from this offering, time to get more subtle with a smaller jig, preferably #10 or even #12 Rocker, tipped with plastic. Still some deep fish being caught, yet on most lakes the 8-12’ cabbage, with some reports of fish in as shallow as 5-6’ being found Yellow Perch: Very Good – Most action in shallow weeds. Fish moving to these areas heavy with spawn, feeding big. Use crappie minnows or even medium fatheads on tip-downs or below small floats. Jigs shaped like tiny bluegills tipped with waxies a favorite. Some deep perch still being found in 20-25’ of water. Tip-downs baited with rosies on larger Tungston jigs as well as Halis and Pimples to get down quickly. Tip these jigs with wigglers or red spikes.
Bluegills: Very Good – Action hot in some locales, but sorting needed. Still, nice limits of gills reported. Anglers using small Purest, VMC Larvae jigs, and small #2.5 or #3 Fiska jigs tipped with a waxie or single spike as well as any “ant” style jig. Fiska jigs tipped with dark colored plastics (purple, red, maroon, black and motor oil) doing well.
Ice thickness varies from as high as 20” to as few as 14” with most reports of 15-16” averages. Low 40’s with clouds wasn’t enough to counteract the night time lows – but that could be changing! Forecast of highs in the low to mid 50’s this week, plus sun, could eat away at the ice pretty good. For most locations this weekend, will probably be the last for safe ice. The south end of Big Arbor Vitae lake traditionally holds on to its ice longest so should still have some fishable ice next week.
Access and bite still good for now, take advantage while you can.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
www.kurtsislandsports.com
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