Minocqua Area Fishing Report
It’s difficult predicting what to expect for ice conditions this week when you can’t rely on weather forecast to be very reliable about snow. That said…… here goes!
Christmas Day the wind laid down long enough to put a skim on a lot of lakes. On lakes that already had some fishable ice, things got better as ice thickness is getting into the 5-6” range. Where ice allows, fishing has been very good, a few hic-ups where a super low pressure system moved in, or east winds played havoc for a while – otherwise good to very good fishing on most areas of “fishable” ice.
Walleyes: Very Good. Tip ups baited with suckers, shiners best in shallows (4-7’) after dark. On lakes/ flowages with stained water, jigging Tinglers, Slender Spoons, Jigging Raps and the new Custom Jigs: Spins Rotating power minnows all tipped with a minnow head. Nice walleyes up to 28” reported this week with lots in the protected slot (20-24”) and enough eaters (15-19”) to take home.
Bluegills: Very Good. Limits of nice gills of 7 ½ - 9”, 4-7’ of water. The new VMC and Northland Tungsten flys: larvae have been hot tipped with a waxie or spike. The slower drop of the “helium “series flys have also been very effective in the shallow water bite.
Northern Pike: Very Good. Big suckers and shiners on tip-ups as well as jigging buck-shot spoons dressed with minnow “parts”. Lots of 28-32” pike reported, plus smaller “picklers.”
Crappies: Good. Some of the best crappie spots still just out of reach of anglers, once ice thickens another couple inches should be good to go. Tip-downs with Rosies on stained water producing slabs to 14”.
Largemouth Bass: Good. Tip-ups with medium shiners best. Accidental hook ups on jig/waxie or tip-down/minnow combos meant for other fish.
Yellow Perch: Good. Best in sparse weeded, muck bottom on forage minnow spoons tipped with medium fat heads in 4-8’. Lots of numbers? move in shallower in some cases finding big perch of 10-12” in 3-4’.
If snow holds off we should see good ice build. The one positive about late “early” ice- a lot of fish have not been caught. Also, as we are starting to see ice late, it’s a very “early ice” bite, good aggressive fishing.
Visit our website (www.kurtsislandsports.com) for up to date fishing and ice changes.