Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it seems we are definitely on a rollercoaster so far this winter as far as the weather is concerned.  Temps dip a little bit this weekend with highs just into the 20s with slight chances of snow showers.  We may get up to 38 Tuesday with a wintry mix of precipitation and then a high of 14 on Wednesday with clear skies.  The end of the week looks to bring measurable snow as I am seeing around an inch of snow each day and 1-3″ of snow Thursday night into Friday.  It sounds like the snowmobile trails have stayed in very good shape considering the warm up.  There is still some slush on the ice when you get off of the snowmobile trails on the lakes, so anglers using ATVs/UTVs should be mindful to not get stuck!  Fishing has been pretty slow for most species.

Northern Pike — Pike have not been as active as anglers might expect lately.  Anglers should still find pike set up on shallower structure whether that weeds, points, bars, etc.  Tip-ups or auto rigged rod holders such as jaw jackers or Clam predator setups with suckers or shiners under them can be great for pike.  Look for pike anywhere from 5-15 FOW in and around these structures.

Walleye — Walleye have been lethargic and neutral as I have heard anglers working hard to jig walleye up and getting a lot of false flags on tip-ups.  It seems walleye are holding pretty tight to the bottom anywhere from 8-20 FOW depending on the lake.  Anglers should employ jigging and at least a dead stick or tip-up set up in tandem to catch more walleye.  

LMB/SMB — I have not heard of any kind of a bass bite, though largemouth should be active tripping flags eating the suckers or shiners under tip-ups.  Look for largemouth to be related to weed beds or closer to shorelines, while smallies can be jigged in deeper rocky/sandy spots.

Crappie — The crappie bite has been decent, but it comes in pretty short windows of action.  Crappies are set up in basins right now anywhere from 12-25 FOW or deeper depending on the basin in the lake.  Smaller jigging spoons or jigs tipped with plastics or minnows are standard fare for crappie right now.

Perch — Perch should be set up on edges adjacent to deep water, whether that be deep weed transitions, rock transitions or points or bars that extend into deeper water.  Small spoons and aggressive jigging work excellent for catching perch.

Bluegill — Anglers can find bluegill also on edges, although they should be related more to shallow weed edges rather than deep edges.  Look for pockets of weeds or inside turns to catch gills.  Small jigs tipped with waxies/spikes/plastics are pretty much a staple for catching bluegill.

That is all I have for this week’s report.  Not a ton of good info and I apologize for that.  Unfortunately anglers can’t MAKE the fish bite!!  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it looks like we have another round of significant snow tomorrow through tomorrow night.  It looks like anywhere from 3-5″ during the day and another 1-3″ tomorrow night.  Next week looks to bring a big warm up with temps in the mid to upper 30s everyday and a wintry mix on Tuesday that will probably make a mess of everything.  The heavy snow we received last week has not hurt the ice, however it did create a layer of slush in between the snow and ice.  The ice base on most lakes is at least 10″ and anywhere the snowmobile trails are, travel should be excellent.  Fishing has slowed down a little bit with that snowstorm we got, and not sure what tomorrow’s storm will bring but generally before a front, and a few days after can be great fishing.  

Northern pike–Pike should be set up in and around shallow weeds, whether that be off of points, on top of reefs, or just big weed beds.  Now that we have a lot of snow cover on the lakes the weeds will start to brown.  If you can still find green weeds, those are an excellent starting point.  Set tip-ups on weed edges both shallow and deep and use either sucker minnows or shiners.  Pike will aggressively eat bigger spoons jigged in those areas as well.

Walleye–The walleye bite has slowed down a little bit, but anglers should target deeper rocky points or reefs or sharp breaking shorelines.  Both tip-ups and jigging with spoons in these areas can be productive especially around dawn and dusk.  If using tip-ups, rig them with suckers or shiners and run them anywhere from 1-2′ off of bottom.  Jigging can call fish from a long distance and most anglers start low in the water column and work fish up.  

LMB/SMB–I have not heard of any kind of bass bite for either species, however anglers may find success for largemouth fishing with tip-ups and minnows in and around shallower weeds and in the same areas as pike.  Anglers may find smallies in some of the same areas as walleye, although they seem to be pretty nomadic and not caught very often through the ice.

Crappie/Perch–Crappie and perch should be roaming basins right now and anglers have had some luck using small spoons or jig/plastic or minnow combos.  From what I have been hearing, anglers are finding luck anywhere from 15-25 FOW for crappie and perch right now.

Bluegill–Not a whole lot to report on a good bluegill bite, however gills should still be more related to shallow structure vs. a basin bite.  Shallow structure can be weeds, timber, shallow rocks and shoreline breaks.  Smaller jigs tipped with waxies or plastics are all anglers need to ice nice gills.

That is all I have for this week’s report.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg