Fishing Report

Good evening from the Quiet Lakes, if anglers or outdoor enthusiasts are looking to enjoy the outdoors with mild temps, next week sure looks to be a good one to pick to do that!  I am seeing temps above freezing everyday during the week and a supposed high of 41 on Tuesday.  Lows look to stay in the 20s, so very comfortable at night as well.  I don’t really see much precipitation so that can be good or bad depending on the sport of your choice.  Anglers should have safe ice just about everywhere (it’s still ice so always be aware as conditions can change) and I am hearing reports of 20-22″ pretty consistently in the area.  

Walleye–The walleye bite hasn’t been on fire lately, but folks are catching them.  Dead sticking and tip-ups seem to be working a little better than jigging right now as fish seem neutral/finicky.  Suckers or shiners, or even fathead minnows rigged under tip-ups or on dead stick rods are helping anglers get more walleye on the ice.  Look for ‘eyes in and around deeper rocks, whether near points, mid lake reefs, or steep breaking rocky shorelines.  Fish anywhere from 12-20 FOW.

Pike–Pike have been active and anglers are catching them on both tip-ups and jig rods.  Panfish anglers have had pike come up and take easy meals of perch, crappie, and sunfish as they have had them on the line.  Work deep weed edges or edges where bays reach out into  main lake basins.  Suckers and shiners under tip-ups and jigging spoons in these areas can produce fish.  

LMB–Anglers have found smaller largemouth in some of the same areas as panfish over the past few weeks.  Deeper weed edges seem to be holding bass and anglers are having luck jigging smaller and larger spoons.  Look for bass anywhere from 8-12 FOW.

SMB–No report on smallies at this time.

Crappie–Depending on the lake, crappie seem to be holding to edges in anywhere from 8-12 FOW or out suspending in basins in anywhere from 12-25 FOW.  Jigs tipped with waxies/plastics/minnow heads or small spoons tipped the same way will catch crappie.

Perch–I have not heard much on any kind of sizeable perch bite, but if anglers want to catch dinks and lots of them, work transitional bottoms where hard turns to soft.  Perch will be feeding on small larvae and hatches coming out of the bottom.  Small jigs with plastics or waxies will work as well jigging spoons for aggressive perch.  

Bluegill–Gills should be hanging on to any last weeds that may be holding oxygen in the lake.  Larger bays with big weed beds may be good spots, although with ice thickness and snow cover there is almost zero light penetration to help sustain weed growth at this point in the season.  Bluegill may even be pushing slightly deeper due to this and anglers should look for typical deep weed edges.  Small jigs and plastics or waxies loaded on hooks will work to catch gills.  

That is all I have for this week’s report.  We are really going to be getting into the winter doldrums if we haven’t already as lakes have no light penetration to help with oxygen.  Looks like a pretty big warm up on the way, so we will see if that changes any conditions on the lakes.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, things are looking up (at least as far as the weather is concerned!) as we are supposed to have temps in the teens, twenties, and I am even seeing a 33 degree high temp on Thursday!  Lows still get pretty low with -3 Tuesday night, but even that should feel warm compared to what we have been dealing with.  It looks like we have chances of snow Sunday and Thursday but the forecast is saying only around an inch each day.  I expect to see more people around whether they are up skiing, snowmobiling, or fishing!  The weather will be fantastic for all winter recreation this week.  I have not been out on any lake lately, but with the cold we had, I would have to think we have 16-18″ of ice or more, and travel on all of the lakes should be excellent.

Walleye–Walleye should be suspended deep or holding tight to bottom near rocks/sand.  Look for mid lake reefs/humps or rocky steep breaking shorelines.  Set tip-ups rigged with walleye suckers or shiners around these areas and work the water column.  Set one close to bottom, run one a few feet off bottom, and run one up higher on the shallow side of the break.  Jigging spoons or bigger jig/minnow combos can call fish in and help ice aggressive fish.

Northern pike–Tip-ups rigged with suckers and shiners fished in and around shallow weeds can ice nice gators.   Jigging with spoons in and around shallow weeds or weed edges can be great ways to catch pike and fighting pike on lighter tackle is a blast.  

LMB–Largemouth can also be caught jigging spoons or even bigger jig/minnow or plastic combos.  Look for bass also in and around shallower weeds or where weed beds are prominent in the open water months.  Anything that is holding more oxygen this time of year as ice builds and we lose light penetration should get anglers focus.

SMB–No report on a smallie bite.

Crappie–On most lakes crappie will be suspended in the basins and smaller tungsten jigs tipped with plastics or minnows are staple choices to catch crappie. For basin related fish, target anywhere from 12-25 FOW depending on how deep the basin goes.  On other lakes crappie will stay related to weeds, more specifically the deeper weed edges which in most lakes up here is in the 10-14 FOW range.  The same baits will work to catch these fish as well.

Perch–Anglers should look for perch in basins or deep edges as well as they will school up and hold tighter to bottom.  I tend to fish perch more aggressively than crappie and favor small spoons with lots of noise or flash over a jig/minnow or plastic.  Look for perch anywhere from 8-20 FOW depending on the lake.

Bluegill–Gills will generally hold shallower than other panfish and anglers will have better luck in weedy bays or shallow weed beds vs basins.  For gills, jigs tipped with waxies/spikes/plastics seem to work best.  If anglers can find any green left on weeds, they should focus there, otherwise look for pockets of weeds or edges where gills will hide.  

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

Greg