Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it looks like we got maybe an inch and a half of snow overnight, which actually may help with the slick roads as it will cover the ice up a little bit.  This past week we saw some above freezing temps and some rain on Thursday which made a mess of roads and driveways but actually may have helped the ice a bit!  It knocked down some of the insulating snow and then froze hard as we dropped into negative temps overnight and had a high well below freezing yesterday.  It sounds like the lakes that had decent ice already gained a couple of inches from the rain and freeze.  The Spider chain is varying in ice depth and I have heard reports of anywhere from 5-8″.  I know that LLL got staked for the snowmobile trail yesterday, as did the Tiger Cat flowage so that tells me those bodies of water have around 8″ on them as well.  It sounds like the bigger lakes (Round, LCO, Grindstone) and parts of the Chip are not ready and are not staked yet.  We are supposed to see another warm up around Christmas and potential rain, but I don’t think it will be significant enough to affect the ice.  

If anglers are venturing out onto bigger water, just use common sense and check ice as you go.  Even on smaller lakes that seem safe, since we have had some temperature swings and rain, it would be a good idea to check ice as you go.  NO fish is worth falling through the ice!  Most anglers have stayed fairly close to shorelines and have been finding fish on shallower structure such as weed beds, rocky points, and reefs or shorelines with steep breaks.  Tip-ups rigged with walleye suckers or shiners in anywhere from 6-15 FOW around these structures are good places to start for walleye, pike, bass, and even musky.  Panfish may be out in basins, in which case dropping jigs or spoons down to their level with waxies, or minnows is a great choice.  These same choices work for fish in weeds as well, and working edges is key.

That is all I have for a report for this week.  Still not a lot of anglers out fishing, hopefully that changes now that lakes are getting safer, and there is more people up for the holidays! We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it is going to be a frigid weekend in the Northwoods. Single digit highs today and tomorrow and wind chills well below zero should keep building the ice sheets on the lakes. The weather does look to bring a significant warm up this week, and I am seeing some highs in the mid to upper 30s. That should make ice fishing very pleasant for anglers wanting to get out as holes won’t freeze up as quick while using tip-ups, and hands won’t freeze if you are jigging!

It sounds like most of the lakes are getting safer as I am hearing reports of 5-6″ of good ice locally with another 1-1/2″ of mixed snow/ice on top of that. Not to beat a dead horse but anglers should ALWAYS check any ice they are on this time of year. Last Sunday on the spots we checked we had I would say a solid 3-4″ and my buddy texted me yesterday and said we have 6″ on that same spot now so we are definitely building ice. It sounds like the snowmobile clubs are going to try to stake lakes this week, or at least start checking lakes to see if they are able to stake them.

Shallow water tip-ups set on tops or on transitions of ledges, reefs, or points that extend out into the lake are great spots to pick up walleye, pike, bass, and any other predator that comes into the shallows to feed. Dawn and dusk are the best times on days with high sun, but all day can be good if there is overcast or low light skies. On some lakes anglers will find panfish still in shallow water related to still green weeds or around inlets/outlets as those spots will hold more oxygen and keep fish there. As the snow builds up and we lose light penetration those fish will push out into basins and school up and feed on small invertebrates that come off of the bottom. Small jig/minnow combinations or small jigs or spoons tipped with waxies will work to catch panfish in both of these locations.

That is all I have for this week’s report. We will get into a little more species specific spots and reports as the ice gets safer and anglers can get anywhere on the lakes. Have a great weekend, stay warm and we will talk soon.

Greg