Fishing Report

Good morning from the Northwoods, while the weather is pleasant for some outdoor activities and great for people who don’t prefer winter, it is not conducive to ice making or winter sports.  Most of the little amount of snow we received is gone and we are losing ice.  This week of weather is all over the place, with high temps ranging from 28 degrees to 46 degrees.  Very little if any precipitation is in the forecast…..about an inch of snow today and nothing after that for the next 15 days.   I don’t think we will lose any more ice as it is supposed to be well below freezing every night and down into the teens most nights.  

A few anglers have ventured out on the area lakes and while there are some safe spots to fish, most of the lakes have open water again now or very thin ice.  I’m hearing reports of anywhere from 3 to 5″ of ice on area lakes, which is down from the beginning of the week when we are at 5 to 7″ on those same lakes.  I have no reports of anyone doing any good catching fish, so cant give an actual “fishing report”.

I will reiterate this week that again anglers need to be very cautious if they venture on to the ice.  NO ice is safe ice, and after this warmup we have had and the current weather forecast it is going to be sketchy at best.  Check and double check ice as you go out, let people know you are going out before you go and when they should expect you back, be mindful of changing conditions throughout the day.  

I wish I had a better report for everyone, but it is what it is. Plenty of time for late archery season to tag your buck or doe. Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good morning, that awkward transition didn’t take long as the ice fishing season is upon us!  Had a handful of anglers in the bait shop yesterday buying bait for some early ice tip up action.  With the colder weather we have had and lack of snow, conditions have been great for making ice.  I am hearing 3-4″ of good ice around most shorelines on a lot of lakes in the area.  Even bigger water such as the Chip and Namakagon are iced over.  I don’t have details on depth of ice on those lakes but lakes like the Spider chain, LLL and Teal, and Moose lake are all in the 3-4″ range close to shore.  A slight warm up weather wise with temps in the mid to upper 30s all week, then back down to just below freezing.  It won’t affect the ice much as the high temps dont last long during the day, and we get well below freezing each night.  I’m seeing very little chance of snow until next weekend, and they are only calling for around an inch then.  

I won’t even go into a report by species for a couple of reasons…..this is going to be more of a PSA about being safe on the ice and the best ice fishing to be had right now is using Tip-ups on shallow flats or very near shorelines around dusk when fish are coming in shallow.  No need to push falling through by fishing out on mid lake structure or the basins to find fish.  

Start slow and check ice every 3-5 steps.  It may seem like way too much but ice can change quick.  Always be mindful of lakes that have stream/creek/river inlets and outlets as any kind of moving water can cause ice to have thin spots.  Deep water lakes may also still have open water with just decent ice around the edges.  No need to bring any machines out onto the lakes right now either…shouldn’t even have to say that but I will just put it out there.  Now is the time to go through your ice gear, put new line on reels/tip-ups, stock up on new jigs and plastics and get ready for a great ice season!  We are off to a much better start to this ice season vs last year and with the current weather pattern it looks to continue that trend!  

Greg