Fishing Report

Good morning, looks like temps above freezing during the day until next weekend and then a slight drop but not major.  It also looks like Sunday night through Monday we could be in for another round of moderate snow with 4-8″ possible.  Battling the snow on the ice this year has been a constant struggle and wet heavy snow will not help that situation any moving forward.  The “late ice” panfish season is upon us as the gamefish (walleye,pike) closes at end of day Sunday.  When ice conditions are good this can be a great time of year to catch some fish.  Fun fishing on light tackle in warmer conditions can keep the kids or significant others that may not be into fishing out on the lake longer.  Crappie/bluegill/perch all make for some pretty good table fare as well.  

Crappie–The crappie bite has been good and should continue to be for a while yet.  Most anglers have been finding crappies in the basin and using small tungsten jigs tipped with plastics/waxies/spikes.  With the higher sun and longer days the fish will start moving into some of the shallow bays/areas they will use during the spring for spawn. Look for neckdown areas of the lake where basins transition into shallow bays.  Jigging small spoons this time of year for crappie can also be a great tool to catch aggressive fish.

Bluegill–You can find big gills up in shallower water around weeds and structure.  Also look for creek inlets where things are getting mixed up and more oxygen is entering the lake.  Small jigs with plastics is deadly to ice the biggest gills in the bunch.  Spoons without rattles or extra noise can be great as well and won’t call in predators as much as a rattling spoon.  Using an underwater camera can also help to see how fish are reacting (or not) to your offerings, so you can change it up to get on more.  Look for fish as shallow as 4-5 FOW and work through weeds from shallow to deep.  

Perch–Perch are the predators of the panfish world and fishing them fast and aggressive is the way to go.  Smaller spoons tipped with waxies/minnow heads are a great bait for catching bigger perch.  Bright colors and glow colors can work well for perch as well.  Most times perch will be mixed in the structure/weeds and chasing small invertebrates and minnows.  Dead sticking with a full fathead/crappie minnow on a jig is a great way to ice more perch as well.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Greg

Good morning, my best guess for snow totals we got with the last storm is +/- 10-12″.  Hard to tell with the blowing and drifting that was going on.  It looks like we may get another round on Monday, although it looks like more of an ice/snow mix with accumulations around 1-3″.  Ice travel should be much improved over the last few weeks as most of the ice was bare before this past week’s storm and it being windy.  The snowmobile trails are still in excellent shape if that’s the outdoor activity of your choice!  The fishing report is ok as I am hearing the crappie bite is staying consistently good and some walleye are being caught both jigging and on tip-ups yet.  Gamefish season does close next weekend March 5th at midnight so get your walleye fishing in this week.  Panfish does not close, so we can still target them through the ice and into open water season before gamefish re-opens on May 6th. 

Walleye–Jigging spoons with rattles/flash/noise will call in eyes’ from a distance. If fishing a lake with more of a weed related bite, work the edges with the same baits and set up tip-ups or deadsticks.  On the tip-ups or deadstick rods, walleye suckers and shiners are the most common approach.  

Northern pike–Work tip-ups with shiners or suckers in pockets of weeds, on edges and points and you will likely have some flags going off!  Dawn and dusk will usually be the best times to target pike, although keeping your tip-ups out all day will catch roaming fish as well.

Crappie–The crappie bite has been good and anglers are finding the fish suspended in the basins from what I am told.  Small jigs tipped with waxies or plastics is the go-to approach.   Use tungsten to get down fast and work the schools until the fish stop biting.  If you can stay mobile and follow them even better!

Bluegill/Perch–I’ve noticed driving around that most of the creeks are still open and flowing some water……that leads me to believe panfish will be in areas of the lake where these creek inlets feed into bays or other shallow shorelines of the lake.  Panfish will feed on the larve and other things that get washed away from these creeks. The flowing water will also help keep the surrounding weeds oxygenated just that much more which can hold fish as well.  Small jigs that match the hatch tipped with plastics or waxies can be fantastic this time of year.

Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg