Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, we hope everyone had a great Christmas! The rain started last night and is still coming down lightly as I type this.  This will not be great for the lakes, although most lakes had at least 8-10″ of ice so I don’t think it will make them unsafe, just a mess until it freezes back up.  A few customers told me yesterday afternoon that there was already significant water on the ice, so when it does re-freeze it will most likely be glare ice with no snow cover.  It is supposed to get cold by the end of the week with temps in the teens and single digits, however I see ZERO snow in the forecast for the 15 day.  Another absolute horrible start to the snowmobile season two years in a row.  Fishing has been fair to good the past week or so and that should continue as long as the ice stays safe.

Pike/Walleye–Both of these species are mainly coming on tip-ups anywhere from 10-20 FOW on the deep weed edges and rocky bottom transitions.  Tip-ups rigged with a single treble hook and a shiner or walleye sucker are all you need.  Generally anglers run the bait pretty close to bottom although it doesn’t hurt to set them at different depths in the water column.  If you set tip-ups in and around shallow weeds (which can work) you will most likely get more pike and largemouth bass.  Not a bad thing if you are looking for more action!

Crappie/Perch–Anglers should find crappie and perch schooled up out in basins more so than set up on shallow structure this time of year, although every lake can be different.  Small jigs and spoons tipped with waxies/crappie minnows/plastics or even pieces of minnow heads can be deadly for both of these panfish.  Look for fish in 15-25 FOW off of points or mid lake structure.  

Bluegill–Anglers should find bluegill in and around weeds whether it is a big weed flat or bay off of the main lake.  Try to find still green weeds as they will still hold some oxygen and small bugs and other things ‘gills will feed on.  Creek inlets can be good spots too as long as the ice is safe to navigate.  Small jigs tipped with spikes/waxies/plastics can all be effective for bluegills.  

That is all I have for this week’s report.  It sure would be nice to get some snow, or at least get cold and stay that way so the ice remains safe.  Have a great weekend and New Year’s, stay dry and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good evening from the Quiet Lakes, hockey tomorrow so going to get you the report early!  We did not end up with nearly as much snow as originally forecasted.  I think we may have about 2-3″  on the ground here.  I saw a few snowmobile tracks along the trail by our house and watched a guy go straight across the lake today while I was out ice fishing.  I did hear a group of people staked Lost Land Lake for the snowmobile trail which is a good sign, however I do not believe we got enough snow to get the groomers out and the trails have to be thin for anyone looking to ride right now.  I have also heard that most lakes are safe right now, Moose Lake has 10 inches of ice and most of the Chippewa Flowage is around 8″.  A big warm up looks to happen next week with multiple days in the upper 30s and some forecasted rain for next Friday…..ugh……

On a better note, all of the ice we checked today was between 6-8″ of solid black ice and the lakes were making some noise the entire time we were out there.  At the current temp of -1 that can only mean we were making more ice as the high today never got out of the teens!  We found a whole bunch of perch schooled up in 15 FOW although they were all small.  Still fun to catch and mostly on a small tungsten jig and soft plastic.  We were fortunate enough to get a decent pike and a few smaller walleye on tip ups rigged with sucker minnows in anywhere from 12-20 FOW close to shallow water with weeds.  We did not find any crappie although I have heard some anglers doing well for them on the Chip and on lakes with a little bit deeper basins.  Look for those fish in 15-25 FOW and use jigs and plastics or minnows.  

That is all I have for this week’s report.  Pretty easy fishing right now as fish seem to be where anglers should expect them and they seem to be biting at that twilight/dusk time when you would expect as well.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg