Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, warmer temps this weekend will give us some relief from the brutal cold we had from the past few days.  It looks like we have some slight chances of snow off and on over the week, with temps up and down as well.   We are supposed to get a little bit of snow today, with some light glazing of ice also and we are currently under a Winter Weather Advisory from that.  Ice reports are all over the place still, with many smaller/mediums lakes having safe ice in most areas. I have herad reports of anywhere from 5-7″ on those lakes.  Larger, deeper lakes were still mostly open from what I was hearing, although they may have iced over with the cold weather of last week.  Even if they did, on these lakes (Round, LCO, Grindstone) be sure to check ice frequently as it most likely will vary greatly on thickness across the lake. 

There is not a whole to report on the early season ice bite yet, as most anglers were not out dealing with sub zero temps last week.  Most anglers are still fishing tip ups rigged with sucker minnows in fairly shallow water.  Jigging bigger spoons or baits are producing walleye and small pike right now as well.  Panfish can be caught using small jigs tipped with waxies, mostly in and around shallow weeds right now until we can get out into the basins and target crappie.  

Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a warm weekend and possible rain tomorrow may slow down the ice-making for a day or two, but mid-week temps look to drop down into the teens with overnight lows around 0.  That should get us right back on track to keep building ice.  Reports on ice thickness are all over the place and vary greatly (even on the same body of water).  I know on the Spider chain some spots have 4-6″ while other spots have open water.  It does sound like most back bays, and smaller shallow lakes are safe to fish, but ALWAYS use caution and common sense when ice fishing.  CHECK ice every few steps this time of year no matter how safe you “think” the ice is.  And if it looks sketchy—it probably is!!  That’s where common sense comes in, trust your judgment and if it doesn’t feel right just don’t go.  No fish is worth losing all of your gear or possibly your life through the ice.

Okay, getting the friendly PSA out of the way for the year…….anglers are mainly using tip-ups right now and doing pretty well on them.  It really is a mixed-bag tip-up fishing this time of year and no real “target” fishing for any species.  Walleye, northern pike, bass, and even musky will hit either suckers or shiners under a tip-up and all of those predators can be found off of weed lines right now.  Anglers may also have some success for panfish with jigs and waxies.  Look for those fish in pockets of the weed beds right now.

We do have some snow (at least out by the Quiet Lakes) but not enough to groom trails yet and not enough to snowmobile on.  I have heard people are skiing, if that’s the recreation you prefer.
That is all I have for this week’s report.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg