Good morning, another round of snow last night dropped about +/- 3″ of snow. Hard to tell a total as the wind was howling and created some drifting. Bitter cold temps will hang around for this week, with most temps in the single digits during the day and below zero at night. With not a lot of snow cover on the lakes, we should make some great ice this week. I am hearing reports of 6-8″ of solid good ice on some of the local lakes, but not quite that much on the bigger lakes in the area. Namakagon from what I am hearing is around 4″ and I have no reports of Round, LCO, or Grindstone, but my guess would be they are around the same amount as Namakagon. As always, check check check ice as you go, as ice conditions can change daily. It sounds like some of the lakes may get staked this week for snowmobile traffic and there may be enough in the woods to start grooming, although I have not seen any groomers yet.
Most anglers that are coming in to the bait shop are still doing well on tip-ups for walleye and pike and still finding those fish pretty shallow. Anywhere from the 6-10 FOW range is what I am hearing. Look for weed edges that drop off to basins and start there. I’m not hearing much on a panfish bite of any species but with better ice forming anglers should be able to work basins for crappie and perch.
Thats about all I got for this week, I don’t feel we are into the ice season enough yet to breakdown individual species but could probably start next week. Have a great weekend, stay warm and we will talk soon.
Greg