By George Langley
NORTHERN WISCONSIN – Ice conditions have improved, despite some warm days, because of cold nights and lack of snow. With the snow overnight Sunday into Monday, it remains to be seen how that will play with the ice. There is a pretty consistent six-plus inches on all of the smaller lakes and the bays on the bigger lakes – more or less than that, depending on the lake.
Use caution on all of the bodies of water out there, and check ice as you go, especially now that we have some snow and with all the warm weather expected this coming week.
Walleye fishing has been pretty good. Use medium shiners or sucker minnows under your tip-ups and fish in the late afternoon and evening.
Northern action continues to be good, with fish being caught in the weeds using large shiners. These guys eat all day, so they can keep you busy while you wait for the late afternoon walleye bite.
Panfishing continues to improve. We are still seeing some action in water of 10 feet or less during low-light/evening, so these are great fish to target if you want to stay close to shore. Start your day out on deep weeds at the edge of a drop-off, then move shallower into green weeds as the day turns to evening. Small ice fishing jigs tipped with your choice of bait or small plastics are working.
There will be plenty of fishing going on for Christmas through New Year’s Day. Get out there and enjoy the quiet that comes from having enough ice to fish, but not enough for machines and vehicles. Surely that is going to change soon.
Good luck and good fishin’!