Fishing Report: Just three weeks left for game fishing

By George Langley

NORTHERN WISCONSIN – The dreaded mid-winter blues are upon us, which means more inconsistent fishing. There is a lot of good ice fishing left, although only three weeks left in the game fishing season. Our hope is that the lakes stay in a condition that we can get around on them and enjoy it!

Our days (and nights) remain oddly warm for this time of the winter, although below freezing for the most part. It would be normal for us to have more than two feet of ice on our lakes at this time of the year. However, the five to 12 inches we’ve got are holding fine.

Walleye fishing has been very inconsistent for the last couple of weeks. A number of anglers have reported that they will get fish in a spot one day and then get nothing in the same spot the very next day. Weather systems coming through at this time of year definitely have an effect on the fishing, and with the lack of snow covering the ice, the light seems to affect things quite a lot, too. When they are hitting, either sucker minnows or shiners are working well under tip-ups. Also, deeper water jigging during the daytime has been getting better in the last several weeks.

Northern fishing remains as good as it has been all winter. We saw a little slow-down during the last warm front, but it’s picking up again. Fish for these guys in the deepest weeds you can find. Larger shiners work the best for northerns, setting tip-ups right in the weeds. You will find that you can set a few tip-ups for northern and jig for panfish in the same areas at the same time. Since these fish are sight feeders, daytime angling is the best for them.

Panfishing has been pretty decent, with perch and bluegill leading the pack. Both are in the deep weeds most commonly; however, we’ve seen some unusually shallow fish, too. Waxies are working great for the ‘gills. If you’re not finding the perch in the weeds, try a deep mud flat and a Swedish pimple right near the bottom. Crappies have been a little inconsistent, but on some days hitting quite well in deeper water. Crappie minnows and waxies are working.

Good luck and good fishin’!

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