By George Langley
NORTHERN WISCONSIN – Well, there’s not much to report from a fishing standpoint at this time. There is almost no one fishing now, with the exception of below dams for panfish on the Wisconsin and other rivers.
While there’s still plenty of ice on most lakes, access is next to impossible. The trend with warm weather coming and going seems to be continuing for the foreseeable future, and at this point, we’re needing some serious rainfall – or snow. At this time last year, we were getting some big snowfall, making slush the biggest headache we had out on the ice. At least last year you could get out there if you wanted!
We are currently experiencing drought conditions. December was the warmest and driest on record in Wisconsin, and we seem to have gotten the brunt of it. We got very lucky that we had ice through our whole game season to keep the anglers happy.
While they got some snow to our south, we were left out of that party – and we’ve seen very little in the way of rain to make up for it. How this will affect lake levels going into spring remains to be seen, but let’s all hope for a very wet spring. It will be interesting to see how this strange winter will affect the spawn, too.
We might see water temps rise very early this year. Despite the fact that we’re still suffering through this long, strange trip of a winter, we do have a lot to look forward to. There will certainly be people who find good spots for shore fishing or are able to fish from their docks very soon. Grab your rod and a box of worms or crawlers and have a lazy afternoon of bobber fishing for some bluegill. For a kid, this is a super way to get them excited about fishing and ready for longer days in a boat.
This year’s game-fishing opener is Saturday, May 4. Let the countdown begin!
Good luck and good fishin’!