Minocqua Area Fishing Report – 2014

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 1-07-14:

As can be imagined, not much for fishing participation this past week with either high winds through Saturday or brutal cold temps (down to -31 degrees including 2 days of school closings) through Tuesday. A few people did get out and actually caught fish, but, if you didn’t have a permanent shanty with a good heater, you stayed home.

Perch: Fair-Good. The few anglers who had perch dialed in reported good catches using Flasch Champ, Kastmaster and Lindy Frostee spoons tipped with wiggler or red spikes. Depths of 22′-30′, on Flowages 10′-12′ using Rosie Reds.

Bluegills: Fair-Good. Surprising considering the conditions. Nice gills of 7.5″ – 8.5″ in 10′-12′ on #10 rockers tipped with waxies. Most fish presently holding close to bottom.

Crappies: Fair. A few mixed in with bluegill catches over the weekend. Too cold for tip-downs. Most on jigs and waxies. A few on slip-bobbers inside a heated shanty using minnows.

Walleyes: Poor-Fair. Not many risking staying out after dark in this cold – one angler did ice a 29 ½” Sunday night, unfortunately couldn’t release due to eyes and fins freezing so quickly – something to think about when tip-up fishing in extreme cold.

Pike: Poor. Too cold to keep tip-ups out for long.

Largemouth Bass: Poor. No reports.

As cold as it has been, there is relief in sight. Weekend temps should top out above freezing, this will make fishing far more comfortable. Fish should be ready to feed after warm up.

Most lakes reporting 15″-17″+ of ice. A few such as Fence and Trout only 11″-13″. Travel is very good. Some slush on east sides of lakes (where wind blown snow has insulated moisture) and sure to be some in spots still, yet overall paths and tracks have firmed up nicely.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

I’ll add on to this report with my trip up on Saturday morning. Targeted panfish mainly crappies, arrived are 7:30 and immediately put some decent slabs on the ice, seemed like low light was key for the crappies to be active, fished until sun down and picked up one here and there for most of the day until the sun hit the tree tops and it was game on. Ended up with 18 fish, a 18 inch bonus walleye, a big 9 inch bluegill and 16 crappies all were only 10-11 inches. Using a small horizontal tungsten jig with a Northland mini smelt plastic seemed to be the best. Hoping to get back up to the area later this week when it becomes more suitable weather for ice fishing.

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 1-13-14:

Finally! A break in the weather so we can get out and fish!
With temps in the balmy mid 20s this weekend, anglers got back out on the ice. While not as many participants expected, those that got out were greeted with some good fishing.

Perch: Good- Very Good. Best action for big perch on Flowages using large rosie reds or smaller shiners on tip-ups. Fish of 11-13” common. No limits here, but quality fish on the natural lakes anglers plying the mud flats of 18-25’ are finding good perch (8-10+”) using pimples and Hali jigs tipped with wigglers or red spikes.

Bluegills: Good. Action best in bays with good green weeds in 8-12’. Small #12-#10 tungsten jigs tipped with mousses, spikes best. Jigs and plastics (red, purple, black) also effective.

Crappies: Good-Fair. Not as many reports. A bit windy for tip-downs. Best slow dropping tungsten jigs tipped with white or silver plastics.

Walleyes: Good. Bite best after dark on suckers off weed edges of 12-15’ and also on mid-lake humps of sandgrass in 18-22’ #9 jigging Raps scoring some big fish off these same humps. Fish of 26, 27, 28 ½ and 29” reported using this method since weather broke. Flowages reporting mostly smaller walleyes during the day on shiners.

Pike: Good-Very Good. Not great #’s, but nice fish in the low 30” class hitting big weed points jutting out to deeper water.

Largemouth Bass: Good. Got active with warm up. Most on tip-ups baited with shiners.

Looks as if temps fishable till Friday- a little cool- then back by Saturday/Sunday. Ice thickness averaging only 17-18”. Some slush, but almost all drivable. Most all accesses excellent.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 1-21-14:

More cold, so what’s new? Actually, the weekend warmed up, to 10-12 degrees Saturday and anglers took advantage. Those willing to get out before dawn or fish after dark did best.

Perch: Fair-Good. Flowages producing sporadic (1 to 1 ½ fish per hour average) catches on the plus side, typical of flowage perch they were quality fish (9-12 ½”). Best on large rosie reds on tip-ups, tip-downs or under floats when warm enough. For better action Gapen Flicker jigs, VMC Flash champs and #25 Hali’s tipped with wigglers or red spikes producing good catches of 8-10” fish over 18-30’ mud flats.

Pike: Fair-Good. Besides perch, this seemed to be the only other species that bit with some regularity this weekend. Big shiners, chubs and suckers on wire tip-up rigs in 8-12’ weeds best.

Walleyes: Fair. Had to stay out till dusk for the most part (flowage anglers reported small fish duing day). Best bites on walleye suckers (3-5”) below tip-ups over off shore humps covered with sandgrass. While warm enough (Saturday and Sunday nights) or inside shacks, angler jigging #7 and #9 jig raps catching some larger eyes in mid 20” range.

Crappies: Poor. Few decent reports. Best from the anglers probing deep water breaks at dusk for a 45 minute-1 hour window of activity. Minnows under slip floats in 18-24’ also VMC Larva jigs (glow) tipped with waxies.

Bluegills: Poor. Fish very finicky with the best action on small, dark tungsten jigs held inches off the bottom tipped with waxies or spikes. Gills reportedly not willing to move much for bait under these high skies.

Below zero temps again this week, though nice warm up for Friday, then slowly dipping back down to teens Saturday and single digits on Sunday.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

Hit Nokomis Friday, did well for an hour and a half at the end of the day when the big crappies and gils got active in 12′ – Thank You Bearplotts for steering me in the right direction. Tip downs were slow but did catch a nice LM and lost a nice walleye in the hole. For those who like to snowmobile the trails are in great shape. Hitting the ice again this afternoon!

Red hot bite this afternoon fish were moving and biting up to 5′ off the bottom, almost always a big crappie. Been a great weekend to spend in the Northwoods

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 1-28-14:

Uncle!!! We’ve had enough! Another polar vortex, schools closed, temps 20 below, wind child to 50 below. Hopefully Mother Nature will reward us with a nice February.

When you could fish, catching wasn’t so bad. Good reports from the less the average amount of anglers on the ice. A few places seemed crowded if access way easy, yet overall participation has been down.

Pike: Good-Very good. Flags were flying Friday and Saturday. Nice pike in the mid 20” to low30” range on big shiners. Most anglers finding pike in 8-12’ edges and slots in the weeds, but anglers reporting nice pike in as little as 5’ during warm spell on Friday.

Perch: Good – Very good. Natural lakes, deeper is better in 18-30’ mud flats producing limit catches of 8-10”+ perch using wigglers, red spikes. Hali jigs, Flickers, Pimples, Champs all good at drawing attention, plus getting back down quickly when the school moves in. On Flowages, rosie reds (don’t be afraid to use the large ones) are tops for perch typically running 10-12+”. Don’t expect limits, just nice quality fish.

Walleye: Fair-Good. Walleye suckers over sandgrass humps of 14-22’ at dusk. Jigging Raps and Rattlin Spoons tipped with minnow heads bring in nice walleyes of 18-24” also.

Bluegills: Fair. Best on the warmer days (above 10 degrees). Use #10 or #12 darts, #3 Fiskas tipped with a single waxie or spike. Fish 6-10’ heavy weeds. Some lakes giving up nice gills over sandgrass flats of 16-22’ using heavy tungsten jigs to get down quickly.

Crappies: Fair. Due to lack of mobility only anglers set up in good locations with shacks seeing any action, mostly spotty. Glow jigs along transition breaks tipped with waxies or small minnows. Thirty minute “windows of action” just before dusk.

Largemouth Bass: Fair. They like it warmer. Had some reports during Friday’s “heat wave”.

Cold looks to continue, though high windows in single digits later in the week could help.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

bigpike:

Good job, hopefully next year I will have some time and perhaps we can get together with plotts and chase around Nokomis sometime…

Mark

That sounds great Mark!

No doubt. I am starting to warm up to Nokomis though I still disagree with how the water is managed – its a pretty nice fishery winter or summer when its full of water!

…maybe even when bigpike is up on his early summer trip…

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 2-04-14:

Hope we are starting to see the bottom here. Cold and snow continued last week. A bit of a break this past weekend and beginning of the week, but, Wednesday and Thursday cold again then this week cold again with things improving again for the weekend.

Travel conditions on the lakes continue to deteriorate due to snow and slush. Best to confine your travel to areas of high traffic where snow has been packed down and any water on the ice is exposed to the cold night air and gets to freeze. Travel by snowmobile and your brother-in-law’s truck best. Carry a tow strap, shovel and make sure your cell phone is charged just in case.

Pike: Good. Thank goodness for these fish! Getting good results on shiners on tip-ups in waters of as shallow as 5 feet to outside weeds of 12-14’. This has been a winter of better than average pike for our area. Lots of high 20” to low 30” and quite a few upper 30” pike and some low 40”ers.

Perch: Fair-good. Access has been the limiting factor to anglers getting out over the mud flats to where the best perch fishing is. Those that have had good success with the typical Pimples, Hali and Flickers tipped with wigglers for catches of 8-10” perch over 22-28’ mud.

Walleye: Fair-Good. Best after dark using suckers over off shore sandgrass covered humps topping off at 18-22’ from 40’ depths. Those with permanent shacks scoring using jigging Raps and Buckshot spoons tipped with minnow heads.

Crappies: Fair-Good. Best right before dark though few anglers staying out then. Glow Demon jigs (#8) and VMC Larvae jigs tipped with waxies or the smallest of minnows as the crappies start to feed in 7-10’ of weeds as the sun goes down. Still too cold to effectively work tip-downs.

Bluegills: Fair. A few good reports from anglers venturing out to out of the way places catching 8”+ gills on Tungsten jigs tipped with spikes. Areas of easy access receiving a lot of pressure.

With temps returning into the teens this weekend (heat wave) and a whisper of possibly seeing 30’s by the following weekend hopefully will improve access and reports.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 2-11-14:

With most mornings starting off in the double digit/below zero mark (17-23 below the last four mornings) participation on the ice is down quite a lot.

Fishing was understandably slow due to cold and high pressure system hanging over our area. Lack of wind made things bearable during the day as temps warmed up to 7-14 degrees above by mid afternoons.

Pike: Fair. Mostly smaller fish and fewer of them. Typical tip-up shiner layout in weeds of 5-12’.

Walleye: Fair. A few reports of the odd catch at mid-day, but best very early before 8 am or after dark. Best over sandgrass in 18-24’. Due to high pressure, walleyes have been negative, best action walleye suckers, wild shiners on tip-ups. They don’t seem to be aggressive enough to hit jigging raps/spoons. If barometer falls, jigging should pick up.

Perch: Fair. Best over mud of 18-28’. Dark, heavy jigs tipped with wigglers best. Some anglers using medium fatheads to try and ward off smaller fish.

Crappies: Fair. Best in deep water of 18-28’. Small windows of action at dusk.

Bluegills: Poor-Fair. Cold continues to limit participation. Finesse is needed with 1-2# test and tiny dark #14 jigs to coax bites.

As bleak as this fishing report is, things are looking up as weekend temps should hit the 20’s and rumors or 30’s and 40’s for next week are being dangled by weather reporters. With a drop in the barometer, look for action and travel to improve.

Snow is very light. While tough to pack down a trail, it is easy to shovel and access is improving. Ice thickness is averaging 28-30”.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 2-18-14:

Finally a break in the weather. Not great, but, by this winters standard, a nice weekend to be out. The east winds didn’t help much for the fish, nor did the high pressure system. That has all given way to a new batch of snow on Monday that will only add to the travel problems.

Pike: Good. Action, as well as participation improved. Large shiners were the top producers by far. Not much change in location – any green weeds of 5’ to as deep as 12-14’ edges. Lots of mid 20” fish with better pike of up to 36” this past weekend.

Bluegills: Fair-Good. Action improving with warmer weather getting anglers out and moving. Best in heavy weeds of 6-9’. Small gill pills and #3 tungsten jigs tipped with spikes best. Dark colors tops.

Perch: Fair-Good. Anglers having tough time getting out to mud flats, so deep water bite is quiet. Weedy flats of 8-12’ holding surprisingly nice perch feeding on small bluegills. Jigs in the shape of these small panfish tipped with minnows as well as tip-downs with rosies catching nice perch of 9-11”+.

Walleye: Fair. High pressure seemed to have held this bite off. A few anglers getting out to off shore sandgrass flats using walleye suckers having success at dusk and again at early dawn.

Crappies: Fair. A few good reports from anglers catching nice crappies of 11-12” from weedy bays of 10-12’ for 30-45 minute windows at dusk.

Largemouth Bass: Fair. A few nice fish on tip-up/shiner combos. Best just shy of 20” this past weekend.

The warm weather following last nights snow (2/17) will hopefully allow anglers to pack down trails so that access and travel will improve. Snow depth on some lakes, while slush on others has been a big deterrent to anglers getting out – should change some as temps in the 30’s this week followed by cold nights should push snow levels down and firm travel up.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice
Web Site: http://www.kurtsislandsports.com

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 2-25-14:

And we thought it couldn’t get any worse…. Last weeks two days above freezing was followed by nearly a foot of new snow, making access on most lakes next to impossible.
Trucks, snowmobiles, even Rangers & Quads with tracks are having trouble getting stuck.

Conditions have been bad enough to keep most lakes angler free. A few with fishing not far from boat landings (Minocqua, Carroll, Big Arbor Vitae)are receiving some anglers, but even on these lakes travel is iffy.

There were some reports of northern pike on tip-ups using big shiners. Some bluegills. Yellow perch over deep mud using wigglers produced some decent catches of 8-10″ perch. A few crappies mixed in with the gills in 6-10″ weeds, a few crappies found over transition mud lines in 18-24″ taking rosie reds.

Few walleye reports, though a 26″ reportedly showed up at the Carrol Lake Derby this past weekend.

Check conditions daily before traveling up here. Cold to stay for another 10 days. Game fish season runs through this Sunday at midnight. Getting shacks off the lakes has been a big problem. Shacks should be off by March 15th, should you feel you can’t get yours off, try calling your local warden, let him/her know your name and location of the shack and your situation to see if they will give you an extension.
Better to ask ahead. DON’T burn your shack! They have shacks GPS’d so you WILL get a ticket if you leave a mess!

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

Hey Mark, guess what? I took a job in Phillips so I am moving much closer to your neck of the woods. I will be hitting you up once I get settled in. Hopefully by summer if my house sells quick. I start a week from Monday and will be staying at the in laws in Tomahawk in the meantime during the week

Congrats to you, would love to fish Phillips a bit more too!!! 715.892.6926

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 3-04-14:

With this mornings temp at 4 deg. above, marked the first morning in 8 days dawn cracked above 0 deg. Yesterdays (3/3) -26 deg. (lower up north & west) set a March record, whoopee!!!

Travel has not improved!!! The game fish season closed without hardly a notice. Access being so bad, getting shacks off is a bigger concern than catching fish.

Crappies: Fair-Good. Not a lot of anglers out. But a few having good luck over heavy cabbage in 8-12′ using small minnows. Most inside shacks to cold to use tip-downs, though that should improve by weeks end with temps moving to 30 deg. by thur/fri. When crappies not taking minnows, finesse with #10 rockers tipped with a single spike piece of chena.

Bluegills: Fair-Good. access again limiting anglers participation, but some decent catches by anglers using small darts, Fiska and Skandia jig tipped with waxies, spikes or plastics. Not easy to drill a bunch of holes and hop, best to find some good weeds and a comfortable bucket.

Yellow Perch: Fair. Tough to get out to the better perch locations. Wigglers have been selling, though supply is limited. Try red spikes over mud, small minnows in weeds of 6-10′.

We need some warm weather to drop snow depth… and a few hardy trailblazers to pack down roads. With ice thickness at 32-34″ plus extensions are a handy thing to have. Keep a shovel on hand as well. Check our website for updates on conditions on the lake during the week.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

Got back up to the Minocqua area this weekend for a family vacation, while the women went shopping and had spa days the men all went ice fishing. Fished both Lake Minocqua and Arbor Vitae and both were very difficult bites and fish seemed to be uninterested in biting. Spent most of our time on Minocqua because we could see crappies and gills on the camera just struggled to get them on the ice. Late afternoon was the only time we could find and consistent biters otherwise for most of the day we spend hole hopping and plucking a dumb one here and there. Tried tip downs, an array of different baits but ended up coming back to the same jig and plastic I have used up there all year, but boy was it a difficult bite. You had to really focus on VERY VERY slowly dropping your bait and jigging it down to the fishes level and if you stopped it right above their nose if you were lucky they would hit it otherwise they swam away so it was rinse and repeat in every single hole, hoping to find an active fish. One of those frustrating weekends where I found fish but they would just not hit whatsoever. As far as the conditions went for these two lakes it wasn’t bad at all, we fished spots within walking distance had around 8 inches of snow. The ice thickness was a different story, bust out the extensions if you are fishing, you NEED them! Had a 12 inch extension on our Jiffy and even then the auger was getting very close to the ice in spots, easily over 30 inches most places, couple guys even had to borrow our augers to drill their holes. Just doesn’t seem right that you should have to pull at shoulder height to start the auger. My dad said this was the most ice he has ever drilled through in his life minus one trip to Canada years and years ago and he’s been fishing Northern Wisconsin for 40+ years.

Stayed at the Pointe hotel right on the lake with the family fri and sat, had a great time at a very nice hotel relaxing at night and enjoying some great fresh fish as well as some fantastic local pub/bar food as well. Overall still very glad to be out on the ice spending time with the family, small little moments and laughs were what made the trip so memorable even if the fish didn’t cooperate. Would love to do it every weekend if I could. Spring break starts for me on Friday, so I hopefully will get fishing 3 or 4 times over that span, just not sure if I will be back to the Minocqua area with the lethargic fish, will post if I do return. Good luck guys.

Wondering if what James and Will found this past week might be going on even on the bigger lakes up here… Interesting watch this weekend and hopefully the melt will allow some opportunities into next week for truck travel to improve greatly. Right now everyone that I know that fishes up here is resting until travel becomes better… Some I know have gotten their shacks off the ice. Provided they are not frozen in, one friend packed a trail last weekend with the sled and then attached a ski to the tongue and pulled it to the snowmobile trail and hooked it up to the hitch and pulled it off this past weekend with a four-wheeler. Others are struggling to get them off… Snowmobile trails are perfect places to drop your vehicle to the frame and get stuck right now as they are firm enough for sleds, but not four wheeled car type vehicles.

One friend who gave up fishing, had his sled on Big St. Germain and really couldn’t find any slush… but he was able to find plenty of deep snow… I also got to imagine that if you didn’t need the extension for the auger, once this snow packs down, it will probably be a must most every where… I am hoping to start getting out some next week when my snow bird friends return from the south!!!

Wife just told me that its 56* out right now. It was t-shirt weather for shoveling parts of the roof off today. In the mid thirties the rest of the week with the exception of Wednesday, maybe even some more rain Friday.

Mark

I sure wouldn’t think with lakes as big as Minocqua and Arbor Vitae that the fish would be having dissolved oxygen issues, then again I’m no expert when it comes to that kind of stuff. Good thing we chose not to try Big St then, we were talking about trying it, but not having a snowmobile ultimately was the deciding factor in not going. We did see a few guys out on both lakes but none were really catching anything, then again most looked like they were just out to be out on the lake rather than exert effort into finding and catching the fish. I know a lot of guys have been having to hire a guy with an old tucker to pull shacks off of many lakes up north especially the Willow Flowage. From what I’ve heard this said fellow with the tucker made 9000 dollars (300 per shack) on one Saturday and he couldn’t keep up with the requests coming in from all over the Northwoods. Hopefully this weather settles the snow significantly and in turn the warm will turn the fish on for a change.

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 3-11-14:

Wow, what a change in temps! A break in the weather has a few more anglers out braving the slush.

Crappies: Good. Some are having good luck using waxies, plastics, in 12-15′ also crappie minnows or small rosies on a tipdown with warmer weather scoring some nice catches.

Bluegills: Good-Improving. Some catches by anglers using small shad darts, Fiska and Skandia jig tipped with waxies, or plastics. Using bright colored moon glows in 10-15′.

Yellow Perch: Very Good. Wigglers have still been selling, though supply is still limited. Try red spikes over mud, small minnows in weeds of 6-10′. Also bloodworms suspended above sand grass in 15-20′.

The warm weather has dropped snow depth… and anglers are out. Keep your shovel handy! Check our website for updates on conditions on the lake during the week.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 3-18-14:

It doesn’t seem as though mother nature will let off her cold grip any time soon; we just can’t get a break. Even though its mid-March, with plenty of hard snow cover and slush underneath, panfish are still relating to deeper water. However, catches have been good.

Crappie: Good- Very Good. Anglers have reported good success over the weekend over deep cabbage in 12-20ft. Waxies and plastics have been working as well as tipdowns with small rosies have been producing some real nice catches.

Bluegill: Good- Very Good. Rockers, glow moon jigs, and small tungsten jigs tipped with waxies, bloodworms, and chena over deep cabbage have been netted anglers some nice gills.

Perch: Very Good. Wigglers on 12-18ft weed edges have been producing good catches of jumbos. Tipping Vinglas, Lindy Frostee spoons, Fiskas or Skandias has been proving successful.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 3-24-14:

With dawn temps running 6 to 10 degrees below 0 and nothing above freezing for a few days here in late March, doesn’t look good for ice out by the may opener at this rate. Ice thickness averages 32 to 36″+ that’s a lot of ice to lose in 30 some days. We should have a nice long, late ice panfish season though!

Yellow Perch: Good- The most action being found in 18-35′ of water. The deepest water holding suspended fish working 10-15′ off the bottom, hitting bright colored spoons (Pimples, Vinglas & Kens hooks)as they drop. Tip with wigglers or waxies. Those in 18-26′ mud working tight to bottom taking Hali jigs tipped with a single red spike or wiggler. Perch relating to weeds taking minnows in 8-12′. Try medium fatheads or large rosies on tip-downs for the largest perch in either scenario.

Crappie: Fair-Good- Action improving as we get farther away from the full moon… warmer afternoons = improved action as well. Some deep, big slabs over 18-24′ transition areas on tip-downs w/ rosies. Bays with standing weeds holding lots of crappies (per camera sightings) yet bite windows small on Cecil jigs tipped with waxies or minnow head.

Bluegills: Fair- Mostly smaller fish reported, though a few 9″ers by anglers working for crappies in bays. Most gills caught tighter to bottom using small dark tungsten jigs tipped with a single spike.

Once ice does melt don’t be surprised to get reports of winter kills. All that ice and snow on shallow lakes is taking it’s toll. Reports of bad smells coming from small lakes and even bays of larger lakes are coming in. We wont know for sure till ice out, but we will keep giving updates once confirmed.

Kurt

Kurt’s Island Sportshop
Minocqua, Wi

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 4-1-14:

Finally some relief from the cold! By weeks end, we saw temps soaring from morning lows of 10 below early in the week to highs of mid 50’s by Sunday.Unfortunately the warm temps did make things very messy by Sunday. The amount of snow still on the ice turned very slushy, limiting most traffic to foot or snowmobile. As the snow/slush continues to condense (and hopefully disappear) travel conditions will improve. With average’s of 34-36″ (with some reports of 40+) of ice we will have a long ice pan fish season ahead of us!

Crappies: Good to excellent- The hot bite windows on most lakes have not been big- 30 min. to 1 hour at dawn and just before dusk. Though there have been decent bites in between, at times. While some anglers are still finding crappies deep (18-24″) using rosie reds on tip-downs, the bulk of the action has been up around the edges and up into bays with standing vegetation in 8-12′. Now that temps are above freezing tip-downs have worked well. Plastics are producing tipped on #10 rockers. Chena is also a good choice for this technique, Slow dropping while allowing the plastic/chena to flutter watching the line for any tell-tale “pause” indicating a bite (tough to do on windy days).

Yellow Perch: Good to Excellent- While the bulk of this species is being caught in water of 18-35′ deep this week, some anglers are finding success in water as shallow as 7-8′. Deep water, its Halo jigs, Pimples and flash champs tipped with wigglers or red spikes The shallow water perchers are using UMC’s Minnow jig #2 jigging Raps and forage minnows packed with waxies to catch nice 9-10″ fish.

Bluegills: Good. Work tungsten jigs to punch through smaller clouds of gills to get the larger fish. 2-3 waxies on a large headed jig to key on nice gills to 9.5″ this weekend.

Overall the catches have been “good” when anglers can get to the fish. The “excellent” reports were from anglers who found fish and hit limits of crappies and perch in 2 hours or less by being at the right place at the right time.

Reports of “sulfury” smelling water from the north end of Squirrel, Mid Lake, and Sweeney are signs of winter kills (most likely partial-kills) expect (and please let us know) to find more lakes with these problems as access opens up and anglers probe more waters.

Kurt

Kurt’s Island Sportshop
Minocqua, Wi

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 4-15-14:

As if we needed reminding as to whose the boss around here…..Mother Nature just dumped a couple of new inches of snow while dropping temps down into the mid teens. Through Thursday it doesn’t look like much melting is going to be going on around here.

Crappies: Very good- Excellent. Lots of reports of good catches. When wind allows, slow dropping plastics have been tops. Standing weed beds in 8-12′ are holding lots of fish. Little cecils tipped with waxies and worked on a slow-fluttering drop have been very productive as have shrimpos in reds and browns. Tip-downs have produced very well also. There has been some debate on which is best- rosies or crappie minnows? There does seem to be a preference from lake to lake.

Yellow Perch: Very good. More perch have been found in water of 12′ and less, this past weekend. Vinglas, forage minnows with 3-4 waxies bunched on the hook. Also minnows set for crappies, but fished lower to the lake bottom. Deep water anglers still catching plump perch using pimples; Halis tipped with wigglers as well as rosies. The perch do seem to have a preference on tip-downs.

Bluegills: Very good. Slow dropping plastics in red, purple, black and motor oil have been hot using tungsten jigs by Fiska, Skandic to get the offering down. Larger baits have produced the largest gills when the getting is good. When bite slows, go smaller.

Things were looking up as ice was melting down. Most anglers reported 24-26″ on average with some areas of the Willow flowage down to 15″. Unfortunately the cold week will keep us from losing any ice (with the exception of the flowages) for the next 4-5 days. One positive aspect is that the ice is getting “punky” meaning its gotten cracks and fissures that weaken the ice and will help it melt more quickly once the weather warms. Unfortunately another blast of snow forcasted for mid-week will keep the suns rays off the ice just that much longer.

Kurt
Kurt’s Island Sportshop
Minocqua, Wi

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 4-21-14:

So predictable! We get dumped on with 12-16″ of snow midweek only to see temps top out at the high 60’s by Sunday. More days of no ice melt as the sun works to get back to the ice. Nice! Here we are twelve days till the opener and ice coverage on the lakes is near 100% with measured depths of 20″ to as much as 33″.(Hazelhurst to Manitowish Waters). There are signs of shoreline ice pulling back, but not much. The top layer of ice is soft, but the bottom 10-14″ on most lakes is still solid black ice.

Forecast of highs in the 50’s midweek to upper 40’s by the end of the week with night time temps below freezing will only make the syrup tappers happy.

Crappies: Very Good to Excellent. A few hic-ups in the bite such as Saturday, but the Sunday bite was on! Crappies stacking up in the bays. Little/ Lethal Cecils, #8 Rockers, Vinglas and Poppees tipped with Chena or waxies. Tip downs with minnows best in am. and nearer to dusk. Lots of size structure with 10+ being the most desirable as keepers.

Bluegills: Very Good. More anglers targeting crappies, but gills providing action on Larvae jigs, tungsten heads tipped with waxies, spikes or plastics….black, purple or reds are best.

Yellow Perch: Good to Very Good. Best reports up in weeds now, fish 6-10″ with forage minnow jigs with a glob of waxies. Nice perch in the 9-11″ range, a few 12″ers.

Did get a pair of reports of areas where pumps to keep ice away from piers has opened up some shorelines, so keep an eye open. Top layers of ice slushy, knee high boots recommended. watch our website for mid-week report update.

Kurt,
Kurt’s Island Sports
Minocqua, Wi.

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 4-24-14:

Ice Update*****

It’s April 24th with an inch plus of new snow on the ground and more coming down. Air temps of 32-33 deg. at noon, not much melting going on.

Some shorelines have pulled away thanks to Wednesdays sunshine and near 50 deg. Ice thickness seems to run from as little as 18″ to as much as 30″ plus. 22-24″ seems to be the average with the bottom 14-16″ still solid clear ice. Top layering punky and soft could use some more sun or some warm rain.

Pond behind our shop is about 95% covered. Historically, once the pond is ice free it takes about 7-10 days for Minocqua Lake to open. Some years it has gone quicker with hot days….but 7-10 days is average.

Crappie fishing remains very good. Yellow perch and gills also in positive feeding modes. Once you’re out to the ice tall waterproof boots are necessary. Holes haven’t been refreezing, some expanded during hot days.

Kurt

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 4-28-14:

Things are looking a lot like this time last year… maybe even worse! At the time of this report (3:00pm. 4/28/14) average ice thickness on the surrounding lakes is 22-26″. Some anglers still reporting drilling to the gear box (32-34″) but these are on areas that received heavy winter traffic with crushed down snow and slush. 12-16″ of hard black ice is still the norm, though lake edges on the north and east sides in particular are pulling away, to the point of making access iffy.

Last year on April 29th (a Monday) we had 25″ of ice on lake Minocqua This year April 28 (Monday) it’s closer to24″. The Rainbow Flowage is locked up to just where the Wisconsin pours in. The Willow down by the dam is only ice free about 100ft. out. Stacks Bay is iced up, but I don’t recommend access. Carroll is accessible to ice. South end of Big Arb is good. Pickerel and Sweeney are iced up, but not accessible to ice.

Anglers are still getting on School House Bay and Sunny… but access is getting poor. Unfortunately we are looking at a mix of to much ice to launch boats on lakes, but not enough ice to get out and ice fish. Check out our website for updates.

Crappies: Very Good-Excellent. Both tightliners on plastics and tip-down users with minnows scored very well this weekend lots of numbers, some sorting to keep limits of crappies north of 10″.

Yellow Perch: Very Good. Perch feeding up prior to spawn. Minnows, waxies and spikes, fairly large jigs.

Bluegills: Good. Larger jigs with waxies, Chena and plastics all working well.

It will be close as to having any open water. Depends entirely on how much warm weather we get- rain and wind will also help.

Kurt’s Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice

Ice left Nokomis today