Well we are finally out fishing our off shore reefs and areas where we fish for our Whitefish here in Door County. I really should not say finally because we are several weeks ahead of normal we usually do not have safe ice well off shore to the second half of January but we have been out for a week or so now with ice depths ranging from 15 to 17 inches in most areas.
Over the past week we have been concentrating our fishing in water depths ranging from 50 to 70 feet of water. The past few days we have found the fishing to be a little slow to start in the but as the morning went on the fishing picked up and stayed pretty steady through out the day. With the changing weather conditions today the fish were going strong right away this morning and kept the pase going all day long.
We have been finding our best success using the #2 and #3 jigging Rapalas and also the Jigging Shad Raps. Our best colors have been the black and gold along with the crawdad pattern. The best technique for us finding success with the larger fish has been bouncing these baits on the bottom and keeping constant contact with the bottom.
Because we have so many zebra mussels on the bottom where these fish are feeding we have removed the treble hook to eliminate the constant snagging on the mussels and also we have been using these with no bait on them at all. Things are really looking good for another strong ice fishing season for the Whitefish and the action should stay strong through out the entire season. Good luck fishing and as always be safe.
Paul Delaney
www.lateeyessportfishing.com
That is 1 big pout there Paul
Very Nice report Paul
Very Nice report Paul
Cool pics Paul and thanks for sharing details on the bite. That’s a serious trophy pout too, crazy to see that thing do the pout dance coming up the hole!
Joel
Can you get on consistent pout action on the bay? I’ve eaten pout twice in my life. Once on LOTW last year, and once this year on Leech. It is BY FAR the best tasting fish I’ve ever had. I need to find a destination where I can go and stack a pile of those beasts to bring back home!
I know guys who fish for them off Washington Island and consistently catch them through the ice
Nice fishing!!!!
We do catch quite a few of them during the day in our deep water spots fishing for Whitefish but they become more active during the night and one could catch numbers of them if you fished where there were concentrations of them.
Paul Delaney
http://www.lateeyessportfishing.com