Wisconsin Statewide Fishing report 1.15.09
Before the drop in temperatures, ice fishing pressure had been quite heavy, with good action reported for panfish and northern pike at many locations across the state. The frigid temperatures slowed activity, but fishing is expected to pick up with the warm-up this weekend. Whitefish action continued to be good on Green Bay, with walleye activity also picking up, but perch action remained slow. Anglers have been catching some brown trout through the ice at southeastern Wisconsin Lake Michigan harbors.
Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties -
More seasonal and consistent weather this past weekend made for increased angling activity on most waters across the Northwoods. Temperatures in the mid-teens with light winds seemed to bring out the panfish anglers this past weekend and success was reported as good. Anglers targeted most of the larger lakes in the area but many also spread out among the smaller lakes -- most reported pretty good success on crappie, perch and bluegill. The fish were suspended a couple feet off the bottom, with crappie minnows or small teardrop jigs tipped with waxworms providing the best action. Tip-up fishing for walleye was a bit sporadic during the past week, and many anglers have been targeting the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage. Most anglers reported catching at least a walleye or two, and some were able to ice their limit of 3 fish. Most of the walleye were in the 14 to 18-inch range, but a few in the 20 to 24-inch size were also reported. Golden shiners and medium sucker minnows continue to get most of the action, and were being fished in 6 to 12 feet of water in the hour before dark. Northern pike fishing has been fair, most fish have been in the 20 to 26 inch size and the best success has come on sunny days. Ice depths have reached about 15 inches on most area lakes and nearly all of the slush spots have firmed up. There is about 3 to 4 inches of snow on top of the ice and vehicle/ATV travel has been fair. Most ice travel has been restricted to establish trails as many lakes are very rough with a lot of frozen ruts and ice humps. The current cold snap should add a few more inches of ice depth and will keep fishing pressure down, but look for anglers to be out in force with the nicer weather predicted for the weekend.
Woodruff
Fishing results have been fair for walleye, northern and pan fish. Fish continue to hold around the green weed flats and edges near the deeper water.
Marinette County -
With the exception of a little snow and icy road conditions last week's temperatures made for some good fishing opportunities. Fishing pressure during the week was light with a few more anglers on the weekend. There has been little action at the Peshtigo Harbor in the last week for pike. According to the anglers pike fishing should pick up in the next couple of weeks. As an added note, trout are being caught below the dam at Peshtigo both through the ice and in the open water. The dam at Hattie Street is producing walleye in the 18 inch range.
Oconto County -
There are still a good number of perch anglers inside the Oconto Breakwater Harbor as well as Oconto Park II. Again the fish are running small and being caught jigging. Reports of a whitefish bite outside the Breakwater has been reported but not substantiated.
Door County -
Perch fishing out of Potawatomi State Park continues to be slow. The few perch that were being caught were not of desirable size. Perch were being caught in varying depths with no real pattern present. Perch were hitting a combination of minnows and wax worms. Northern pike action has still been good in both the numbers and size being caught. Pike have been hitting golden shiners and suckers on tip-ups. People have been fishing pike in water depths ranging from 10-20 feet of water. Walleye have been caught at night also with some decent catches reported. At Little Sturgeon Bay, perch fishing was still slow out on the bay with anglers reporting catching small fish. The whitefish action has been constant with fishing being caught in depth varying from 10 to 30 feet of water, most fish are coming well jigging. The walleye action is starting to pick up with most fish being caught at night. Anglers are targeting the walleye's with jigging spoons and oddball jigs.
Wautoma
Anglers have been finding it difficult to get around on area lakes due to the snow, rain, freezing rain. The snow layers make use of a car or truck nearly impossible, and access by foot not too far from the landings has been their limit. Fishing has been spotty in the area.
Oshkosh
One area fisherman located 2 miles east of the Fox River in Oshkosh caught 24 sauger ranging from 12 to 14 inches on Monday. He was using a Swedish pimple tipped with a minnow head. A rule change on the Winnebago system will allow anglers to harvest 5 walleyes and 1 sauger. The possession limit as always is twice the daily bag limit, which will presently be 10 walleyes and 2 saugers. Six miles west of Quinney another angler reported heavy walleye and sauger action with wax worms on a stick bait.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County -
Ice fishing in the Sheboygan marina has been relatively slow, but a few brown trout and northern pike have been caught on shiners.
Ozaukee County -
In Port Washington, ice anglers in the marina have been catching a few brown trout on spawn sacs. There is open water near the power plant, and aerators are running in the north slip. Open water fishing in Port has been relatively slow.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee, the river under the Hoan bridge is unfishable due to large ice floes, but there is open water in the Menomonee River near the post office. Anglers there have been catching browns and northerns on shiners. McKinley Marina is frozen over, and although fishing has been slow overall, occasional browns have been taken while jigging through the ice.
Racine County -
In Racine most of the upstream portions of the Root River have frozen over again. Ice anglers have been out in downstream stretches of the river, as well as in the Racine harbor. Some browns and northerns have been hitting both shiners and spawn
Kenosha County -
The Small Boat Harbor in Kenosha is frozen over, and ice anglers have been catching a few brown trout on tube jigs or spawn.
Green County
Fish have been biting, with decent catches of bluegills and northern pike being caught throughout the county.
Iowa County -
Anglers were catching fairly nice size bluegill on waxworms on Birch Lake. On Sunday they started to bite around noon. Some nice northern pike were being caught on Long Lake; watch for open water, though, due to the river current present in the lake. Bakkens pond has seen some nice northerns caught. Northerns were also being caught at Helen Lake just off of Highway 14.
Brunet Island State Park -
Park trails are snow covered and ungroomed. Fishing action in the north campground bays has been fair with mostly small fish being caught. Anglers are reporting generally good ice conditions in the backwater areas.
Compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
