State Wide WDNR Fishing Report 2.7.08
There was moderate fishing pressure this week on Green Bay, with most anglers fishing for pike and perch, with a few fish being caught. In the southeast, shore anglers fishing open water in the inner Milwaukee harbor have been catching a few brown trout and anglers have been catching some trout through the ice at the Racine and Kenosha harbors.
The Mississippi River has been steady most of the week hovering around the 7.7 foot mark at Prairie du Chien. Panfish action was generally slow this week. Some anglers have been fishing through the ice below the Lynxville dam for walleye and sauger, but fishing has been spotty.
Park Falls DNR Service Center area
. Anglers report some action on crappie, perch and walleye. Tip-ups baited with large suckers are attracting some larger walleye with the best action coming just after dusk.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties)
- Ice conditions across the Northwoods continue to be very good with most lakes now having between 16 and 20 inches of solid ice. There is about 3 to 5 inches of snow cover on top of the ice, and slush has not been reported to be a problem on any of the lakes. Travel has been good to most areas of the lakes, but many surfaces are still rutted up from the re-freezing of the slush problem of a few weeks ago. The changing and erratic weather of the past week has also kept the ice fishing in an erratic pattern. Walleye fishing continues to be very inconsistent and the fish still appear to be in a mid-winter period of inactivity. Most of the regular walleye ice anglers have had generally slow action, with many going a trip or two without even catching a fish. Some days have produced some fair action on 11 to 14-inch fish but the bite has been short and inconsistent. Many anglers have started to move ice shacks around in search of active fish, but habitats such as rock bars, gravel drop-offs, weed bed edges, and muck/sand flats have all been experiencing low activity. Panfish action has been a bit more consistent on some decent catches of crappie and perch have still been coming in. Both the perch and crappie have been found suspended in deeper water and small minnows have been the best bait. Northern pike success has been fair with a few fish in the 30 to 34-inch size being caught in the last week. The pike seem to be in a little deeper water than normal but have still been found adjacent to any old weed beds. Large golden shiners or suckers fished up off the bottom have produced the best catches.
Woodruff DNR Service Center area
Four weeks remain for game fish season, ending March 2, 2008. Fishing results are fair for walleye, northern and pan fish. Fish continue to hold around the green weed flats and edges near the deeper water. Reminders: All ice fishing shelters must be completely removed from inland waters north of Highway 64 by March 15. After the March 15 shelters may be used as long as they are removed when not in use. Annual fishing and hunting licenses expire March 31.
Oshkosh DNR Service Center area
The Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing season opens this Saturday, Feb. 9. Overall the ice conditions on Lake Winnebago are good; however, caution should always be used, especially near ice cracks and shoves. Ice cracks and shove are working and dynamic often changing in a short period of time. Water clarity is good with reports of spearers seeing a clear bottom in 16 feet of water. Based on good ice and water clarity conditions are right for a good harvest and short season. There were 9,374 spearing licenses sold this year: 8,890 for Lake Winnebago and 484 for the Upriver Lakes lottery fishery.
Inland fisheries team report
Washington, eastern Fond du Lac, and inland Sheboygan counties - Fishing for panfish has been fairly good on many waters, though anglers were catching a lot of small bluegills and perch between the "keepers." Pike Lake near Hartford produced some nice perch for a few of the anglers, while others complained about small perch. A little searching is needed to find the schools of larger perch. Historically, the larger perch were caught in the deeper areas of Pike Lake. The same may be true for other area lakes. Northern pike have been biting well with good catches of undersized pike noted at several lakes. At least the pike are providing some action even if few are large enough to go home.
Waukesha County - Northern pike continue to provide anglers with action on Big Muskego Lake. Try using golden shiners a foot below the bottom of the ice on tip ups. Big Muskego was producing nice perch and some smaller bluegills. Light line and purple jigs tipped with a mousy, wax worm or spike has been the ticket. Upper Nemahbin, Pine, and Okauchee lakes have been producing some nice crappies. Crappies were reported to be suspended in 22 feet of water and prefer rocker style jigs. Pewaukee Lake continues to produce a few walleyes on the outside edge of the weed beds. Phantom and Golden lakes have been slow.
DNR West Central Region
Baldwin DNR Service Center area
Recent cold weather and minimal snowfall has greatly improved ice conditions on area lakes and rivers. Anglers should be cautious, however, with areas on rivers that are generally open are now ice covered, but with minimal thickness. Areas to watch out for are the St Croix River at Prescott, Hudson and above Stillwater and the Mississippi River at Bay City and Maiden Rock. Fishing has slowed somewhat, but some success was still being had on crappies, sauger, walleye and bluegills.
St. Croix County
Willow River State Park -
Ice fishing results have changed over to more crappies than anything else. Fewer anglers are coming out.
La Crosse DNR Service Center area
Crawford County - The Mississippi River has been steady most of the week hovering around the 7.7 foot mark. The Wisconsin River was down a few inches mid-week, but rose about 6 inches late in the week. The Kickapoo River is steady but is expected to rise with the rain. Ice conditions vary greatly throughout the area, but over all in pretty good shape. Travel upon the ice is dangerous in many areas this time of year especially on the Mississippi River. Ice thickness ranges from less than an inch, primarily on the Main Channel to over 16 inches of ice. Most of the Main Channel of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers is frozen over. Back water sloughs that have current flowing through them can be dangerous and ice conditions vary there. Rain fell on Monday which may cause so travel problems. Those unfamiliar with ice fishing in the Crawford County area should not venture out alone or travel in areas where others have not been. Bluegill, perch, and crappie action this past week was generally slow. Cold Spring continues to be spotty. Shoreline fishing was spotty. Those fishing through the ice have had some success using a variety of jig colors. Many used bait to include wax worms and spikes. Anglers are still crossing over the Ambro Slough to fish Mud Slough and Tilmont Lake. Fishing continued to be slow throughout the weekend. The changing weather patterns may be to blame. There were a few days this past week where a few anglers found some pretty good catches of perch, crappie and bluegill. Anglers are using a variety of baits and on some days need to change colors frequently to find what is working best. Some anglers have ventured up to Fish Lake and the Lower Doubles where bluegill fishing was also slow. Action further up at Little and Big Missouri and the Upper Doubles was slow too. Ice conditions on the Ambro Slough upstream from the USFWS landing were a bit dangerous because of the feeder stream that enters the slough. Caution is advised in that area. Ice fishing on Sturgeon Slough was very slow last week. Some anglers ventured out to McGregor Lake where the action was spotty. The lower bottoms outside Prairie du Chien have not seen much fishing activity due to access problems. Airboats or hovercraft were the best and safest way to access this area. Some anglers have been fishing through the ice below the Lynxville dam for walleye and sauger. The weather has warmed up and is going to cause access problems. Fishing has been spotty.
Brunet Island State Park
Panfish and game fish action has been good on Perch Lake and in the north campground bays. Anglers were reporting generally good ice conditions in the backwater areas. The park does not monitor ice conditions. The Cornell flowage water levels fluctuate throughout the year and we urge caution when venturing onto the ice.
