Minocqua area fishing report 2.10.09
The warmer temps have made access better, but a little sloppy. Lots of anglers took advantage of the warmth to get out on the ice. Certain speices responded very well to the warm up, while others, while not bad, were not up to the bite expected.
Bluegill: Very good. Lots of action along 8-12' weed edges. Bites were aggressive so little finesse was required. Bright colored teardrops, gill pills and shrimpos tipped with waxies or moussees produced best. Lots of reports of limits, mostly 7-8" but a few 8 1/2 to 9" to make things interesting.
Pike: Very good. Seemed to respond well once things started warming. Large suckers and shiners tops, but a lot of anglers talking of getting hit while jigging for other species. Fish to 30" this weekend, most average
22-26".
Largemouth Bass: Very good. Don't usually report on this species in the winter, but can't ignore how active they are. Very nice LMB taking big Wild shiners meant for pike. Fish of 18-19", lots in the 14-16" range working same 8-12' weeds as bluegills and pike.
Walleye: Fair to Good. Best action at dawn and dusk. Some late night angers reporting night bite between 9:30 - 10:30pm. Medium shiners, river shiners on tip-ups in 10-14' weeds, suckers over sandgrass of 18-28'. Jigging #5-#7 Rapalas on off-shore humps for larger fish of 4-7#s.
Perch: Good-Fair. Reports not as strong as expected. Problem could be that most anglers fishing too shallow. Better reports from 30-36' mud using wigglers on Hali jigs, Vinglas.
Crappies: Fair. Some tip-down action on rosies in 20-28' mud/gravel transitions areas. some scattered weed fish taking waxies, chena, but not enough to key on.
The warm weather (40 at 6am 2/10/09) has been a welcome relief for anglers use to fighting a lot of cold this winter. Snow drifts that were starting to be a problem are no more. Sloppy now, but not bad. Below freezing temps later in week should firm things up and make travel easy, but slippery. Ice thickness averaging 26-33".
Kurt's Island Sports Shop
Kurt Justice
Web Site:
http://www.kurtsislandsports.com
