Wisconsin Statewide Fishing report 2.28.09
The Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing season closed Saturday, Feb. 21, after running for eight days. Spearers took a total of 1,512 sturgeon from Lake Winnebago and the separate Upriver Lakes seasons. The upriver season ran five days and closed Feb. 18. Sturgeon history was made on day two of the season when a Menasha woman speared a 168.8 pound female sturgeon out of her shack on Lake Poygan. It was the largest fish ever harvested by a woman spearer, the largest fish ever registered from the Upriver Lakes, the fourth largest fish by weight on record and the sixth longest fish on record. There were a total of 10,239 licenses sold for both seasons this year.
Variable weather conditions in the past week made for some erratic ice fishing success. Once again, walleye continue to provide the most consistent action in the north, with anglers reporting some fair catches at various times through the week. As is typical in this late-winter period, the clear sunny days produce a more concentrated bite in the hour before dark and the cloudy, milder days produce more prolonged daytime action. Panfish action continued to be on the slow side, with anglers really having to work to catch fish.
Monitoring of winter oxygen levels has indicated that most lakes are holding up pretty well. Some shallow and weedy lakes and flowages were starting to experience some very low levels in early February but the big thaw in mid February helped to alleviate those low levels.
Anglers on Green Bay continue to report success for whitefish and some perch. There is still sufficient ice for foot travel along the McKinley Marina in Milwaukee, and anglers have been catching a few browns and rainbows on spawn sacs under a tip up.
The game fish season on most inland Wisconsin waters closes at the end of the day on Sunday, March 1. The panfish seasons remain open year-round as does the season for certain game fish on select lakes and rivers, including much of the Wisconsin River and its impoundments. Waters that remain open are listed in the “Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations” and on the Department of Natural Resources Web site.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) -
Variable weather conditions in the past week made for some erratic fishing success. Once again, walleye continue to provide the most consistent action with anglers reporting some fair catches at various times through the week. The best success came from tip-up anglers using suckers in 8 to 12 feet of water. As is typical in this late-winter period, the clear sunny days produce a more concentrated bite in the hour before dark and the cloudy, milder days produce more prolonged daytime action. Most of the walleye have been in the 11- to 16-inch size but a few up to 22 inches have also been reported. With the changing weather, fishing for northern pike has also been variable. Catches have generally been low, though a few pike up to 32 inches have been made. Panfish action continues to be on the slow side, with anglers really having to work to catch fish. That means a lot of moving around and searching for the active fish. The few nice perch and crappie that have been caught have been found suspended off the bottom in the deeper parts of the lake. Ice conditions continue to be very good, with most lakes holding at 20 to 22 inches of solid ice. Snowfall in last week has added about 2 inches of light snow to most lakes, and several days of strong winds have created some drifting. But this has had minimal impact on travel and many vehicles are still being seen traversing the lakes. There are still no reports of any major slush spots and with the generally slow panfish action, many anglers have been exploring new areas and/or lakes for fishing. Monitoring of winter oxygen levels has indicated that most lakes are holding up pretty well. Some shallow and weedy lakes and flowages were starting to experience some very low levels in early February but the big thaw of February 10 to 12 helped to alleviate those low levels. However, another prolonged period of cold and snowy weather could again cause oxygen levels to decline and they could reach the point where some winterkill may occur. Many of these lakes already have aeration systems on them and most of these systems have been in operation for several weeks already.
Oshkosh
The Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing season closed Saturday, Feb. 21, after running for eight days. Spearers took a total of 1,512 sturgeon, including 301 juveniles, 615 adult females, and 596 males. Those totals include harvest from Lake Winnebago and the separate Upriver Lakes seasons. The upriver season ran five days and closed Feb. 18. Sturgeon history was made on day two of the season when a Menasha woman speared a 168.8 pound female sturgeon out of her shack on Lake Poygan. It was the largest fish ever harvested by a woman spearer, the largest fish ever registered from the Upriver Lakes, the fourth largest fish by weight on record and the sixth longest fish on record. This season, 4,031 people applied for the Upriver lottery; 500 licenses were authorized and 490 Upriver licenses were sold. There were an additional 9,749 licenses sold for Lake Winnebago, bringing the total license sales to10,239.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Ozaukee County -
In Port Washington shore anglers have been catching occasional browns and rainbows. Spawn sacs have taken fish at the power plant discharge, and spoons have caught fish off the rocks at Rotary Park. Sauk Creek has some ice on it, but that should melt with the warm up forecasted over the next few days.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee, some ice has formed again in the river under the Hoan bridge. In McKinley Marina there is still sufficient ice for foot travel, and anglers have been catching a few browns and rainbows on spawn sacs under a tip up.
Racine County -
In Racine water clarity in the harbor has been improving, and ice anglers in Reefpoint Marina have been catching some browns, rainbows, and northerns on tip ups or jigging spawn. Flows have been dropping on the Root River, and there is some slush and ice in the water. Browns and rainbows have been downstream of the Root River Steelhead Facility in Lincoln Park.
Kenosha County -
In Kenosha fishing has been generally slow. Ice has moved into the harbor near the north and south piers. There is some open water near the hotel, but water clarity there is poor. Anglers continue to ice fish near the boat launch, but only a few browns have been caught.
Minocqua area fishing report 03/02/09
The gamefish season is over up here. All efforts for the next two months will be focused on panfish.
Perch: Fair-Good. As reported last week, weather has had a lot to do with the bite. Lots of high pressure with occasional dips in the barometer meant lots of neutral fish with occasional spikes of hot action. On days of high pressure it's most obvious with mud flat fish. Anglers with flashers watch picky fish move through but show little interest. Try to fish as small as possible during these times, even using a tiny #14 rocker tipped with a single red spike. It takes a long time to drop, but sometimes it's the only way to catch them. Weed fish taking small/medium fatheads under float, waxies on forage minnow fry. Wigglers, spikes best over deep (20-30') mud.
Crappie: Fair-Good. Suspended fish best bet. Work deep breaks between deepest water and weeds. Fish working 20-30' flats, usually 3' off the bottom, but sometimes as high as 3' under the ice. Tip-downs with minnows (when not too cold) best. Tear drops (#8) with waxies for anglers jigging using flashers. On low pressure days, crappies moving into weeds and taking plastics.
Bluegills: Fair-Good. Look for suspended gills mixed with crappies over sandgrass of 18-30'. Waxies and moussees tipped on gill pill/diamond jig to get down quickly over this deep water. Work outside weed edges as late season weed die off pushes fish away from shallow waters on some lakes to suspend out on edges.
There were good reports of walleye, pike and LMB this week. Walleyes to 28", pike to 32" and LMB to 20". Now they'll get a two month rest until we can chase them again.
Ice conditions are excellent. The snow from last Thursday left, barely 2" of light powder. Driving trucks, even two wheel drive cars on most lakes. Ice averaging 30-32", more on Flowages. Cold this morning (-20) but temps by the end of the week should hit highs in upper 30's.
Kurt Justice
Kurt's Island Sport Shop
www.kurtsislandsports.comInformation compiled from the WDNR outdoor report and private sources
