FISHING WITH THE GUIDES
by George Langley
December 9, 2007 FISHING REPORT:
Full scale winter is upon us, and the ice anglers are out in force throughout the area. It is easy to get around on the ice at this point, and many anglers have been enjoying some early success. If we continue to get weather like this, we are in for a great winter season for all outdoor sports. We have already seen some snowshoe activity, and the cross country skiing will be pretty good. Trails open this Wednesday for the snowmobilers - what a great time to get outside up here! Now - no thaws. If there is a fly in the ointment it is the warmer weather we've gotten in mid winter the last few years. What ever happened to those great 20 degree (and sunny) January days after a snowfall? Well, let's hope...
Walleye fishing has been pretty good in the evenings with tipups. Areas such as the Rainbow Flowage have been quite productive for fish from 3:30 or so daily until well after dark. Most fishermen are setting tipups with golden shiners for bait - we know this has worked well also on the Eagle River Chain in some of the bays. Just look for weeds or for log structure. We also have some reports of some good early season jigging for walleye in slightly deeper water on the Rainbow. The fish are somewhat condensed because the water is still low, so it is easier to find them than in a normal year. Even with walleye, think about letting those nice 25" spawners go for the future.
Northern action has been OK - not great yet. It seems to take a short while each year to locate these fish, but they are great fun on tipups daily. Large golden shiners work best for these fish, and a few anglers prefer the 5" chubs for them. Just find the weeds - northerns are almost always in or around the weeds looking for baitfish. Our shallower dark water lakes seem to produce the best for northerns ice fishing.
Panfish have started slowly, with perch and crappies (surprisingly) producing some nice action. A few experienced anglers have found nice schools of crappies in 12' of water or so right off the weeds. We usually don't get a lot of crappie action until later in the winter. Look for the perch in the weeds and use waxies or wigglers for them.
All in all, it's a great start for the ice fishing season.
Good luck & good fishin'!
Eagle Sports Center
http://www.eaglesportscenter.com/
