Drifting toward spring: Chicago fishing, Midwest Fishing Report

There were 98 sturgeon harvested on the Winnebago System today including 66 from Lake Winnebago and 32 from the Upriver Lakes (attached table). Today’s harvest included the largest fish of the season to date, both in length and weight. Gerald Peterson’s 154.9 pound (83.4) female just beat out Sandra Schumacher’s 154.7 pound fish from opening day. Congratulations to Gerald on an impressive fish (photo included)! A second 140+ pound fish (140.6 pounds, 72.5) was registered at Payne’s Point today by Scott Lehl. Scott and Gerald’s fish bring the season total to 6 fish that have been harvested at 140+ pounds during this season.

As to bass fishing, Ken Husker O’Malley sent this open-water report:Hey Dale, Break out the long rods as open water is back on area lakes. I started out slowly dragging a bitsy bug jig with a chigger craw, but that yielded no bites. Water clarity was not great with the high winds, so I switched to a lipless crank bait. Slowly retrieving the bait over what is left of green weeds triggered a few bass to bite. Ticking the bait on the weeds was key as it caused a slight pause. Bass were small but it was good to catch them on hard baits. TTYL—Ken Husker O’Malley Huskeroutdoors Waterworks fishing team

Good morning fellas This is what I have as far as the ice fishing is concerned Whitefish action continues to stay hot throughout the county. Some of the so called HotSpots continue to be the Henderson’s Point shoreline in Little Sturgeon, the deeper water out in front of Riley’s Bay, the Sand Bay area and Larson’s Reef along with many areas to the north of the Old Stone Quarry where the spots are quite endless. Look for rocky shorelines and deep structure and you will find plenty of Whitefish. One hint…stay away from high traffic areas and big crowds and the fishing will be much better. Sweedish pimples, Rapala jigs, Forage minnows and Buckshot spoons are just a few of the top jigs to use. And most fishermen run some kind of a slider hook above their main jig like a fly, single hook or treble hook. Wax worms, spikes, minnow pieces and Gulp all work very well for the Whitefish Walleye fishing is starting to pick up a bit more as it usually does as weove later into the ice season. Now with that said, the fishing is not Hot and Heavy by any means, but they are starting to become a bit more active. Rock to sand or mud transitions seem to be the bottom of choice and you can find those areas around Henderson’s Point, Riley’s Bay, Sand Bay along with the vast shoreline to the north which rarely sees any pressure. Odd Ball jigs, Rapala Jigs and Shiver Minnows are a few of the most popular baits. Tip your jigs with medium and large lake shiners and work them within the bottom 2 feet of the water column Pike fishing has been going fair, but should just continue to get better as it always does later in the season. Little Sturgeon, Sawyer Harbor, the Sturgeon Bay Flats along with some areas right in downtown Sturgeon Bay always good options. As we see some warmer weather and run-off, Pike will stage out in front of those areas to feed, so all those types of areas would be good spots to set up. Sucker minnows and large golden shiners under tip-ups and auto fishermen is the best method The Perch fishing has been a little slower the past 2 weeks, but we should see that pick up here just like it usually does at the end of February and into March. Still, the best area continues to be the Little Sturgeon area in the inner bay. There has been some catches being reported outside the bay and down towards Chaudoir’s dock also, so that has been one highlight. Other areas to try are…Riley’s Bay, Sawyer Harbor and the Sturgeon Bay Flats. Medium and Large lake shiners, rosy reds and wax worms have been the best live baits. Both jig fishing and tip-up fishing has been effective. The Brown Trout fishing is getting better. Some areas have been Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Sister bay. Golden shiners and large lake shiners under tip-ups have been the best Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

Ice conditions remain excellent for now throughout the Lakeland area. Averages of 17-10 with very little snow cover (2-4) made for great travel no matter the method. Fishing overall was just fair. Lots of varying reports, with some anglers struggling while others found windows of success during peak bite times. Crappies: Fair-Good – Best reports came from anglers using tip-downs on the Flowages. Rosie reds top bait on this dark water. On lakes, slow dropping plastics of white, pink and yellow tops in weeds of 10-12’. Best bites this weekend occurred between 11am and 1pm. A few true trophy crappies of 14-15 reported. Yellow Perch: Fair-Good – Small fish all over. Better fish deep, 26-34’ over mud using wigglers on Hali jigs, Kastmaster & Flash Champ spoons. A few larger perch taken on tip-downs baited with small-medium fatheads. Northern Pike: Fair-Good – Action got better Sunday in wind, unfortunately, few anglers out to benefit. Standard fare of shiners on tip-ups. Bluegills: Fair-Good – Most reports of anglers who found gills were of smaller fish. The few reports of larger gills (8+) came from anglers plying deeper waters using #4 tungsten Fiska jigs tipped with a single red spike or a purple or black or red plastic wedgee. Walleyes: Poor – Few reports over the weekend. The couple decent reports came on Monday from anglers getting out early (pre-dawn) using suckers or chubs on tip-ups. The coming forecast of temps hitting the mid 40’s for 5 straight days will make for great conditions to start, but could be the beginning of the end of our ice season. With little snow to protect the 17-20 of ice (we should have 30+ by now on an average year). We may see our ice season end by late March. So better get out while the getting is good! UPCOMING DERBY DATES Feb 18th – Rob Lemmer Memorial Lake Katherine Feb 28th -Carrol Lake Ice Fishing Tournament Carrol Lake Kurt Justice Kurt’s Island Sport Shop www.kurtsislandsports.com

Fishing Report Northern Pike: We are finding fish on the weed edges and in the deeper weeds. On the edges, the set up should be tip ups set a foot or so off the bottom. When fishing the deep weeds, set your tip ups so that your bait is just above the tops of the weeds. Walleye: These fish are being caught in a couple of areas, in and around weeds. Setting tip ups on the weed edges baited with walleye suckers or medium golden shiners in low light conditions seem to be best. Also, jigging in the same areas with baits like the buckshot rattle spoon are producing fish. The other good option is on the tops of rock humps for good spots in the early evening. Panfish: Bluegills are being found in the weeds using small jigs tipped with waxies, spikes or tipped with plastic. Perch are being caught on the deep weed edge where the mud meets.