Fishing a nebulous winter: Chicago fishing/Midwest Fishing Report

Hey Dale, Here is the first open water report of 2017. It was good to get out and catch fish with the long rods. Some of the area lakes had open water late in the week. Ones that are wind protected still had thin ice on them. Ducks and geese were my best friends as they helped open up areas to fish. Roaches under a slip float using circle hooks caught a few bass. I had to continually clear ice from my guides, but it was worth it. Don’t put away the short rods yet though. Lakes that were open Saturday locked up today again with thin ice. This week’s forecast will start building some ice again.TTYL— Ken Husker O’Malley Huskeroutdoors Waterworks fishing team

– BANNER MARSH – Will CLOSE TO BOAT FISHING on Oct. 12th with last day to boat fish being Oct. 11th AND BANK FISHING ONLY ALLOWED AFTER 1PM but NO FISHING ALLOWED in EAST POINT ACCESS AREA, which is CLOSED TO ALL FISHING to provide a GOOSE REFUGE AREA during season till Feb. 1st– DOUBLE T STATE FISH and WILDLIFE AREA – . . . remains Closed till Feb. 1st– EMIQUON PRESERVE – No boating, fishing or ice skating access before 12:00 pm during waterfowl season.– EVERGREEN LAKE – the SOUTHERN PART OF LAKE, AROUND DEER ISLAND and ALL OF SIX-MILE CREEK BAY IS CLOSED TO GAS MOTORS from Oct. 15th through JAN. 1st to allow resting areas for migratory waterfowl. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO STILL RUN A TROLLING MOTOR IN THESE AREAS ONLY.– SNAKEDEN HOLLOW & McMASTER LAKE – closed– SPRING LAKE (South & North) – WILL BE CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING in Waterfowl Hunting Area ON OCT. 15th with Last Day to Boat Fish being Oct. 14th with BANK FISHING ALLOWED ONLY AFTER 1pm– & AREAS THAT REMAIN OPEN TO BOATS ARE NORTH OF MAPLE ISLAND with ramp at north end at the Sky Ranch Road launch and IN PIKE HOLE with carry in boats – and Shore Fishing is allowed in entire lake after 1pm in Hunting areas or at boat ramps all day.– SANGCHRIS LAKE – THE WEST and EAST ARMS OF LAKE and Small AREA NEAR DAM ARE CLOSED DURING WATERFOWL SEASON to boat traffic effective Oct. 12th (last day to boat fish will be Oct. 11th) through Jan. 31, 2016 (during this time fishing boat traffic is permitted in the center hot arm only).– PRAIRIE LAKE in Jim Edgar/ Panther Creek State F&W Area – Lake is CLOSED from Nov. 1st to Jan. 15th to Fishing until after 12:01 PM on Wednesday & Saturday.– ANDERSON LAKE – THIS AREA Will be CLOSED TO BOAT FISHING in Main Lake from Oct. 15th (with last day to boat fish Oct. 14th) through Dec. 20th during waterfowl season with bank fishing Only allowed.– CLINTON LAKE – an easterly area of Clinton Lake (The Waterfowl Refuge Area) between the DeWitt Bridge East (CH14) and the Rt. 48 Bridge will CLOSE be on October 10th and will re-open on MARCH 31st…

Good morning fellas. This is what I have as far as the ice fishing/ice conditions update The overall ice conditions throughout the county has greatly improved after the 2 week thaw that we went through. According to the many guides that report in to us on a daily basis, most of the bigger cracks have pushed together an is starting to seal up. Again, since there is open water on the other side of the bay from us and open water to the north of us, fishermen really have to watch the winds because cracks can and will open up and it can happen quickly, especially with south east winds. As for the fishing… Whitefish action can still be classed as excellent with lots and lots of limit catches being reported. Some of the hot spots continue to be the Little sturgeon and Riley’s Bay area out in a little deeper water like that 40 to 60 foot depth, the Larsen’s Reef and Sherwood Point area anywhere from 30 to 80 feet and from the Old Stone Quarry north past Egg Harbor the spots are endless in that 30 to 100 foot range. The key is to stay mobile and stay away from other fishermen and your success will greatly increase. Best baits have been Rapalas, Sweedish Pimples, Forage Minnows and Slick Jigs and above your main jig run some kind of a slider hook like a fly, dot jig, plain single or treble hook. Tip your jigs and slider hooks with minnow pieces, wax worms, spikes or gulp. Perch fishing continues to provide some really good action with some decent sized fish and some limits being reported which we havn’t seen for quite a few years. Better areas have been Little Sturgeon, Sugar Creek, Riley’s Bay and Sawyer Harbor. An assortment of jigs tipped with minnows, waxies and spikes work well along with just suspending shiners or Rosy Reds under tip ups or handlines Walleye fishing is still a bit on the slower slide, but that should change as it usually does as we move into February. Best areas to fish have been the Henderson’s Point shoreline, Rileys Bay, Sherwood Point and the Larson’s Reef area along with some of the shoreline to the north of the Old Stone Quarry. Rapala Jigs, Moonshine Shiver minnows and Odd Ball jigs are the most popular jigs and tip those jigs with minnows and minnow heads Pike fishing reports have been a bit hit and miss…some days have been very good and some days a little slow, but overall fishing can be classed as good. Little Sturgeon, Sawyer Harbor and the Downtown Sturgeon Bay area all have been producing some fish with a few very big fish mixed in. Golden shiners, suckers and frozen smelt all have been working Thanks; Lance LaVine Howie’s Tackle 1309 Green Bay Rd Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 Ph: 920-746-9916

As we head into February and the lull in action that usually comes with, it seems the lack of snow on the ice is actually helping the fishing. More light passing through the ice (which at a 17 average, isn’t a lot for late January) is keeping weeds alive, which in turn, produces oxygen – and everyone likes a little oxygen in their life! Yellow Perch: Good-Very good – Got to be mobile to cover mud flats of 20-26’ water. Flash and Bash, drop heavy, noisy, shiny spoons into the mud to create the appearance of actively feeding perch. Perch Talkers, Halis, Pimples, Kastmasters and VMC Chandelier jigs tipped with wigglers on red spikes. Some anglers picking up large perch using rosie reds or medium fatheads on tip-downs. For spoons/jigs gold, glows and oranges top colors. Northern Pike: Good– No monsters reported this week, but plenty of #’s. Tip-ups with big shiners best. Bluegills: Very good-Good – Action slowed as cold moved in. Anglers tipping dark colored tungsten jigs (Fiskas, Skandia) doing best in depths of 8-12’. Some big gills being caught over deep mud by perch anglers. Crappies: Good-Fair – Weather has dictated the bite on these somewhat fickle fish. When the barometer isn’t too high or too low tip-downs with small minnows best along transition zones of 18-25’ mud. In shallower water of 8-14’ weeds , best on slow-dropping plastics of red, white or pink. Walleyes: Good-Fair – Same as crappies, best on suckers over sandgrass flats/humps of 18-26’. Some action on jigging Raps and Hyper Glides when fish more aggressive. With reports of trucks breaking through on the Willow flowage and down in Rhinelander, good to keep attention to conditions. Drop in the Willow could have much to do with ice conditions there. New snow (1-2) is powder, still slick to walk on so creepers are advised. Overall, reports still have 17-18 average, though thinner spots still being reported. UPCOMING DERBY DATES Feb 4th – United Way Stacks Bay, Lake Minocqua Feb 4th – Willow Haven Willow Flowage 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.

Dale,Here are a few announcements.Night ice fishing has been cancelled for Sat. Feb 4th. The park will close per regular park hours.Park hours change in Feb to 8 am to 6pm daily.Ice update…well over half of the lake is open water as of today. The rest of the lake has extremely thin honeycombed ice.

Rockfest is canceled for Saturday February 4 due to thin ice but we will be assembling fish cribs at the park office starting at 8 am