Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Gamefish seasons almost always seem to close rather quietly around here. Late ice anglers tend to gear up for panfish. But this may have been one of the quietest in a long time.

The two feet plus of snow combined with the two feet of ice that is sandwiching, in some places, 8-10” of slush and water is making a work out of our sport!

The hardy souls working their way onto the ice aren’t doing any hole hopping, typically the pattern for March ice fishing. Instead, its pick a spot, shovel, drill, fish and stay put!

Bluegill: Good – Surprisingly! For these conditions anglers fishing the mid to larger lakes are catching some nice Gills to 8”+! Waxies, spikes and beaver bait on tear drops and #4 Tungsten jigs with brighter colors (chartreuse, orange) working best.

Crappies: Fair – Most of the best Crappie fishing too hard to get to. Anglers working bays for Gills reporting some Crappie action early in AM and again towards dusk. Most days too cold for tip-downs (3/4/19 – 20 below) so jigging grubs best.

Perch: Poor – Few anglers reporting Perch. Like Crappies, best areas too hard to reach.

With temps warming up into low 30’s this weekend, and with snowmobilers and the few hardy anglers trudging around, hopefully some better access will emerge.

We will need some long stretches of warm weather to knock this snow down…don’t put your jig poles away, ice will be here awhile.