Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Winter was last weekend (temps lows of 28 degrees…snow…wind…). Fall was the prior week. Does that mean spring is this coming week? Doubt it!!

The cold, snow, wind and lack of Musky suckers put a damper on what many consider one of the best weekends of the Musky season.

Musky: Good – Those that could procure some suckers had good success on quick-set rigs working 10-18’ weed edges. Smity and Suick jerk baits as well as Smuttly gliders scored well. Wind was big factor in boat control, lack of meat factored in participation.

Crappie: Good – Scattered, rarely found tight together, but nice slabs of 12-14+” using medium to large fatheads. Drowned wood in 14-18’. Watch locator closely for fish suspending sometimes 4-6’ off bottom.

Northern Pike: Good – Most caught while targeting other species. Twitch baits, jerk baits and 4-6” suckers or chubs best.

Walleye: Good-Fair – Deep gravel best working 1/4 - 3/8 oz jigs (sometimes larger with wind) using large fatheads, 3-4” suckers or chubs. Vertical fishing Shiver Minnows and Jigging Raps (#7 - #9) also scoring some aggressive hits.

Bluegill: Good – Big Gills in deep wood using half a crawler under slip-floats in 14-18’ water.

No Bass reports this week.

The sucker situation (Musky Sucker) is as bad as I’ve seen. Pond suckers raised in Minnesota wiped out by deep snow causing winter kill. Wild suckers are very hard to come by due to high water in streams and rivers. Catching suckers is hard and dangerous work, present high water only compounding problem. The are expensive, take good care when you get some. Take only what you think you’ll need so the next angler can have some also.