Minocqua Area Fishing Report

The previous week’s poor fishing looks good now! Cooling water temps due to night time lows below 50 degrees have lakes going through a major chill, many loosing 10 degrees or more of surface temps in the past couple days.

Northern Pike: Fair – On windy or cloud covered days, Pike moving up to weed tops to take spinner baits, chatter baits or swim baits. On calm, clear days, anglers having to jig chubs or suckers into cabbage flats to entice bites.

Bluegill: Fair – Active in shallows and deep coontail edges (a sign the larger predator fish are NOT present)! Small jigs tipped with plastics or small leeches best.

Largemouth Bass: Fair-Poor – Fish not numerous, seems to be a bite here…a bite there. Signs of feeding on crayfish (look down mouth when unhooking-antenae piking out) so there is a clue to lure choices.

Smallmouth Bass: Fair-Poor – Some nice fish, along coontail edges of 14-18’ as well as rock humps. Puking out small fish-so drop shotting 3” imitation minnows makes sense.

Crappie: Fair-Poor – Have to find in right conditions. Cooler water seems to be pushing them down into thick weeds, not as aggressive.

Musky: Fair-Poor – A few reports on smaller bucktails, for mid 30” fish. Anglers plying deeper water using rubber baits for larger, suspending fish.

Walleye: Poor – Spotty bites dependent on cloud cover, wind. Leeches and crawlers best over eel grass on warmer days, cabbage on cooler and deep rocks where applicable.

Yellow Perch: Poor – Not much of late. Small Perch on crawlers meant for Walleye.

An overall cool week ahead, until weekend. Hopefully, rise in temps will bring back rise in fish activity.