Minocqua Area Fishing Report - 12/12/22

The past few days were a great weekend to enjoy ice fishing! Mild temps, not too much ice and for the most part good reports of action. Some east wind slowed things a little, but anglers reported a good “bounce back” and the fishing improved once more.

Walleye: Very Good – With ice thickness not building (avg 5-9”), Walleyes staying fairly shallow for the early morning and evening bites. Tip-ups with live bait (shiners, suckers) per usual. 8-12’ on average, though some anglers reporting fish to 18’. Jigging Raps, Slab Raps, Hyper Rattles and Tikka Minnows has improved as anglers enjoying the warmer weather are moving around, working different edges and pockets. Best reported for the week was a 27 ½” with lots of slot fish (20-24”) caught & released as well!

Crappie: Very Good-Good – Work bays of 8-12’ with tall green narrow leaf cabbage. Slow dropping plastics in white, pink, silver or blue. Bite good on Crappie minnows as well. Watch barometer, when very high or low, Crappies holding tighter to bottom. When stable or slightly dropping can be found higher off bottom up to the weed tops (6-8’) at times.

Northern Pike: Very Good-Good – Mostly #’s, but some good 30”+ fish reported as anglers fishing big shiners and suckers under tip-ups and Jaw Jackers in 5-12’ of good weeds had plenty of action.

Bluegill: Good-Very Good – Anglers starting very early (pre-light) catching the biggest Gills with a 12” behemoth being the largest! Small plastics in brown, motor oil, black or red best. Bigger Gills mostly deeper along edges at dawn and dusk. Plenty of “eaters” in the 7-8”+ range.

Perch: Good – Lots of sorting, but nice catches in 6-12’ weeds. Small jigging spoons tipped with waxies or minnow pieces. With weather permitting, drill a series of holes and keep bouncing from one to the next, picking the few larger “eaters” from the herd of little ones.

Largemouth Bass: Good – Rarely targeted but being caught by anglers both jigging for Gills and Crappies or using tip-ups for Walleye or Pike. Not unusual to catch plenty of Bass when temps in upper teens and above

Forecast has the area getting 5-12” of snow Wed (12/14) thru Fri (12/16) followed by an increasingly colder weekend anchored by a sub-zero Monday (12/19) with highs in the single digits. Depending on how much snow we actually get and how much wind to push the snow off, it could have a big effect on ice production the rest of the season! Last time we were forecasted 6-12” we only got 3-4”, cross your fingers.