Minocqua Area Fishing Report - 2/3/26
- Feb 3
- 3 min read
Finally warmed up (highs in low 20’s) as has the fishing! Following the freakishly cold weekend prior, temps in the 20’s felt like a summer breeze on Saturday (1/31, with no breeze)! Participation picked up as did the fishing.
Yellow Perch: Fair-Very Good – Once you can locate those moving bands of Perch in 14-21’ of water, good to go with a variety of fast sinking jigs (Flash Champs, Kastmaster DT, Hali jigs, Northland Tungsten Buck Shot) tipped with wigglers, red spike or waxies.
Bluegill: Fair-Very Good – Roaming mud flats with the Perch and Crappies just outside weed edges of 12-18’. Small tungsten jigs in 3mm:4mm sizes tipped with waxies or spikes. Also taking “bug” looking plastics on horizontal presentations.
Crappie: Fair-Good – Lots of searching as Crappies seemingly very mobile this week. Not staying in any one place long. Tip-downs with Crappie minnows or small rattlin’ Kastmasters or the smallest buckshot spoon tipped with waxies over mud basins of 14-30’. Not much on weed bite, should be returning with warming temps mid-week.
Northern Pike: Poor-Good – Not great action, but reports of some very nice fish from the area taking big shiners and suckers in 10-16’ of weeds. Fish high in weeds, sometime just above. Good #’s of fish over 30” this weekend despite the “Full Moon” effect.
Walleye: Poor-Fair – A few anglers reporting success on Walleye suckers at and just after dusk. Other late night anglers reporting best action between 10 PM and 11 PM. Daytime over deep mud flats. Late afternoons on humps of 16-28’. Along weed edges of 12-16’ at night. Very little on artificials, live bait mostly. As temps rise we should see more action on “fake” baits!
Largemouth Bass: Poor-Fair – Action improved, as it usually does for this species, when temps move above 20°. Small-medium shiners on tip-ups in 8-12’ weeds. A few incidental catches on waxworm covered jigging spoons
Looks like some nice temps forecasted for the rest of February, a few blips, some cold mornings, but overall, a good forecast. Just realized we only have 3 weekends left of the gamefish season (closes at end of March 1st) so get those tip-ups and jigging raps a working.
Ice thickness reports range from as little as 18” (mostly up North) to as much as 28” with 20-24” being the most common reported.
Talked this over with our district warden…it is not illegal to quickly take a picture of a Musky caught while ice fishing as long as it is quickly released! It is illegal to target Musky through the ice. The pictures we’ve been sent and posted were from anglers not targeting these fish, but by accidentally catching. Please release all incidental catches such as these or any fish you don’t intend to keep as quickly and safely as possible.
Pictures of the Week
Jayson Conlin of Minooka, IL with a 35”, 12# Northern Pike
Blaine Wauters of Minocqua with a Dandy Northern Pike
Brooke Klingbell of Medford, WI beautiful Musky caught and released (season not open), while fishing for panfish on 6# test
Ice Fishing Tournaments
February 7th – 16th Annual Mohr’s Ice Fishing Contest – Spirit Lake
February 14th – 25th Annual Plum Lake Ice Fishing Tournament (Sponsored by Sayner-Star Lake Lions)
February 21st – 20th Annual Lake Tomahawk Family Fisheree
