Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Weather more typical of April, has moved in! Following a week of unseasonably warm weather, when temps peaked at 80 degrees, cooler weather has arrived. Temps forecasted to hit upper 40’s to low 50’s (still not bad for April). Water temps that shot into upper 50’s on some bodies are now back into low-mid 40’s.

The good panfish bite also slowed, though maybe more from lack of participation than from weather. Some of those warm day patterns from last week changed as the shallows cooled.

Crappie: Good-Fair – Still the most targeted panfish in our area at this time. Most indications have them moved out to 10-12’ depths with the cool weather. While working fyke nets this past week we are seeing a lot of Crappies that are moving to the shallows after dark!

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Perch up in pre-spawn and spawning mode. Very shallow, 2-5’, small minnows, worms and tiny jigs working.

Bluegill: Fair – Anglers catching some big Gills on Flowages in wood along channels. Lakes were seeing some shallow, sunning fish, gone with rain.

As our chapter of Walleye for Tomorrow has been working with GLIFWC to get a population estimate on Minocqua and Kawaguesaga Lakes, it’s been very interesting to see the process as the location and timing of the spawn varies from night to night and lake to lake (even on these two connected lakes).

Spawning Walleyes, while starting early due to the warm early April, are now seen dragging things out a bit as the water cooled down and fewer fish are coming in to spawn. While this is not unusual, continue to prep for a post spawn opener. Still 2½ weeks away.