Minocqua Area Fishing Report - 3/27/23

This past week is what late ice fishing should be. Plenty of ice (even for trucks), great weather and cooperative fish!

Ice thickness, thanks to snow cover, remains in the two-foot range. Despite rain on 3/23, cold and wind helped dry surface so slush not the problem that was feared. Getting around became easier each day as warm days (40’s) followed by cold nights (teens) drained, compacted, then firmed up surfaces.

Crappie: Very Good - Excellent – Reports of anglers limiting out in 1 ½ - 2 hours. Lake by lake different depths. Weed related Crappies in 8-12’ using tip-downs with minnows 3-5’ under the ice (sometimes higher). Plastics on rocker figs also effective. Signs on the cleaning table showed these fish gorging on small Perch and Bluegills. Also bite in varying depths of 15-22’. Tip-downs again prevailing with small rosies held 5-8’ off the bottom. Some lakes Crappies found as deep as 35’, rattlin jigging spoons tipped with waxies to draw these deep fish in.

Bluegill: Very Good – Best still in 8-11’ of weeds, suspending in top half of water column. Dark plastics on #3 tungsten jigs or tipping dot jigs with waxies. Some Gills relating to deeper (15-20’) suspending over mud taking wigglers meant for Perch. Gills will typically move in shallower as ice lessens and water starts to work down holes.

Yellow Perch: Very Good – Most Perch anglers finding fish over soft bottoms in 15-22’ using wigglers on pimples or Halis. Nice size (10-12”) being caught mixed in (usually just below) Crappies and Gills in these areas.

Was a nice weekend to be on the ice. With open water to the south and east, angler pressure has been low and fishing great! Forecast for snow at the end of the week will just slow ice melt, though could make travel a bit more difficult. If it doesn’t come to pass, expect another great weekend of tip-downs on the ice.