Wow… It has been another fantastic week here in Central Wisconsin. The ice fishing continues to be very good with outstanding catches coming in every day. Ice conditions vary on many lakes but ice continues to run anywhere from 14 inches to about 20 inches thick. The nice thing is that the rain this past weekend eliminated a lot of the snow and slush on some of the lakes making for better travel conditions.
The crappie bite continues to be on fire with limit catches of big slabs up to and over 14 inches. Most of the crappies are suspended in the water column anywhere from 4 to 10 feet off the bottom in 16 to 24 feet of water. The crappies are schooled up right now, so when you catch one get your bait back down as quickly as possible. If you can get your bait down fast enough you may be able to pick up a second or third fish before the school moves on.
Bluegills continue to be the bread and butter of the fisherman. With good numbers and ease of catching these feisty little fish, they can turn a bad day of fishing into a great one. Most of the bluegills that we have been finding lately have been in 4 to 8 feet of water, but these are the smaller 6 to 7 inch variety with the possibility of an 8 or jumbo 9 inch gill. If you are looking for or targeting those true trophy gills that stretch the tape to 10 inches or more you need to look for deeper water. We have been catching Big Bull Bluegills this past week in water up to 22 feet deep. Yes 22 feet of water for gills. These are your nomadic roamers that will bend your rod in half. For big brute gills like this we are using small Northland buckshot spoons for a search bait and we are with tipping it with a spike or two for scent.
This past week has also been pretty good for perch fishing. Right now most of the perch we are finding are in 18 to 22 feet of water holding tight to the bottom. Jigs tipped with wigglers have been the best bait for us but we are also catching some good ones on spoons.
If you are looking for big fish, walleyes and northern pike have been giving us a good bite this past week. Most of the action is in shallow water less than 8 feet deep. The nice thing is that you can run the same tip-ups for the walleyes that you do the northers. What I mean by this is that tip-ups set during the daytime hours for northern pike will catch walleyes during low light periods and after dark in the same locations. Run you tip-ups in 4 to 8 feet of water with your baits set 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Use golden shiners for the pike and medium suckers for the walleyes.
Have a great week,
Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting and Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service
Phone: 715-693-5843
