What a week we have had…. And the good thing is that the fishing has been outstanding! The panfish bite has been on fire with all species readily being caught. The action has been very consistent all day long with increased activity early and late in the day.
 

We have been finding perch in 16 to 20 feet of water holding near the bottom. To catch these perch we have been running wigglers on small jigs, or small spoons tipped with waxies, spikes or a plain minnow head. The best way we found to get the attention of the perch is to pound the bait right into the bottom and then slowly rain it up about a foot. The fish will hear the disturbance and come to investigate.
 

Crappies have been suspended at various depths and to find them use your electronics. We have been doing a lot of hole-hopping to find the fish and once we see them on our locators we usually catch them. To catch the suspended crappies we are running small jigs tipped with waxies or a spike to tempt the crappies into biting.
 

The bluegills have really been fun this past week with good catches of pan-sized gills hitting the ice. Most of the gills have been caught on small tungsten jigs tipped with plastics like the wedge tails in pink, orange and red. We are finding a majority of the gills in less than 6 feet of water associated with heavy weeds.
 

Walleyes and pike have been fairly aggressive this past week with some nice catches of both species. Most of the walleyes and pike have been caught on tip-ups baited up with large golden shiners, or medium sucker minnows, but we have been catching a few jigging in deeper water. I picked up a nice walleye this past week in 30 feet of water right on the bottom while crappie fishing. I was targeting suspended crappies when this nice mark showed up on my flasher. I lowered my jig down to the mark and POW… this nice walleye strikes my bait. This just goes to show you how important your electronics can be!
 

Have a great week,
 

Phil Schweik
Hooksetters Guide Service
Phone: 715-693-5843