Avid angler Caleb Wistad of Hookedupwi gives his latest Buzz Bite Report for Northern Wisconsin on November 8th, 2021.
Northern Wisconsin Report 11-8-2021
Well it’s looking like we may get an extended open water season here in Northern Wisconsin! Many years in the past we have had fishable ice by Thanksgiving but with water temperatures still in the high 40s/low 50s and no real cold in the forecast we will likely still be staring at open water while we eat turkey this year. That being said, those of us who fish out of the boat till the bitter end will have just that much more time to fish!
As far as the latest fishing reports, we have had a very solid fall bite the past few weeks on many species of fish. Pike fishing has been outstanding with the toothy critters keying on shallow weeds once again with the cooling temps. Paddletail swimbaits, lipless crankbaits and even spoons have been tearing ’em up.
Smallmouth bass are still scattered around shallow structure, especially during the warmer afternoons and can be caught on many different presentations but jerkbaits really take the stage again as the water cools. Smallies can also be found transitioning to deeper structure such as rock/gravel humps and near deeper cribs etc. It’s hard to beat a drop shot for vertical fishing these structures but don’t overlook small spoons or jigging baits like jigging raps or Tikka minnows.
The largemouth bass fishing has been surprisingly consistent and bucketmouths have been chomping swim jigs, tubes, paddletail swimbaits and spinnerbaits on medium-depth green weeds.
Muskies are finally eating big suckers like candy and I’ve been hearing lots of reports from Northern Wisconsin of good success using this tactic.
Crappies have transitioned to the basin for the most part and can be caught on small jigging spoons, small lipless cranks and jig/plastic combinations.
There is only a little over a week left to target Lake Superior tributary trout and salmon but the fish are there and the cooling water should have them fired up! Spawn can be killer this time of year but yarn flies and insect imitations are very effective as well.
This will probably be my last open water report but I look forward to providing lots of up-to-date reports on ice conditions, hot bites and tactics during the upcoming ice fishing season. Tight lines guys, get hooked up!
Caleb Wistad – Hookedupwi
715-338-0545