Chippewa Flowage Fishing Reports

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Jarrid,

Always have to be extra carefull on first ice. That's what they make spud bars for. Each lake freezes over different. We are in the midst of a very good cold front right now. 0 to below 0 temps for every night. Last night we had 4 below. The lakes should be booming. I am going to be using my wheeler next weekend if the weather keeps up. Just have to keep testing the ice, every so often I'll stop and take my auger and drill a hole to see how thick the ice is. I enjoy ice fishing immensly, but always err on the safe side. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Just checked the ice on my favorite small lake. It made about an inch of ice since last week. We're in for below zero nights the next few nights so we should have close to 5" of ice on that particular lake. I'll use my ATV close to shore to get to where I want to walk out. I'll still have the spud bar and test the ice on every step and wear my life jacket and have my spikes to help crawl out if need be. Probably use the gas auger tho. Just have to be aware at all times, but first ice is the strongest ice. I'll have two others with me so we can help each other if something bad happens. The bigger and deeper lakes have less ice so be sure to be extra carefull on those lakes. I read on another post that the Big Chip has 2" of ice at most. Not ready to be fished yet. I'll wait untill Christmas to fish the Big Chip. In fact first ice should always be considered the time for the smaller and shallower lakes. Good luck to anyone going out, and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Lots of fish caught today. Unfortunatly most were small. Three of us put 20 Walleyes and 32 Perch on the ice. Only one keeper Walleye and kept 3 Perch. Only one flag on the tip ups between the three of us. Almost nonstop action jigging. Big Mick put in two new tip ups that set the hook themselves and had a lot of flags that we weren't to sure about. He wanted a hair trigger but might have set them to light. He did get a nice 10 " Perch on them tho. Otherwise we had a lot of fun jigging. It's been a long time since I saw the fish come in and go right to the bait and hit. We also lost a lot of them.

On the tip ups we had sucker minnows. Jigging we had waxxies, mousies, and used minnow heads on spoons and jigging raps. It started out cloudy and cold with a strong west wind. After a few hours the sky cleared, the barometer went thru the roof, the wind died down, and it got colder. Sitting in my new portable shack with my old dependable heater I didn't feel the cold.

Even tho we had three nights below zero last week, the ice didn't get to much thicker. We had 4" at most. We started out planning on going across the lake to a long sand bar. As I spudded ahead of the ATV driven by Ron I discovered the ice wasn't enough to support the ATV, so we backed up toward shore and followed that around to were we wanted to go. The snow is still insulating the ice pretty well. But we fished the structure we wanted and it turned out to be a good spot. This time of year is not the time to run and gun so I try to fish high percentage spots. tommorow Mick and I will fish the same spot. Report later on that. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished hard all day yesterday in windy but warmer conditions. The sun was bright with very few clouds, the temps were in the mid to upper twenty's, and the condition on the ice grew sloppy. Even though there is only a couple inches of snow on top of the ice, it was enough weight to sag the ice so water was coming up thru the holes in the thin ice. We had 4-5" of ice whuch is good for foot travel, but the slush makes it dificult for walking. We fished the same spot as Saturday and after a slow start we had a very successful day.

Sunday it was just Big Mick and myself. By the time we pulled up stakes to head home, we had put 14 Walleyes, and 42 Perch on the ice. All the Walleyes were undersized,but Mick kept 19 Perch which will make for a good fish fry. The lake we were on has a 15" size limit for the Walleyes and all were under that. The Perch that Mick kept were all decent. Smallest was 8" the biggest pushing 11". Good eaters. The day started out slow. Not marking a lot of fish on the vex for about the first two hours. Than Mick kept getting a flag tripped and the minnow gone but no fish. After the 10th time, I suggested he jig that hole because we figured it was Perch. We were right. That one hole produced all of Mick's Perch. He caught them all on a jigging rap tipped with a minnow head. I caught my Perch on a little spoon tipped with a minnow head. I tried waxxies too but nothing would touch them.

I caught two Walleyes on tip ups and lost a big fish on the tip up. Had bigger sized sucker minnows on them. The rest of the Walleyes were caught jigging with the spoon and jigging rap tipped with minnow heads. by 6 oclock everything just shut down. No more marks on the vex and no more flags popping. Time to call it a day. Mick had a 5 hour drive back home.

In two days with three of us on Saturday and two of us on Sunday, we iced 34 Walleyes and 76 Perch. It is a small lake so I don't feel bad that we only kept one Walleye and 19 Perch. It was fun to catch the numbers and just to be out on the ice enjoying mother nature. All the jigging fish were caught with baits tipped with minnow heads. Tried wzxxies and Saturday even had mousies. Both Walleyes and the Perch prefered the minnow heads by far. The tip ups had very little action on Sat. but Sunday had a lot of flags. We had sucker minnows, shinners, and fatheads on tip ups with the sucker minnows getting way more action. The weather was not the best with bright conditions most of the time and a high barometer with a lot of wind both days. But having a portable shelter makes it bearable and enjoyable. We are in for a little warmup for a few days, but I don't think we'll will lose ice. It just won't be making a lot more for a while. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Be sure to order your copy of "The Walleyemaxx System Book" soon to be sure to recieve it before Christmas. For just $14.95, It makes a great stocking stuffer for that angler on your list.Click the Walleyemaxx tab below to learn how to order your book today. Thanks

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Forgot to add that on the last two posts I didn't fish the Chippewa Flowage but rather a small lake close to home. The Big Chip just does not have safe ice yet, and I wanted to chase Walleyes. My favorite small lake close to home usually has fishable ice sooner than most other lakes. It is small and shallow. Has only Walleye, musky, panfish and Sm Bass. I hope to be on the Chippewa Flowage by Christmas but we are now in the midst of a warm spell. Until I can safely fish the Big Chip, I'll be fishing smaller lakes. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Big Mick came up again to catch some more Walleyes and Perch. We fished a small lake close to home and In an afternoon, we iced 20 Walleyes keeping 2 and 17 Perch keeping 7. It was snowing with a very strong west wind and cold temps so I was happy that we were able to drive our machines out to where we wanted to go. Still stayed close to shore around to the point we could drive straight out to it. I drilled test holes and found the ice thickness to be 6" so we drove to the spot. Drilling more holes out farther showed down to 4" of ice so we still can't just drive right across the lake. That means we couldn't be mobile so we stayed put.

The spot we fished is the same as last week and is still full of Walleyes and Perch. we caught 3 Walleyes on tip ups and the rest jigging. We had Shinners and sucker minnows on the tip ups, but only the Shinners got bit. On the jig poles we had the best action on a jigging rap tipped with a minnow head. I tried waxxies again with no hits on them. Changed back to a minnow head and bang bang bang. All the Perch were caught on the same rig. The jigging raps we are using are sizes 2 and 3. The lake has a 15" minimum size limit and 7 Walleyes were 141/2". The biggest Perch was 11". Right now small baits seem to be producing better. I did experiment wuth a few larger baits, but nothing will touch them. The natural food right now must be something small so the fish are accustomed to eating that. We'll be back at it tommorow. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Sunday Big Mick and I fished the same small lake as Saturday and at the same spot. It is a long sand bar that juts way out into the lake. At the tip of the point as it hits the deep, there is a crib surrounded by weeds. It is usually good all year around. I call it a kitchen area as it is always loaded with food for the predator fish. Yesterday mick and I didn't catch the numbers as Saturday, but still had a good day. We wound up with 6 Walleyes with 1 keeper,a chunky 17"er and only 3 Perch. keeping 1.

The weather was a little different from Saturday. It was more clear sky with an occasional cloud now and then. The temps were warmer and the barometer was down. Except for a wind that howled at times from the southwest, the weather was perfect. We both marked far fewer fish than on Saturday and our tip ups only had two flags which were both dropped after the fish took about 5 feet of line out. Had Sucker minnows and Shinners on the tip ups again. Only Shinners got bit. We caught all the fish on jigging raps with minnow heads with the exception of one Perch I caught on a small spoon tipped with 3 waxxies

The ice is starting to thicken up a tad. We had 7" of ice where we were.We drilled holes Further out and found the ice to be 5-6" out in the middle of the lake. Cold temps with no snow is in the forecast so I'm hoping that the ice will thicken quicker now. As always, have to be aware of the current conditions when you go.

For the weekend we enjoyed good numbers of fish as well as some size to go with them. We wound up with 26 Walleyes with 3 keepers and 20 Perch keeping 8 chunky ones. the lake has a 15" minimum size limit and we caught a total of 8 Walleyes that measured 141/2". A lot of smaller fish too which is a good indication for the future of the Walleye fishery for that particular lake. I have fished with a lot of guys who complain when you catch a lot of small Walleyes. Not me! I enjoy the catching and then the successfull release of the small Walleyes realizing those are the future of the lake. I'll be out again soon. Will be fishing other lakes now that I'm hearing good ice reports. I've got some friends who fish other lakes that I'll compare notes with. Decide than where to go. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Got out for a few hours this afternoon. We had a modest northeast wind with what seemed like a heavy snow, but actually we got only about an inch of powdery snow. just enough to keep covering my tip ups so I had to clean the snow off a few times. I just got set up when a party of three guys came along and wanted to fish the same structure as I. I gave them hints on how the bar was laid out and they set up thier tip ups and set up thier shack to jig in.

When the fishing got slow, I got out and talked to the guys and enjoyed some good conversation. While we were talking they had some flags pop. The first flag was dropped, but the second flag had a small Perch hanging on to a big Shinner minnow. I figured the fish might be getting active again so I went back to my portable and continued jigging. When all was said and done, I wound up with 3 Walleyes and 4 Perch. All were to small but it was fun. I lost more then I caught and some of those marks were good size. That's what keeps me coming back. The three other guys caught a total of 2 Walleyes with 1 keeper and 3 Perch all small.

I caught all my fish jigging with a jigging rap tipped with a minnow head. I never got a flag on my tip ups but they had Shinner minnows. I'll be back at it tommorow. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Spent this afternoon fishing the same spot on the same lake as yesterday here close to home. The first hour was slow but then the dinner bell must have sounded. In an hour and a half I caught 18 Walleyes and 7 Perch. All the Walleyes were under the 15" minnimum and I kept 5 Perch for a fish dinner. All but 1 Walleye and all the Perch were caught on a jigging rap or a small spoon both tipped with a minnow head. I did catch a Walleye on the tip up baited with a shinner minnow.

It was a bright sunny sky when I started, but it clouded up with a brisk north wind after an hour. Just so happened to cooincide with the terrific bite. the temps were about 25 degrees. Sitting in my portable I hardly noticed the weather. I measured The ice at 8 inches. Plenty to use my ATV anywhere I want to go. Lots of snowmobiles on the ice running all over too. Hopefully I'll find the Walleyes hungry again tommorow. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe. MERRRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD BITE!!

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Fishing report for 12-25-2011

Hi everyone

Got out for a few hours yesterday and found the Walleyes still biting. Caught 16 Waleyes with all under the 15" minimum with a few close to being legal and 6 Perch keeping 4. Filleted 9 Perch for two days worth which is plenty for a good fish dinner. Most of the fish yesterday were caught on a small spoon tipped with a minnow head. I don't know if a jigging rap would have been better, but they do want a minnow head over a waxxie. I started out with a spoon and waxxie,but saw on the vex they wouldn't touch it. Swithced over to tipping with a minnow head and they would nail it. There were a couple that swam up 7-8 feet and just hammered it. There was a 40 minute window where there was non stop action. At 10 minuets to 5, they just shut down. I jigged and jigged but in the next hour I saw nothing on the vex. So I packed up and went home to watch the Packers kick bear butt.

The weather was heavy clouds when I started and remained that way until dark. My outweather channel called for blustery winds and it was. It blew very hard from the south east the whole time I was out there. the barameter went up slightly while I was fishing but not real high. The temps were not to cold, but the wind made it feel cold. I had three flags on my tip ups, but didn't catch them. The minnows were gone all three times and lots of line pulled out. I figure they were small Pech or small Walleyes that couldn't get the big Shinners far enough down to get hooked.

For the weekend, I iced 34 Walleyes and 13 Perch. Good ratio. But didn't keep any Walleyes and 9 Perch. One day it was a jigging rap, the next day it was a small spoon but both were better with a minnow head over waxxies or even some plastice that I tried. They want meat. Just FYI, the ice ws still a solid 8" thick. I won't be fishing today. My granddaughter is coming for a visit. I am very excited to see her. I'll be back at it tuesday. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

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[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Very cold today with a gale force wind. Wind chills must have been below zero. It was snowing sideways from the north. Even in the portable it got chilly but it was bearable. I iced a total of 10 Walleyes and 1 Perch. Released everything. Most Walleyes were just short of 15" with a few that were real small. I jigged in my portable and caught 8 and on the tip ups I caught 2 more. the tip ups were baited with Shinner minnows and jigging I used a jigging rap tipped with a minnow head. I used a jigging spoon too, but the fish showed a distinct preference for a horizontal bait.

I fished my favorite small lake again but had to fish a different spot. There were already two guys fishing my best spot. Luckily I know the lake very well and had a feeling about this other spot. Only bad thing is I was in the teeth of the wind. Very cold. My hands froze solid when I caught the two Walleyes on tip ups. I was glad to scamper back into the portable to put my hands on the heater.

Back at it tommorow. Be fishing a bigger lake for Walleyes. So many lakes, so little time. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished the Big Chip thru the ice yesterday. I checked the ice continually and found a minimum 0f 9" everywhere I went. There was about an inch of snow on the ice which hid the fact that it is very slippery underneath. The ice surface is slick. Idid a digger about mid morning. My feet went up and the first thing to hit the ice was my head. OUCH! I laid there for a minute hoping no one saw my ballet.

I drove over in a blinding snow storm that turned into rain. After unloading the ATV, I ventured out test drilling a hole every 20 yards. After a while finding thick ice everywhere, I just went and fished in my mobile mode. I went to the spots marked into my GPS unit, drilled a bunch of holes all around it, Got the vex and two rods, one with a horizontal bait and one wih a verticle bait ,and proceeded to fish all the holes. I didn't bring any tip ups because that is like throwing out an anchor and I wanted to move all day.Just to many places to fish to spend to much time in one spot. In fact I didn't even get my portable shelter out untill evening. I wanted to be able to move quicker.

There were a few places that I think would have been good places to fish longer, but never having a winter season on the Big Chip and wanting to learn which types of cover and stuctures were going to produce the most panfish, I kept moving a lot. The most productive areas yesterday were the sunken bogs in the middepth and deep. I fished some weed flats and found nothing. The deep and middepth sunken bogs always had marks coming and going.I caught a total of 5 Perch,1 Crappie, and 1 Walleye that was quickly released. Most were caught on the horizontal bait with a couple on the spoons, but all tipped with minnow heads. Waxxies just aren't producing anything yet. I think they will eventiually, but not right now.

I did lose two big fish. Both were Walleyes. I had a Walleye that was about 24-25" to the hole when it got tangled in the transducer and was gone. that was on a middepth sunken bog on a small spoon tipped with a minnow head. Later I had another big fish on. I fought it for quite awhile. Had it to the hole and had to back reel. Did this three times. I could see it every time it came up and that was quit a sight. The fourth time she figured it was time to quit playing around. She did a power dive and the 4" test snapped. I couldn't back reel fast enough. can't keep them any way and I wouldn't keep one that big. Oh yea, the second one was bigger. I'm quessing a minnimum of 28". That one was on a horizontal bait tipped with a minnow head on a deeper sunken bog.

I'll be making plans to get back over again soon. Good luck fishing everyone and be safe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Had a big numbers day yesterday to finish out the 2011 season. With an almost perfect weather day with hwavy clouds, low pressure, and a light wind from the S.E. with temps in the high 20's, the Walleyes and Perch were biting. I started out with the jigging rap that had produced so well this ice season. But yesterday the small spoons were the ticket. Nothing would do more then take a quick look at the horizontal presentation with either waxxies or minnow heads, but as soon as I put down a spoon with a minnow head, the fish wouldn't leave it alone. It was fun to watch the fish come blasting off the bottom and smash the lure. Just for fun I tried to reel the bait up fast to prevent the hit, but couldn't. They were swimming up sometimes 6-8 feet to hit the bait. I iced 23 Walleyes and 11 Perch losing more then I caught. None of the Walleyes made the 15" minimum, but some were close. I kept 8 Perch so I wound up with a good fish dinner.

I fished the same lake close to home that I have fished quit a bit this December. The Walleye population was on the down swing for the last few years, but now looks to be on the rebound. In a few years a lot of the Walleyes will be reaching the minnimum size. But for now, it's fun to catch numbers. For the month of December I have iced 137 Walleyes. Only kept about 6 but the fun is in the catching. Now that the ice on the lakes have finally thickened up, I can fish other lakes with the mobility of my ATV. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[jonneygogo]

wondering if you know of any sleeper houses for rent in hayward area stayin up there to ice fish in feb for a week would be nice to stay on a lake for a night. Do you icefish on the big chip much?

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Johnnygogo.

I don't know of any sleepers in the Hayward area. Try contacting the Hayward Chamber of Commerce. They should be able to hekp you out. I haven't ice fished the Chippewa Flowage much because of the fact there was a closed season from Dec.1 untill the May opener untill last year. I have plans to do a lot of ice fishing now that the Big Chip has been opened up. However I like to fish for Walleyes thru the ice and the Chippewa Flowage is NOT open for Walleye fishing. However the Perch,Crappie, and Bluegill fishing is outstanding and along with the LM. bass and the Northern pike offers a quality fishery. The beauty of the Chippewa Flowage is itself a quality experience. Good luck fishing.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

Tom's right Jonney, I don't think there is any to rent. AAA Bait in Spooner used to have one they rented out, you might try them but I think they sold it. Anyway, here's their phone number: 715-635-3011

[jonneygogo]

any of you guys ice fish moose lake. I had good luck at moose lake in the Summer with the wallys /muskys both tend to be small though think Im going to try it this winter. Ice fishing must not be as big in Wisconsin as Minnesota You can find Sleeper houses to rent everywhere here is there not alot of people out on the lakes in the haywrd area? Dont matter Food good up there but the beer might be better good Luck

[jehentsch]

Tom,

Nice to see someone posting on this forum about their results. My inlaws have a cabin on Lake 26 near Danbury WI and I was wondering if you know of any decent walley lakes in that area? I grew up in ND fishing on Audobon and Devils Lakes so walleye fishing is in my blood and it kills me that I can't find a good walleye lake near their cabin. I tried Yellow Lake last year and had limited success and was thinking of trying out Big McK this year but was wondring of any others. I ask because my brother in law is just getting into ice fishing and I want him to at least have some chance of pulling an eye through the ice (he gets board pretty quick on slow days and would rather give up than move). I'm not asking for your favorite spot, just a lake with good walleye numbers that with a topo/gps unit and vexilar give you a fighting chance. Feel free to PM me.

[Sherpa]

jehentsch, I have a good friend that moved to Spooner last year and I spent a lot of time in the area last winter trying to ice some walleyes and crappies. I really didn't do that great with the eyes to be honest. Yellow was one that I did have some luck with the one time I tried it. Only tried Big McKenzie once and found no eyes. I tried middle Mckenzie once and only found pike and bass. I tried Shell Lake several times and never caught a fish. This year I have only been down once for ice fishing. I tried lower McKenzie and got a couple bass and some small sunfish. I think I spent too much time last year trying different lakes and not enough trying to figure a certain one out. Sorry I couldn't be more help but I saw your other post and lack of responses and figured I would at least share the very little that I know. Good luck on the search. I know I will be continuing mine.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone.

Sorry for the late report. I usually ice fish over in Vilas County so am not familiar with lakes west of the Chippewa Flowage. Until now, ice fishing was banned on the Big Chip so spent many years ice fishing in Vilas county and the U.P. of Michigan.

Spent today fishing a small lake in Vilas county. Caught 7 Walleyess and 2 Perch relesaing everything. Used a jigging rap to call them in but had to switch quickly to a small spoon tipped with a minnow head to get them to hit. The hits were not aggresive at all. just a light tug. I'll be back at it again tommorow. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished the Chippewa Flowage yesterday with two good friends Josh and Jamie. Because of the extreme cold, we didn't Start until about 10 A.M. I left home in very cold conditions- 22 below zero at 6A.M. and by the time I arrived at the Big Chip, it was 19 below zero. I was sure glad it warmed up!. luckily the wind was nonexistent for most of the morning. However under a mostly sunny sky the wind started to kick up by afternoon but the temps started to rise. By the time we left at dark it was 17 degres above. A regular heat wave.

The fishing was slow most of the day as we would see many fish come in on the Vex but they were real skittish. Lots of times they would stay a foot away from the bait for a few seconds and then just swim away no matter what we did to coax them into hitting. But our hard work and persistence paid off. We wound up with a mixxed bag of 3 SM. Bass, the biggest was 161/2", all were released, 5 Crappies, kept 3, 4 Perch, kept 2 and Josh nailed a big Bluegill that was kept. We also lost few Crappies at the hole and the fish were biting so light that we had several hits that we just couldn't get a hook set.

We caught most fish on jigs and minnows and jigging raps tipped with a minnow haed. I kept trying the waxxies thinking they would seal the deal, but the fish wouldn't even look at them. They wanted meat. We were fishing deeper wood flats with a soft bottom. Anywhere from 16 to 21 feet deep. The fish were relating to the wood, but like I said, they were not real active.

The good news with the cold is that the ice has thickened up. Jamie measured 14" of ice and the snow cover on top has hardened up. Very good travel conditions. Could see where there was slush pockets that had now frozen over. No problem getting around. Just be carefull of current areas. If you've never seen the Big Chip with a layer of ice on her, you owe it to yourself to make a trip up. She's a different world now. I'll be over to fish with Josh and Jamie again real soon. Under better conditions I think we'll catch a lot more fish. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Cuppy1]

Great reports Tom. Appreciate all of the details. Although my folks have had a place on Chief Lake for 25 yrs, I've never ice fished the Big Chip. However, I'm excited to do so now that Crappies are open. Sounds like there is good ice all over, but wondering if there are any concerns traveling with an ATV on the West end? There is some current that flows through Tyner but I've never thought it to be that much. Any insight or suggestions that you or others have on questionable areas (or maybe spots to try) would be much appreciated.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi cuppy1,

Sorry to take so long to answer. Been busy around here. I was to sick to get out fishing for a few days now. The 2nd flu bug of the season.

I have a friend who lives on the North shore of Chief lake and he goes thru Tyner. Last week I saw 14" of ice everywhere I went. But if you ever have any doubts, always stop and drill test holes. I did on two occassions last week when I was going over a quesstionable spot. It takes more time to do that, but it is the safe way.

With the snow we're getting the slush is starting to be a pain. Remember to bring a shovel and wear rubber boots. You'll probably be standing in water while you fish. We've had some cold weather but not enought o firm up all the slush. Good luck fishing and let me know how you do.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished the Chippewa Flowage yesterday with a mixed bag result. Got to the Big Chip it was 10 degrees and just felt colder. Good news is that travel is excellent. All the slush that I saw was frozen over solid. Was bumpy but otherwise ok. The ice was about 12" where I was with the top 3" frozen snow. It was great for ATV travel and snowmobiles, but I wouldn't drive a truck out. Did see tire tracks from trucks and that is where the ruts were because they sank through the 3" frozen snow. Driving your truck out now is still risky.

The fish were active from the gitgo. I fished a 20 foot sunken bog pretty much most of the day. Drilled holes all around it and found feeding fish all day. Caught Perch right away and the fishing remained steady. I caught a lot of small fish but wound up with a good mixed bag to clean up for a fish fry. Caught 9 Perch keeping 2, 8 Crappies keeping 2 and 8 Bluegills keeping 4 and 1 Northern which I kept. Lost a lot more fish and had marks coming in continually. Most of the marks were small fish. they stole a lot of bait. The ticket to catching was a small spoon tipped with Waxxies. The jigging rap was good for calling the fish in then the spoon to seal the deal.

The weather started out cold with a high blue sky. It remained cloudless all day but warmed up considerably. Never had to use the heater. Had a light SW wind that never felt cold. almost to nice. Met some nice people out on the ice. they were all having action on tippups fishing for Northerns. I never set a tippup. To much fun jigging. Thanks Jerky Josh for your report. I understand you were fishing a weed pattern. I was fishing a deep wood pattern. With the ice thickening up, the fish will start to migrate to deeper cover areas. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[jonneygogo]

hows the fishing been out there goin in a week how thick is the ice has anyone fished for northerns out there goin to try for sure