Ice Fishing Vilas county with Walleyemaxx Guide Service.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Ice fished a small lake in Vilas county today. Under a very cloudy sky with a light snow coming down carried by a soft west wind I was able to ice 12 Walleyes keeping two over the 15" size limit. Also caught 4 nice Perch that combined with the Walleyes will make a nice fish dinner. Caught everything jigging as nothing touched the tip ups. The hot bait was a small spoon tipped with a minnow head. I always start out using a jigging rap, but had no lookers. As soon as I droppped down the spoon, there was always lookers and sniffers with some biters. Tried waxxies but so far this year, the waxxies have produced nothing for me. As soon as I put on a minnow head, I get alot of attention.

We had a dump of snow for the last two days totalling about 6-8". I was worried about getting around but had very little problems. As I left I noticed some slush appearing where I had walked or in the tire tracks of the ATV. It's getting cold tonight with temps around zero so the slush shouldn't be a problem.The ice is still around 10" which is plenty for ATV's and snowmobiles. but not enough for trucks. Be carefull out there. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[newoodhntr]

Thanks for the northern Wi. fishing update. I fished the Rainbow flowage ice fisheree on Sat. and had the same result with the fish wanting minnow heads on a spoon. My friend caught a 7" perch and he won $200. My perch and walleyes I caught weren't big enough to win anything. Had a good time though.

[Tom_Christianson]

Thanks for the report newoodhntr. The time constraints of a fishing derby can make it tough to catch quality fish. Congrats on the $200.00 Perch.

I spent the afternoon fishing a small Vilas county lake. Not much pressure, everyone else watching the Packers. It was a tough bite, but was able to ice 10 Walleyes and 6 Perch. None of the Walleyes made the lake's 15" minnimum but half came close. Close enough to measure to make sure. 2 were 141/2". Kept 5 Perch at 9-10". With the fish from Saturday I'll have a good fish fry. Something about winter Perch fillets.

Finally caught some Perch on waxxies. I always have them along and this time I went right to the minnow heads but they weren't interested, so went with waxxies. Also the jigging rap doesn't get the action it did in December. Caught all he fish on small spoons with the first few tipped with waxxies but it eventually turned into a spoon tipped with a minnow head bite.

The weather was almost to nice and is what I think made for a tougher than normal bite. It was mostly sunny with a very stiff wind mostly out of the South. The fish were real jittery. Did not put in any tip ups, just jigged all day. The ice conditions are fairly good yet. Some slush but not bad. Ice is solid 10" with about 5" of snow on top. With warmer temps today, we could see some slush develope. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

What a difference from one day to the next. Sat. it was -22 below zero and today it was 26 above zero. Much more comfortable. Fished a small lake in Vilas county again on Sunday. With the warmup, we had a heavy overcast sky with a freezing drizzle coming down being carried by a brisk south wind. Fished in one spot for about 4 hours because the fish kept coming in. They weren't always in the biting mood but just when I figured it was time to move, I'd catch one. I wound up with a total of 16 Perch keeping 8, 6 Walleyes all small, and 1 stinking rock bass. With the fillets from Sat. I have a fish fry waiting to happen.

Today I could only catch fish with a spoon tipped with a waxxie. They shunned the minnow head. They also didn't want the jigging rap no matter what I put on it. They were never overly aggresive and I had to work each one to get them to hit, but that makes for a very fun experience. Watching how they react on the Vex enables me to determine how to work the bait to get them to hit. I missed more hits then I caught because they were so jittery. They would take a quick swipe at the bait but not take it entirely, just the tail end of the waxxie. I went through two tins of waxxies. Also had to scale down the size of the spoon I was using. Wound up using the smallest spoon I had.

The ice has increased to 14" here now too. The cold blast we had made some ice everywhere. We have more snow on the ice here but the cold froze the slush. Travel on the ATV was still very good. It is snowing a ton right now. That might change the travel conditions on the ice. The weight of the snow will push the ice down and squeeze the water up under the snow making slush conditions again. have to wait and see. Good luck fishing everyone and be sfe.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Haven't been out for awhile. Between getting the flu again and then finding awfull slush conditions. the slush is wide spread but should settle down soon. I have some ideas to go fish where it is close to shore. Anybody coming up, wear rubber boots. Slush and water is over a foot in some places. Sleds and ATV's are getting stuck and even a friend of mine told me he spent the better part of a day shoveling his 4WD pichup out to get off the lake. Good luck to anyone venturing out.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

You must have gotten a lot more snow than us over this way. All our lakes over here are great for travel, trucks, 4 wheelers, or snow machines. Ice is only about 14 to 16 inches with maybe 4 inches of snow left on them and we haven't lost much ice with this warmer weather.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi snoozebutton,

Yea we got a ton of wet heavy snow a week ago. It got warm and made the snow almost impassable. Today I tried to fish but got stuck after about 50 yards and spent an hour ans a half to shovel my ATV off the ice. I was to tired to fish after that. My ATV is a 6 wheel drive with chains and I still couldn't get anywhere. I'm glad to hear that you guys have better conditions. I'm headed over to the Big Chip tommorow morning. I'll be leaving about 6A.M. and getting on at the "CC" north landing. If you have a chance to fish, come on over. I figure I'll be on the ice around 9 A.M. I'll have my phone with so give me a call if you can make it and I'll meet up with you. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

Not today Tom, work calls. I've heard that the crappies are biting out there though so good luck!!

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Fished a small lake in Vilas County this afternoon. Met two friends out on the ice and had a good time catching fish. Between the three of us we iced 11 Walleyes and 8 nice Perch. None of the Walleyes were legal size but the Perch were all good size. Started out slow but after an hour the fish were moving. With the high blue sky and very brisk west wind, the cold was biting.We had 10 below zero wind chills. The fish seemed very skittish most of the time. Had to change baits continually. The most consistent presentation was a small spoon with a minnow head. The jigging rap still was good for calling them in, but had to put down a small spoon quick to seal the deal.

Travel on the ice was decent. I went through a couple slush pockets that I had to gun the engine or would have got stuck. Did get stuck once and shoveled in the windy cold for 15 min. to get going again. Thought this cold would firm up the ice but there is still a few spots to watch. Ice was 15" thick with some areas with about 6-8" of snow and some areas with almost no snow. The slush is under the deepest snow. Gonna see where I can fish tommorow where there isn't any slush. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday was the slowest day of the year. Fished the same small lake in Vilas County that I fished the day before but the results were drastically different. I had marks coming in all the time but they would just not eat. The lake is one of the better Musky lakes in the County and I have a feeling there might have been a few musky's hanging around the weed edge I was fishing. I fish the tip of a long sand bar that has a crib sunk at the very tip and has weeds growing all around it. It just happens to be a good spot to cast for musky's in the open water season. Friends and I have caught a few musky's through the ice there over the years as well. I was hoping that would happen yesterday. Would have made a good picture. Wound up with 1 Perch and 2 small undersized Walleyes and had just 3 other bites. They hit a small spoon with waxxies. the weather was warmer then the day before but still a high wind from he west and a high bright sunny sky. Ice is at 15" with some snow. I was able to get thru a slush pocket ok. Other then that the travel was good. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx

[snoozebutton]

I think you're talking about Sunday Tom and don't feel bad, I had one of my worst nights fishing Sunday too. Lots of lookers, hardly any takers. Post full moon? High pressure system? Just one of those nights I guess.

[Tom_Christianson]

Hi Snoozebutton,

Yea It was Sunday. I think it was a combination of several factors. One thing for sure, a bad day fishing is still better then a good day at work!! I was able to help out a trio of fisherman. Thier auger had siezed up and they had traveles a long way, so I let them use my auger to drill all the holes they needed. I've always felt that we sportsman and women should help each other when we need it. I saw them later and they were all smiles. They had caught some nice fish including Walleyes. It made me feel good knowing I helped them have an enjoyable day. Good luck fishing everyone.

Walleyemaxx