minocqua ice fishing

[chiroeye]

Anybody have any ideas on how to fish any lakes around minocqua this time of year? I will be up there this weekend for the first time ever and was just wondering if there were any fish in the area. I am especially looking for some crappies, any lakes in the area good for crappies? Any ideas? Thanks for any input

[can it be luck?]

The Minoqua area probably has the highest volume of lakes in Wisconsin, some of the best fishing too. Close to 10" of new snow has fallen since Thursday night, pushing travel back to foot traffic. Ice thickness to 30", but, slush bogging things down.
Some good, yet inconsistent reports on all panfish. Seems can't get more than two days in a row of good bites.

Crappie action best at dusk. Target 7-10' cabbage beds. Strong year class of 8"ers some 11-12"ers with occasional fish to 14" on Minocqua. When aggressive, crappie minnows on tip-downs or slip bobbers, waxies on moon-glo jigs best. When tighter lipped use shrimpos or other plastic tails, on 2-3# test.

Bluegills same type of bite--some days good followed by a day or two of shut down. Mousses best on tiny tear drop jigs. Small plastic also good. Colors vary time of day and day to day.

Perch for most part have been found in water from 3-13'. Bigger perch (to 13") taking minnows, wigglers. Bite midmorning again in mid afternoon.

Lots of time left as this week doesn't look to get very warm (mid 30's). Willingness to fight slush biggest drawback.

Access being the main problem most reports from places easiest to get on. Stacks Bay, Schoolhouse Bay, Kennedy Bay all on Minocqua Lake producing crappies (7-13"), Bluegills to 8" and perch. Action fair, fish finicky, use of 1-2# test necessary. Moussees, spikes, plastic best for gills. Waxies, minnows for crappies.

Big Arb giving up some perch on Center bar, some sunfish on south end.

Buckskin very hard to travel, perch running smaller this weekend.

Big Pike caught Saturday 2/28. 39 1/2", 17 3/4 pike caught in stacks bay minocqua. Nice way to end the season.

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[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 03-11-2004).]

[augernaut]

Canitbeluck - you should probably credit Kurt Justice of Kurt's Island Sport Shop for writing most of the post you made.

I can concur with that report, action up here is consistently inconsistent. Access is a major challenge - forget the 4-wheeler, and a snowmobile is even difficult. A truck and chains is possible on some lakes but very iffy. Plan on walking and keeping light - I'm thinking about buying a pair of snowshoes!

[can it be luck?]

Thanks Kurt! I never took credit for it. Just passing on a report. Augernaut, first of all, welcome to FM! If you don't mind me asking, what lakes have you been fishing? Was out on Buckskin last week, fished around the island and the "deep hole". Fishing was decent for perch. Hit a bunch of smaller panfish and craps on Huber bay on L Minoqua, tough finding any size! Thinking of giving Gary lake a shot tommorrow. The wind is plain nuts today though! PS; If I can find useful info to help fellas out...I'll post it regardless of it's origin.

[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 03-11-2004).]

[augernaut]

Just wanted to make sure Kurt got his due - he's a good guy, posts reports on several other websites.

I've only gotten out once in the last few weeks - but found what buddies and others have. Last time out I was on Minocqua - in Huber Bay and Stacks Bay. Stacks was a circus - lots of loud people, slow fishing. The crappie weren't into Huber yet, I'm going to try to get out there this weekend and try again.

I've heard so much good about Buckskin - was a good walleye year, I guess. And from what I hear it produces quality panfish. Unfortunately, it's no longer a secret so we can probably kiss it goodby! Did you find any crappie?

[can it be luck?]

When found, Buckskin contains some very nice perch. It doesn't compare to the "jumbos" that I'm used to catching on MN lakes but in comparison to most of the lakes in the area.....it's one of the better ones. The walleye I found are above average in my opinion. Most are in the 19-22" range. Three years ago on openers I camped solo on the island straight out from the launch. I cruised the shoreline and shallow flats at night with my spotlight shineing for eyes, 1. to look for quantity and quality of fish. 2. to find areas the fish frequented at night. I seen more walleye than I had expected, and the size range showed a a couple of strong year class of fish in the 17-23" range. I believe there's been a history of winter kill on the lake and restocking is the reason for the amount of fish similar in size. I'm not for certain, but I think there's a lake association that pitched in with the DNR in the restocking efforts. There is a aeration system in the deep area of the lake now to prevent this from happening again. The islands and the mud/bog in the N-NE end of the lake attract many walleye at night. Any wood found, and the shallow bar NE of the large island held many fish as well. It's amazing to see how tight to the shore walleye actually are while hunting at night. Besides the walleye, musky and northern are common, with many large ones as well.
Stacks Bay can be quite the circus! I usually fish Huber Bay. It's a short walk to the area I fish. 6-9' is the depth I fish. Thick patches as well as scattered weed growth attract panfish as well as most other species. Much of the weeds are still pretty healthy. Size is lacking but you'll be pleasantly surprised on occasion. Crappie can usually be found here most of the time and some days can be great! I like to site fish this area, and I've found more often than not that ratsos, rat finkies, and shrimpos will outfish live bait when the crappies are finicky. My buddy does well with those seal skin baits. Site fishing is a blast...But hard on the neck!! Good luck fishing!

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[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 03-12-2004).]

[augernaut]

You are right about the lake association out there - they are pretty proactive I believe - and the aerator has helped with the winterkill problem. A buddy of mine's parents live on the lake. Pretty tough to find true jumbo perch in these parts - but we locals have our spots :-)
very nice to hear about the walleye you spotted in there - sounds like a good year class or two in a row!

Have you fished the deeper water out from Huber Bay - toward the island and adjacent bar? That whole area looks good to me, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. You don't see many guys out there, but I have to believe you could find some good perch and suspended crappie there midseason. I just got a bunch of the soft plastics made by Little Atom. By FAR the nicest I've ever found, they have a spot in my box right along with my shrimpos and ratsos. I haven't tried the Chena Bait yet, but someday I'll pick some up.

[chiroeye]

Just got back from the 3 day weekend in Minocqua. Talked to a very nice guy at the bait shop and he informed us of a few good spots to try. So, Friday we fished Buckskin for perch and had a very productive day. Between the four of us we caught well over a hundred fish throughout the afternoon with about 30 of them being in the "jumbo" perch catagory. They seemed to bite well on bright colored jigs and waxies. Saturday we tried for crappies on Minocqua and only ended up catching a few, what a snowstorm that was, it sure came down in a hurry. We were in the bay right behing Remax realty and saw a group of guys with some nice fish. This morning we tried the same place again, but the wind was just blowing too hard and two of my buddies didnt have a shanty, so we packed it up and headed home. All in all, I was very impressed with Buckskins structure and perch and not so impressed with the crappies on minocqua, but I think we just missed the bite. Nice town, good people, good PBR. Cant beat a good weekend in God's country ice fishin.

[can it be luck?]

Chiroeye, glad to hear you had a good time and caught some fish too! Thanks for the follow up report, it's nice to hear how things turn out on trips that FM may have assisted in, especially ones with a happy ending.
Buckskin is a nice little lake to fish, even with hundreds of lakes to choose from in Vilas county, not many contain perch of any decent size.
Lake Minoqua will usually give up fish with some consistancy, however as previously stated size is lacking......But not always. The Minoqua chain and lake Tomahawk is home to many quality fish of different species. Size, structure, depth, and a healthy forage base makes it one of the better bodies of water in the area. The amount of traffic on the lake reflects this.
I find that consistancy is the major drawback with many lakes in this area. I've fished the area many years now and have my "schedule" of what lakes should be turning on based on time of year. Most of the lakes I fish are targeted at specific times of the year, after that I usually don't see them again untill the next year. Lakes like Minoqua can be reccomended to people knowing that there'll be a good chance of experiencing some action.
Hmmmm, looking at the calender it looks like the Fox River walleye run in Depere is getting underway. The Fox is "trophy" fishing only with a 28" minimum size limit. Each year there are many walleye in the 10# plus range caught. Last year I watched the DNR checking fike nets.....My eyes darn near popped out of my head! Let's just say this, the Fox has a strong chance of producing the next state record fish!
Good luck fishing everyone! Be safe! Have fun! Can it be luck?

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