Seasonal changes have been slow to develop in 2014, and one of the longest winters in Wisconsin history continues to provide good ice fishing opportunities on Lake Winnebago and Lake Poygan. Snow cover/snow pack are minimal, therefore travel is relatively easy across the ice’s surface. Ice depths remained solid at between 28-36” of ice.
Some of the rivers and creeks in the area have the ice sheets beginning to break down. Areas of the Fox River in Oshkosh had open water as of Sunday, especially near the bridges. The Winneconne Bridge on the Wolf River had enough open water to allow anglers to fish from the bridge.
Fishing reports have been very scarce, so this report will be brief. I hate to admit that I saw more Mercury pro staffers at the Mall in Appleton on Sunday than I saw at the Merritt Street access point on Lake Winnebago. It seems everyone has open water fever.
The fishing activity varied by the day, partial due to the weather fronts moving through the area. On warm days the fish were active, and on cold days they were not. It was that simple.
The main target area was 4 miles out of Merritt St. (Oshkosh) where a school of active white bass were present. Mixed into the school were suspended crappies. This school disappeared on Sunday, and may have moved more toward Brothertown.
The area near the mouth of the river appears to have the ice breaking down in some areas. The warm flow of water from the run off earlier in the week is eating the ice from the bottom up. There were no fisherman inside the crack (near the mouth of the Fox River) this weekend that I observed.
Walleye reports were non-existent this week on Lake Winnebago. This could be due to the shortage of reports, or that many may have migrated into the river systems, after the warm water came rushing into the lake earlier in the week.
Little Lake Buttes des Mortes has been giving up pan fish over the past week. Lake Poygan has had little activity, and there is nothing to report good or bad.
From the look of many area retailers where store shelves are empting quickly of the new lures, anglers can’t wait to get on the open water. I’m one of them! My ice gear is in storage and the boat comes home this week. It will only be a week or so and the Fox River in DePere will have some activity. The mouth is already open, so some boat traffic can be expected within the next week. It will be a little longer before anyone will get a boat to the dam. What we need is some consecutive days of warm weather followed by a nice rain.
I’m out. [email protected] is my email. Next report as conditions change. If you choose to ice fish, please take extreme care. Thank you for coming to the site and supporting Myfishingpartner.com.
