The peak of the winter season has passed on Lake Winnebago with the conclusion of Battle on ‘Bago, where approximately 10,000 anglers hit the water on Friday and Saturday.  Ice depths were in excess of 24-26” in most areas on Lake Winnebago, and 28” on Lake Poygan.  The mouth of the Fox River in Oshkosh has thin ice, and must be handled with extreme caution, especially with warmer temperatures forecasted.  Water clarity is very good on Lake Winnebago, and stained on Lake Poygan.

The ice surface on Lake Winnebago has very minor drifting, with Lake Poygan having a heavier snow cover.

Many anglers worked the main lake searching for anything which would bite.  Even the white bass were somewhat reluctant to bite this week. Thursday was a strong day on the lake.  On Friday, the best bite occurred first thing in the morning, while Saturday the flurry of activity came midday.  This inconsistency lead to frustration for some anglers.

Walleyes have been higher in the water column based on our discussions with area anglers.  Sheephead and white bass have been deeper.  And yes, sheephead have been active this winter.  The lack of minnow based forage on Lake Winnebago has all fish aggressively chasing food.

On Lake Winnebago, the south end remains “dead.”  In the Black Wolf area, the first signs of life can be found heading north.  The past week feature some walleye activity, but the bite revolved around pan fish and white bass.  Spoons were the best baits here.

Near Roe’s Point (Oshkosh), about 1.5 miles out, there was a solid school of walleyes moving through the area.  This bite had bursts of activity, and then would disappear.  Some better sized walleyes were registered out of this area, with 22-25 inch fish regularly found.

The mouth of the river saw a lot of activity.  A solid mix of small walleyes, crappies, white bass and an occasional sheephead were common.  The ice is very thin moving in from Bray’s point, so I would stay away from that portion of the ice.

Out of Merritt several villages were seen at the 2, 2.5 and 3 mile out areas.  The white bass seemingly were moving south (away from the road).  With the crack to the north of the road, the schools moving north were hard to access.  The overhead traffic was spooking these fish causing them to move away from the villages.

The Brothertown region remains active, but overall has slowed from the previous report.  Minnow heads tipped on Shiver Minnows was a great presentation for walleyes, sauger and white bass.

Lake Poygan was the place to find huge walleyes.  Many of the larger walleyes registered during the Battle on ‘Bago event came from the west end of the lake.  This was a bare hook, size three jigging rap bite, or a small gold Kastmaster spoon tipped with spikes.

To the east side of Horseshoe Hole, there also was a school of walleyes, perch and small white bass.  This was a small jigging rap bite, especially in gold and black.  Tip downs are also working extremely well.

Just a general comment about tip ups and tip downs.  For many anglers on the Winnebago system, these devices have been tossed to the back of the garages, or left in many shanties.  With the lack of forage in 2015, these tactics need to be reinvigorated.  Some of the largest walleyes of the year (which I have seen) have come on live bait presentations under tip ups.  It’s time to rediscover these old friends.

Lake Erie has been on fire (No not like the Cuyahoga River).  The walleyes and perch are huge and hungry.  There are large groups of Wisconsin based anglers descending upon the Port Clinton, OH area currently.  This is a rare and short term bite, so there is no time better than right now to experience this legendary bite.  Team Myfishinngpartner will bring you updates from Port Clinton this weekend on the Facebook and the brand new TSU pages.

I would estimate we are about 14-20 days for open water in DePere (Fox River).  Start thinking Spring, cold hands and 200 boats in a mile stretch of the Fox River.   It brings tears to my eyes!

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