A solid start to the weekend turned tragic on Sunday as one adult and one child died after breaking through the ice on Lake Winnebago.  Being the first real weekend of heavy traffic on Lake Winnebago, it really put our culture on this lake in perspective.

Ice depths are very inconsistent across the lake.  Reports ranged from 6 inches to 19 inches.  A distance of just a few feet can have depths drastically different.  Water clarity was very clear.  It seems that the most consistent ice is on the East Shore.

On Lake Winnebago, Friday and Saturday featured a solid bite out of the Merritt Street (Oshkosh) access point.  There was a group of anglers, based at about 3 miles out.  This group had found a nice mixed school of fish moving through the area.  Walleyes, white bass, crappies and perch were in this school, and the group had solid success, especially to the south side of the group.  Spoons tipped with minnow heads was the preferred method.

There also was a similar bite to the North of Jim and Linda’s super club in Pipe WI.  This school was mainly white bass, but walleyes were also common catches.

Panfish were common in the Wendt’s area.  There are some pockets of poor ice in this area also, so be very careful when on the water.  An ATV broke through on Saturday near Fraction Island. Small orange jigs, tipped with spikes was best here.

The south end was “spotty” at best.  There was very little activity I saw in this region.  Some reports in this part of Lake Winnebago were reporting only 7” of ice.  (Foot of the Lake Fishing Club)

Tree lines have not been placed at Wendt’s or on the South end.  After events Sunday, it might be another week or more before any more tree line are placed on Lake Winnebago.

Lake Poygan continues to impress.  Many of the schooling walleyes moved extremely shallow this week.  In some cases under 4 feet.  Norwegian Bay was the hot spot, with JR spoons working really well in the glow colors.  Some very impressive sized crappies were also seen this week on Lake Poygan.

Remember that on area lakes that a tree laying down indicates a bad spot on the ice.  I think events from Sunday will push some anglers onto smaller lakes this week.

Team Myfishingpartner hit the harbor in Milwaukee this week and took a boat ride in open water.  We netted a mix of 30 rainbow trout and brown trout.  There have been reports of steelhead moving into the harbor also.  Spawn sacs were the only effective method to catch trout this week.

Any angler venturing onto Lake Winnebago this week needs to use extreme caution.  The winds over the weekend have shifted the ice creating newly formed cracks.  Inconsistent ice is prevalent.  No fish is worth your life.

I believe Lake Winnebago will still have an excellent ice fishing season.  Forage is scarce and fish are hungry.  Anglers need to take a conservative approach when going on the lake.  Walk if you have to, never go out alone, and let someone know where you are going on every single trip. Driving a car on the ice is taking a serious risk right now.  I know it sucks, but patience is the key right now.

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