Lake Poygan and Lake Winnebago have shifted into full winter gear, and ice fishing activity has been extremely high.  Ice conditions are generally excellent, with ATV and truck travel common on select parts of both lakes.  Snow cover was moderate, leading into Sunday’s winter storm.  With that said, there remains areas of open water and newly frozen ice, so please venture on the ice with extreme caution.

Lake Poygan has been the place to be this week and it seemed everyone (and their brother) was there on Saturday.  Hundreds of vehicles were on the ice on Saturday using the main trail out Noffke’s landing to access Horseshoe Hole ($2 access fee).  The heavy traffic and overhead noise, really shut the fish down in the morning, but a mid-day bite for white bass developed.  The mid-day white bass bite has been commonly reported through the entire week.

Walleyes continue to show up in moderate numbers and have been most active in low light conditions.  Crappies and sheephead are also being caught.  Yes, sheephead through the ice, which is fairly uncommon for the Winnebago system.  I found 15” of ice in most of the holes I drilled this week at the Horseshoe.

On Lake Poygan the dominate color has been silver.  Slender spoons, small jigging raps, and pan fish style jigs are all working well.  Minnows or minnow heads have worked, but not as well as waxies or spikes when loaded up on the lure.  Red spikes were especially productive for white bass.   My advice is to stay on the outside of the “villages” to find the most active fish.

Lake Winnebago has also seen plenty of activity, especially along the western shore. Ice depths remain variable, with 8-12” common in most locations.  Vehicles have been venturing out on the ice in some locations, all remaining inside of the “cracks”.  Otter Street Fishing Club (and other clubs) have not placed the truck bridges to date, as there are still many areas of the lake which do not have the 12” minimum ice required to place the bridges.   As a matter of fact, out of the Oshkosh area there still was open water early in the week on the central basin.

The south end of the lake has been extremely slow this week.  Numbers of fishermen have been down, so have been the catch rates.

In the Black Wolf area, anglers have been catching some excellent sized bluegills.  The massive bluegill year classes from the past several years, are now fully grown and providing excellent table fair.  Small jigs, tipped with waxies are the best way to attract these fish.  Solid numbers of large perch are also present.

At Wendt’s, the first vehicles ventured out on the ice, although most anglers opted for ATV’s or walking.   10+ inches of ice was common here.  Anglers focused on perch and bluegills.  Finding old weed beds or transition areas was the key to locating the best fish.  Plenty of small perch are present, providing solid action.  Plastics have been an excellent bait choice here.

In the Brothertown area, groups of anglers have been finding roaming white bass schools near Gladwater Beach and Artesia Beach.   There are crappies, perch, sauger and walleyes mixed into the baskets. 10-14” of ice are reported, but so were some thin ice areas (8” or less).

The Oshkosh Bays (Miller, Asylum, Cowling) continue to have moderate traffic from fishermen. Perch, bluegills, crappies, and a rare largemouth bass are being caught.  The perch will require sorting as the small fish outnumber the jumbos.  First year walleye and white bass are very common (4-6 inches).

The central basin of Lake Winnebago is only accessible by ATV.  For those anglers venturing out, the bite has been very slow.

Just a reminder of the Gift Card to Cabela’s that Myfishingpartner.com is giving away on Christmas Day.  Simply “like” the page, pick a number between 1 and 2,000, and post it to the contest thread.  Closest guess to the pre-chosen number without going over wins.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Fishing-Partner/222624783318?ref=hl

The heavy snow of Sunday surely will hinder movement on the lakes.  Be sure to have your safety gear ready, and have a shovel and tow ropes in your vehicle if you venture out.  Bad ice areas will be much more difficult to locate as they will be covered with snow.  But on the up side, fishing should be less effected by sunlight variances, leaving us with a more consistent bite.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families.  Get on the ice, and stay on top! More reports to come at www.myfishingpartner.com.