Lake Winnebago and Lake Poygan remain busy places, as anglers have descended upon the lakes in high volumes. Generally, ice conditions are in the 11-14 inch ranges with a cumbersome snow pack on top of the ice. Drifting snow is common, and the “plowed roads” are not established in most areas yet. Water clarity on Lake Winnebago is clear, but there are some pockets of lesser visibility.
The past week featured bitter cold temperatures, followed by a warm front, which lead into an arctic blast late in the weekend. The variable weather has resulted in a tough bite.
Ice conditions remain relatively uniform across Lake Winnebago, with some areas of concerns on the central basin. Bridges were placed over the past weekend on the north shore out of Payne’s Point. This is the first access to deep water on the system this year for cars/trucks. There also exists a tree line on the east shore near Pipe, WI, allowing additional access. The majority of west shore fishing clubs have refrained from placing bridges, due to areas of thinner ice (in the 6-9” ranges), especially in the Quinney On Lake Poygan, 14-15 inches of ice is common. The main entry point of Noffke’s has held up well from the constant traffic. The area to the west of the launch is not viable for travel, and extreme caution must be used on Lake Poygan. Multiple vehicles and ATV’s broke through the ice during the past week west of the access point. There is a plowed road out to Horseshoe Hole, and it is best to stay on the trail. Lake Poygan has had the best action in the area for ice fishing. Overall the week featured a tough bite on all lakes, leaving many disappointed anglers. Lake Poygan continues to produce limited numbers of walleyes, along with solid numbers of crappies, white bass, and sheephead. Jigging spoons and jigging raps are the most productive baits. On Lake Winnebago, the bite at times was dreadful. Many anglers are producing a few fish on each trip, but most are not producing enough quality fish for a meal (with the exception of white bass). Many of the pan fish are looking at the baits, but have no interest in feeding. This is likely due to the variable weather fronts over the past week and a large shad population. The east shore has a solid bite working for white bass. Gladwater Beach (Brothertown, WI) and the Pipe, WI areas have large schools of fish which continue to roam in deeper water. Most of these fish can be lured in with Rapala jigging raps, especially with gold accents. Drilling a lot of holes is common to locate the schools of fish, but when you find the schools action can be furious. Along the west shore, pan fishing has been subpar. The area at Wendt’s is producing a few perch and bluegills. The same is true of the area near TJ’s (Van Dyne) and Black Wolf. The bays in Oshkosh continue to produce solid sized perch, bluegills and crappies. Angler have found bigger fish in the deeper water (8-12 feet). A handful of fish is a common bag for anglers. On the central basin, walleye activity has had a slight uptick with many of the eyes in the upper portion of water column. This is a positive feeding sign that they are high in the water, so this could be an indicator of strong activity in the near future. Anyone who has been on the ice this season has seen large numbers of small walleyes. As reported earlier on myfishingpartner.com, the 2013 walleye class is large, and potentially a top five class all time according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural resources. Please handle these fish with care, as these small fish are the future of the system. The next week features very cold weather, followed by some light snow. I would anticipate a slow bite this week based on the forecast. With that said, there are always anglers doing well on this system. Hopefully you are one of those anglers. I fully expect Otter Street to place the bridges out of Oshkosh this week, opening up a lot of new opportunities. [email protected] is my email. Keep me posted on your adventures on the ice. We appreciate your patronage every day.
On a side note: The brown trout have moved into the harbors along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan as part of their spawning process. Here is your chance to toss some crank baits and jigs into open water! We found some windows of activity this week and produced high volumes of fish. These “windows” are short lived, and you need to be there when the trout arrive. Generally mid-mornings have been best. Northern pike are also mixed into the catches.
