A cornucopia of winter weather was the norm for the past two weeks on Lake Winnebago and Lake Poygan. Several arctic blast hindered fishing conditions for the majority of the period. Ice depths were measured on Lake Winnebago from 27-31 inches this past weekend. Hopefully, you picked up your auger extension a few weeks ago. Water clarity is very clear, in excess of 10 feet in many locations, except near the river.
The series of cold fronts, shut down fishing throughout the general region, just not on the Winnebago system.
The snowpack on the main lake is manageable in most areas. However, there are tall drifts which will swallow pickup trucks quickly. Two wheel drive vehicles should stay very close to the plowed roads. Four wheel drive vehicles should travel in groups to provide assistance to those getting stuck.
Fishing has been mediocre for most anglers. There are plenty of marks on the locators, and some active fish following baits through the water column. These fish are reluctant to bite.
Merritt Street in Oshkosh, as always is the hub of activity. The roads are in excellent shape. There are small villages, especially at the three mile mark. Most of the groups are spaced about a mile apart.
The central group (straight east of the American Legion) was the location we set up this week. In some areas, we marked just a few fish, while other locations had larger schools moving through. The fish which did bite were small walleyes and an occasional perch. To the south east, the group in this area reported having a few more perch and some white bass.
To the south of the main groups (south of the river mouth), there were reports of larger schools of white bass in the area on Saturday and Sunday. Some decent baskets were also reported. There seems to be some schooling of walleyes in this general area also.
There have been guys venturing out into the Fox River Mouth. Ice was reported at about 18 inches, and there is some dirty water in the area. I never advocate fishing this area, as it has too much water flow for consistent ice. No fish were reported here, despite the risk.
To the northeast of the Island at Wendt’s, better schools of perch were reported roaming in the flats.
On Lake Poygan, solid numbers of walleyes were reported this week. There are small windows of activity, which revolve around sunrise and sunset. This is not a hot bite, but it is better than most days on Lake Winnebago.
The focus of Winnebago System will be sturgeon spearing starting on Feb 8th. A full preview of the season is posted on the main page at myfishingpartner.com. Our expectation is for a short and very successful season. If you have never been to an opening weekend, it is very entertaining. Make your way up to Wendt’s in Van Dyne, especially between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday. My second choice would be Stockbridge on the north east corner of the lake. I will be working the media side on Saturday, and spearing on Sunday. We should have an opening day video on Saturday night.
I encourage your fishing reports at [email protected]. Have a great week on the ice, and remember the first open water of the year is about 45 days away!
