Another great week of winter weather ascended onto east Central Wisconsin Ice depths have remained constant with 14-18” of ice in many locations. The Ice depths are significantly less near the cracks, and can be extremely dangerous. Many of the smaller cracks will be difficult to see with the fresh blanket of snow which fell on Tuesday. The water clarity has declined over the week. The local bait shops indicate that there are a lot of people on the ice, with very few producing decent catch rates. The overall consensus is that the lake is slow for all types of fish currently.
The Sturgeon spearing season is just hours away. The DNR expects to exceed the number of spear chuckers from last season when nearly 6,000 shanties were counted on opening day on the main lake. Prospects look outstanding for an excellent harvest, as there is a big population of sturgeon currently, including trophy class fish. Please be sure to post your sturgeon pictures on the website. Stay in touch with the daily counts on the main page with the 2010 sturgeon counter.
Lake Poygan has quietly heated up over the last few days. Walleyes are starting to bite in 4-5 feet of water off of Old Indian Point. A gold Swedish pimple tipped with meat has been the golden ticket. In addition, white bass continue to produce good numbers in the deeper water. The west end of Lake Poygan still has a mediocre pan fish bite going with perch, blue gills, and crappie in the area.
Lake Winnebago has been slow for the vast majority of fishermen. There is a lot of traffic on the lake, with a chunk of the activity coming from sportsmen looking for sturgeon activity. There has been a very good perch bite at about 3 miles out of Wendt’s. As the weekend concluded, this bite has dissipated, as the school seems to have moved out.
Brothertown remains solid for white bass. The 2.5 to 3 mile area has been popular for the ice fishermen. There has been some solid action at times, with perch in the mix also. Metallic baits continue to be the best option this year.
Merritt Street has slowed considerably from week’s past. There are a few small walleyes and perch caught daily, but the overall picture has the area as slow. White Bass can be found daily on silver Swedish pimples and a minnow head.
These areas have been reported to be slow: Third Reef, Deadwood Point, Subway Road, Long Point, Miller’s Bay, Asylum Bay, Pipe and Stockbridge.
Be smart and safe on the Ice. Sturgeon spearers, please be diligent to mark your abandoned holes, so the rest of us don’t find them by accident. This will be the busiest weekends of the winter season on the ice. Please have fun and be respectful of other sportsmen around you. When you get home, send your stories to [email protected]. Don’t forget to place you best guess on the largest sturgeon speared in 2010 on the forums for a chance of a prize package from myfishngpartner.com.
