Musky Shop Northwoods Fishing Report: Late February 2025
We hope all of you are having a great winter so far. As we near the end of February, some of you are already open-water fishing in places throughout the country. We wish that was the case here in the Minocqua, Wisconsin, area. Ice fishing continues to be good. Most of the lakes in Oneida and Vilas counties have approximately 20-24 inches of ice cover. There is some snow cover on top of the ice, but ice travel is really pretty good.
In targeting panfish, perch, and crappie, good numbers are being caught in weed or wood cover in the 6-10-foot range. Soft plastics such as the 13 Fishing have been working well. One can tip these soft plastics with a Wax Worm, Red or White Spike or even a Crappie minnow. Jigging and tip-downs are good ways to catch a bunch of fish.
The Walleye bite has been very good. They, too, are in cover such as weed, rock, wood, or a combination of all of those. Depending on the type of lake you are fishing, in the small dark water lakes, walleye are found mostly in the 5-15-foot range. On the deep clear lakes, walleye are a bit deeper in the 8-20 foot range. There again, look for some type of cover that will hold them. Weeds and weed lines are very good areas to contact Walleyes. Tip-ups and jigging are great ways to fish for them while a variety of live bait works. Walleye Suckers, Medium and Large Golden Shiners are all very good.
For Northern Pike they too have been being caught in the weeds. Kind of the same principle applies; on the small dark water lakes, Pike are in the 6-12-foot range, while again, on the deeper clear water lakes, Northerns are in the 8-18-foot range. Tip-ups with a larger minnow seem to be the best bet right now. Northern Pike Minnows, Large Golden Shiners and Walleye Suckers are all a good choice for live bait.
We have a great selection of fresh live bait that is always in cold, running well water. Cold water straight from the well keeps our live bait fresh and lively. If you venture up to the Northwoods, please stop by or contact us. We would love to be of service to you. We hope you have great fishing.
A couple of items to mark on your calendar are our Annual in-Store Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday, March 15th. Our Annual Summer Bash Saturday, July 19th. We would love to have you all join us for those fun days, where you can learn and take advantage of some big discounts.
Keep an eye on all of our media outlets for future sales promotions. On Tuesday, March 4th, the Livingston Lures Magnus will be available for the very first time. In our opinion, the Magnus is going to be a great musky bait. Here is a link to sign up for an email notification. By entering your email, you will be notified immediately when they go on sale for the very first time.
Well, that's it for this time around. Please let us know if we can be of service to you; it would be our pleasure.
Good Fishing, and God Bless, Jim Stewart