Northwoods Fishing Report: Early April (Spring)
Hello and welcome to spring.
Winter seems to want to stick around longer than we all want but since that is the case one might as well still take advantage of some late season ice fishing. Ice conditions in the Northwoods are in the 30" range. Travel on the ice right now is pretty good as most of the snow on top of the ice is frozen. It's always a good thing to pack accordingly and travel with a buddy in case one would find a soft spot in the snow and get stuck but for the most part travel is good.
As I'm sure most of you know the game fish season in northern WI is closed. The panfish bite has remained quite good. One will want to concentrate on the 8'-12' weeds and weed edges for Crappies and Bluegills. Take a look at any rock bars and wood if the lake you are fishing has that type of structure. The rock bar on Little Arbor Vitae has been getting quite a bit of fishing action from local anglers. The Willow Flowage near Minocqua has a very good population of big Crappies, and big Perch. The Willow is a great fishery. The water clarity is somewhat dark. Crappies and Perch will be found on nearby timber and rock bars in the 4'-15' range. Being a flowage one may need to search a bit to find them but when you do fishing can be outstanding on the Willow. The Rainbow Flowage is worth consideration as well.
The bait you will want to consider would be artificial Beaver Tails, Chena Bait, Swirl Drop ice jigs, Jacks Jigs ice jigs, Crappie minnows, Rosies, Fatheads, Red, and White Spikes, and waxies. A good combination of the bait assortment will help you be successful when you head out to your favorite lake or flowage.
We have a good selection of ice jigs and fresh live bait. Our live bait is always in very cold aerated well water to keep all of our minnows fresh and lively. We get in new live bait each week.
Take plenty of jig poles and tip downs when you hit the ice And plenty of food. It's always fun to throw some brats on the camping stove or grill. That's it for this time around, have fun when you get out and always pay attention to local weather and be careful.
Please stop by the Musky Shop as it would be our pleasure to serve you.
Kind Regards and Good Fishing, Jim