Minocqua Area Blogs

Hi folks      WOW – as bad as the weather has been at the beginning of the season, is as nice as it has been this past week.  Temperatures have soared to the 80 degree mark, and not a breath of wind to be had.  In 48 hours I went from wearing 7 layers of clothing to shorts and a T-shirt and getting burnt to that crackly crunch.  As dramatic of an effect as the weather has had on me, it has also had this effect on the fishing.  WALLEYES slowed down with this nice weather and with all the sunny, flat weather this is something I expected.  There is still a pretty good bite going on though, and when we get that perfect walleye-chop day, things are going to go crazy.  I’m still finding fish in that 7-8 ft. depth on virtually all waters from semi-clear to dark and it doesn’t matter if you’re in timber or weeds.  Jig-and-minnow combinations are still working the best.  I’m using a combination of both fatheads, dace and medium redtails.   You need to take a variety as the best bite tends to be on one of these 3 minnows every day – you just don’t know which one is going to be the best until you start.  Now I’ve been floating a leech on a slip bobber every day and we can’t buy a walleye on this setup.  During this upcoming weekend, if you’re walleye fishing, start taking a couple of crawlers with you – as water temps have soared from 48 degrees a week ago to 72 degrees when I ended the day Wednesday.  This is a huge change and fish should start looking at meat (crawlers) any time.

 Warm weather and water temps have triggered an explosion of fishing activity in other species.  BASS are beginning to pile up in search of their nests.  We’ve been catching quite a few, both small and largemouth, while looking in shallow waters for a walleye bite.  CRAPPIES have also moved in rapidly to shallow water to begin their spawn on many lakes in the area.  We’ve been catching quite a few really nice crappies in the 10-12” mark using a hook-sinker-bobber setup tipped with a small minnow.  NORTHERNS have also put on a rampage. We’re finding them EVERYWHERE – both in the shallows and a little deeper water.  We are also finding some pretty nice-sized walleyes this year.  The biggest so far was caught by my clients Wednesday – this was a very chunky 36-incher that was plaguing one of my favorite walleye spots. 

 It’s supposed to get even warmer throughout the weekend with temps approaching 90 predicted.  If you’re going out, pack your sunscreen and your bait – you should be in for one heck of a good weekend of fishing.  Enjoy yourself on the water as I’m taking a couple of days and going in search of a turkey !  When I come back, the walleyes will be in a trouble again.

 Good luck fishing.  Jeff Winters    www.jeffsguideservice.com

Hi folks       Well we had a good week of fishing but the weather was awful – just when we thought it couldn’t get worse – it was sure a physical beating those first two weeks.  The upside was a great walleye bite.  We boated good numbers of decent-sized fish every day.  Seven to eight foot weeds have still been key to finding fish.  The same applies to wood.  We’re finding fish in the wood in that 7-8’ mark, and the heavier the snags, the larger the concentration of fish you’ll find.   Jig-and-minnow combinations are still working well, although fish are beginning to switch to larger bait.  We’ve been using a lot more redtails and black chubs as of late.  Leeches will still provide anglers with good action and we’ve caught a couple of fish while playing around with crawlers, although that bite is not quite ready yet. 

 CRAPPIES have pretty much remained in a holding pattern.  I haven’t had too many reports of fish moving into their beds, and my personal experiences with catching crappies have been in those 7 to 8’ weeds that are located adjacent to their spawning areas.  Some warm weather will probably trigger a pretty good crappie bite. 

NORTHERN PIKE have also put on a pretty good bite.  We are finding those in weeds ranging from 5 to 8 ft.  Jig-and-minnow combinations are working pretty good as these fish are not quite ready to chase any fast moving lure. 

 We finally had a nice warm day on Saturday and without wind.  The downside was the fish went into shock.  It was the toughest day of fishing so far this year.  We had a hard time mustering walleyes – we only caught a few, but we did catch a bunch of northern. So the day, while being extremely enjoyable, wasn’t overly productive.  Now this weather pattern looks like it will continue for a few days more at least.  Water temperatures are going to warm back up rapidly – they gained a lot of ground today.  Look for fish to resume their very strong weed bite and if temps start busting the 60’s, be sure to try a crawler or two along the way – they will change to meat fast.  Bug hatches are beginning already, but not mayflies.

 I  fished with John Gillespie of Wisc Waters and Woods and the show will be airing next weekend, May 22 & 23.  Tune in to catch some Northwoods fishing activity.

 Good luck fishing.  Jeff Winters  www.jeffsguideservice.com

Hi folks      We’ve wound down the first full week of fishing for 2010.  Overall, fishing was very good the entire week.  We never encountered any problems with catching fish, but we did encounter problems with the weather.  The entire week stayed fairly windy and temperatures decreased.  Water temperatures remain exactly the same.  Fish continue to be related to weeds and wood.  Jig-and-minnow combinations have been working well.  We also started to get some walleye activity on leeches.  When using the leeches the best method was slip-bobbering.  Northern pike started to put on a pretty good bite for us also this week, and we were finding some nice sized fish.  We also were finding some big crappies staging in 6 to 8 ft weeds, just outside their spawning areas. 

 When looking for walleyes and northerns in the upcoming week, concentrate on water depths ranging from 7 to 10 feet.  This seems to be the magic number when it comes to finding fish.  From the extended forecast I’m seeing, temperatures are going to remain on the cool side during the day, and frosty at night.  This should keep our conditions virtually the same throughout the week.  I’ve always said, no matter what type of spring you get, lakes tend to even out at some point in time.  At the rate our weather patterns are going, life on the lake should be pretty normal by the end of the month.  If you’re coming up this weekend, packs LOTS of WARM clothes.  Even when it’s nice out, it’s cold on the water and they’re talking 1 to 5 inches of snow possible on Friday night, which will make for some cold fishing over the weekend.

 Good luck fishing.  Jeff Winters   www.jeffsguideservice.com