Minocqua, Arbor Vitae, Woodruff, Wisconsin, Fishing Reports and Conditions

FISHING REPORTS: (for even more information, check out the FORUM page)

5/5/08 Well, another opening game fish season began this past weekend. Ice off on all area lakes came just in time. Small lakes of 300 acres or less were ice free up to a week before Saturday with the largest of lakes out only on Thursday, some on Friday. Heavy rain Friday cleared ice from even the largest lakes. Very windy and cold temps only in the mid to high 30s were seen Saturday and kept many anglers home. Sunday was a bit better with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s, but again, very windy making boat control tough. Surface water temps area wide ranged from 41 to 47 degrees on most lakes. Fishing success was moderate to good depending on anglers' experience. As usual, area flowages led the way. Both the Willow and the Rainbow Flowages have about normal water levels and that's a great plus. Staff guide Kenny Breezer reported a decent bite on the Willow with nice keeper eyes both days. My choice was the Rainbow on Sunday as I sat out Saturday due to the inclement weather. Pat and I popped a fine limit of male eyes from 16 to 10 inches, with an additional few keeper northerns and a bass that we, of course, released. Surprisingly we did much better on Rapala X Raps than we did with our jig and minnow combos. Staff guide Dave Lang and his sons remained on his home water of Minocqua Lake both days and reported moderate success on eyes. A dear friend and client Steve Goetsch had his annual outing with his buddies on Lac View Desert in Phelps over the weekend and reported real good success there, too. Surprisingly, we all found the walleye spawn to be pretty much over. Both Kenny and I on the flowages caught all males, no females at all. On the Willow, Kenny said all males were dry, but on the Rainbow, half of the nice males I boated were still full of milt and actively looking for more females. On the other hand, the guys on both of the big lakes boated mostly all spawned out females in the 18 to 26 inch class. That was strange, in that you would expect just the opposite with the warmer water of the flowages. One thing was the same regardless of what water you fished. All fish caught were very shallow in water of only 2 to 6 feet close to deeper breaks. Also, the windy shore lines did much better than where the wind was not blowing. For some reason, northerns were not on a major bite, but those that were caught were full of perch when cleaned. The few who were out for crappie over the weekend did pretty well in shallow bays using plastics in old weeds. I guess the most surprising thing to me is the fact that the walleyes have just about completed their spawn already with the colder than normal water temps this year. Even though the big lakes still had ice as late as Friday morning, the shorelines were ice free for almost a week and feeder streams were ice free, too. This allowed eyes to move shallow and find the 42 degree water temps necessary to spawn in. For the next week or so you will continue to find your eyes in this very shallow water. Very little new green weed growth will be seen for a week or two, but look for old cabbage. Either rocks or this old cabbage will produce the best. On dark water, the bulk of your eyes will remain very shallow all day. On clear lakes, they will back off into 10 to 15 feet on clear sunny days. Continue to play the wind and fish the areas the wind is blowing into, as this wave action keeps the fish shallow. On flowages especially, cast Husky Jerks and X Raps as well as using traditional jigs and minnows. This opening week is a slow week for me in guiding and my son Brad from Appleton is joining me. We will be checking out a lot of different water and of course I'll share our success with you through this report. See ya next time. Good Fishin'
Tommy Zinda <tadpole@g2a.net>
- Monday, May 05, 2008 at 07:53:02 (CDT)

Well folks, here I am back in the Northwoods of Wisconsin a couple of weeks early this year. The record floods in Arkansas sure put a damper on our bite there. Predictions from the Army Corp of Engineers are for water in Greers Ferry not to recede to normal until possibly mid-summer. We traded beautiful weather in the 70s, green grass, leaves on trees, flower, etc, for sub-freezing and snow when we got back to the Northwoods. However, that gave me some time to get lots of chores I've put off for years done around the house before the big game fish Opening Day on May 3rd. Speaking of Opening Day, the colder than normal spring here has delayed ice off on our 3600 lakes in Vilas and Oneida counties. In the past couple of days, we have seen ice off on most lakes 300 acres in size or less. There is little hope to see the large lakes like Tomahawk or Trout to be ice free by opening day, though. The good news is we will have plenty of open water to fish this weekend. Walleyes, of course, will be just beginning their spawn, but northerns will be done spawning and very active. With the walleye spawn just beginning, action will be found in shallow water, mainly on rock shore lines or points. Active males will be the main bite for a week or two, but you will score a few spawning females, too. Actually, a week of early ice off or a week of delayed ice off like this year makes very little difference in the bite in my opinion. All opening weekends are about the same year after year. The type of water you pick for the opening week of fishing will be the key on how to score big. Dark water or flowage water will find eyes remaining shallow all day long close to spawning rock areas. If clear water is your choice, look for eyes to be very shallow at night and back off into 15 to 20 feet adjacent to these rock areas during the day. No question that 1/16 oz jigs and fat head minnow combos will produce the bulk of your catch. Leeches will be at a premium this year as ice still covers Minnesota lakes where the bulk of our leeches come from. Anyway minnows will still far out produce leeches until at least mid May, as leeches naturally will not swim freely from the mud until that time. The other method that will produce a lot of fish is casting shallow running crank baits like Rapala Husky Jerks or X Raps in shallow water. Again, your choice of water will be critical in successful use of this method. Dark water will produce night or day, but clear water will only produce at night. For best results on very early season eyes, pick the numbers lakes for action on smaller fish. It's true, big, deep, clear lakes will produce a few trophy females but don't expect a lot of action on those types of lakes until spawning is complete for a week or two. My choice for Opening Week will be area flowages or at least river type water in lakes that are fed by rivers. Of course, flowage landings will be very crowded opening weekend, but those of you who can spend weekdays angling will find plenty of room to do your thing. As usual, you will find very, very little new green weed growth yet. If you do find any green sprouts at all in your favorite water, there is no question you have a hot spot. Sometimes even old weed growth from last year, even if brown cabbage, will hold fish. In lakes without wood or rocks, old weed growth is the only structure forage fish can hide in from predator fish. If walleyes are tough for you opening weekend, target northerns or jumbo perch. Both are done with their spawn and will be hungry and feeding aggressively. Another species to target is crappie. They will be actively feeding in very shallow bays with warmer water than the remainder of the lake. Simple 1/32 oz jigs tipped with small twister tails under a bobber will work very well. These crappies will be in and out of these bays as they will follow perch fry and other minnows that are present in these shallow bays. One day you will enjoy a fast bite, the next you won't have a hit. So move around a lot until you contact a feeding school and you will limit out. After a very long winter for most of you, it's time to get excited and join us in the Northwoods to celebrate another fishing season. Come on, catch the good life with us in beautiful Northern Wisconsin. Good Fishin'
Tommy Zinda <tadpole@g2a.net>
- Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 09:40:07 (CDT)

4/29/08 Well folks, here I am back in the Northwoods of Wisconsin a couple of weeks early this year. The record floods in Arkansas sure put a damper on our bite there. Predictions from the Army Corp of Engineers are for water in Greers Ferry not to recede to normal until possibly mid-summer. We traded beautiful weather in the 70s, green grass, leaves on trees, flower, etc, for sub-freezing and snow when we got back to the Northwoods. However, that gave me some time to get lots of chores I've put off for years done around the house before the big game fish Opening Day on May 3rd. Speaking of Opening Day, the colder than normal spring here has delayed ice off on our 3600 lakes in Vilas and Oneida counties. In the past couple of days, we have seen ice off on most lakes 300 acres in size or less. There is little hope to see the large lakes like Tomahawk or Trout to be ice free by opening day, though. The good news is we will have plenty of open water to fish this weekend. Walleyes, of course, will be just beginning their spawn, but northerns will be done spawning and very active. With the walleye spawn just beginning, action will be found in shallow water, mainly on rock shore lines or points. Active males will be the main bite for a week or two, but you will score a few spawning females, too. Actually, a week of early ice off or a week of delayed ice off like this year makes very little difference in the bite in my opinion. All opening weekends are about the same year after year. The type of water you pick for the opening week of fishing will be the key on how to score big. Dark water or flowage water will find eyes remaining shallow all day long close to spawning rock areas. If clear water is your choice, look for eyes to be very shallow at night and back off into 15 to 20 feet adjacent to these rock areas during the day. No question that 1/16 oz jigs and fat head minnow combos will produce the bulk of your catch. Leeches will be at a premium this year as ice still covers Minnesota lakes where the bulk of our leeches come from. Anyway minnows will still far out produce leeches until at least mid May, as leeches naturally will not swim freely from the mud until that time. The other method that will produce a lot of fish is casting shallow running crank baits like Rapala Husky Jerks or X Raps in shallow water. Again, your choice of water will be critical in successful use of this method. Dark water will produce night or day, but clear water will only produce at night. For best results on very early season eyes, pick the numbers lakes for action on smaller fish. It's true, big, deep, clear lakes will produce a few trophy females but don't expect a lot of action on those types of lakes until spawning is complete for a week or two. My choice for Opening Week will be area flowages or at least river type water in lakes that are fed by rivers. Of course, flowage landings will be very crowded opening weekend, but those of you who can spend weekdays angling will find plenty of room to do your thing. As usual, you will find very, very little new green weed growth yet. If you do find any green sprouts at all in your favorite water, there is no question you have a hot spot. Sometimes even old weed growth from last year, even if brown cabbage, will hold fish. In lakes without wood or rocks, old weed growth is the only structure forage fish can hide in from predator fish. If walleyes are tough for you opening weekend, target northerns or jumbo perch. Both are done with their spawn and will be hungry and feeding aggressively. Another species to target is crappie. They will be actively feeding in very shallow bays with warmer water than the remainder of the lake. Simple 1/32 oz jigs tipped with small twister tails under a bobber will work very well. These crappies will be in and out of these bays as they will follow perch fry and other minnows that are present in these shallow bays. One day you will enjoy a fast bite, the next you won't have a hit. So move around a lot until you contact a feeding school and you will limit out. After a very long winter for most of you, it's time to get excited and join us in the Northwoods to celebrate another fishing season. Come on, catch the good life with us in beautiful Northern Wisconsin. Good Fishin'
Tommy Zinda <tadpole@g2a.net>
- Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 09:26:01 (CDT)

i have been remiss in my ice conditions postings.

right now the ice is still 20+ in the middle but finally pulling away from the shore. my friend on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage says the pull-a-way has gone from 3 to 12' in a couple of days. it will be close for the opener, especially on big lakes. wind and rain will tell the tale.
Jeff Bolander <jeff@upnorthpublishing.com>
- Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:57:28 (CDT)

Well folks, Last weekends Big Arb chill out was another success. Wish I could have been there. Fishing was a bit on the slow side, but still most had lots of fun. Even with the warm weather that slow bite continued overall. Did see some decent catches of by individuals throughout the week. Northerns and perch have been providing the most action on the shallow weedy lakes. The walleye bite has been better on the deeper clear lakes fishing deep grass and rock bars. The coming right around dark hasn't been fast or furious, but enough to put a meal on the ice. In those areas with deep grass the perch have been hitting just before the walleyes. In both cases a short bite window. Type of bait didn't matter once they started Some reports of decent crappie action once the fish were found. Lots of hole pounding to find them, but then action was steady. Major movements have been seen making day to day targeting them a little work. That last storm that passed here again forgot to leave any amount of snow for us. It's horrible that southern WI has seen more snow then us. although this should have been a a blessing for making ice with the cold weather. That seems to be avoiding us as well. Even with the super cold days we have seen ice depths are just not where they should be. I seen this first hand again on a lake I haven't been on in almost 3 weeks. Last time out 10" then all that cold to drive out to find maybe 14". I tell ya that is a little scary to see when you have a 3/4 ton diesel suburban parked close by. I trusted the dozen or so other trucks out there. Should have just taken the sleds!!! Decent weather again this weekend should have the anglers out in full force. Hopefully will have some good reports for you all. Tight lines, Steve steve@whiteswoodsandwaters.com
Jeff Bolander <jeff@upnorthpublishing.com>
- Friday, February 01, 2008 at 09:38:39 (CST)