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 09:38:21 (CDT)