Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, St Germain, Boulder Junction, and Manitowish Waters Wisconsin open water and Ice Fishing Report

Thursday 4/18/24

Getting out a fair amount now with the tolerable temps.  Winds have been challenging but for the most part they haven't hindered us too much.  Crappie, as always this time of year, are the forage of choice.  And they have been very agreeable to diving into our live well.  Not a whole lot of rhyme or reason for where they are but for the most part it's the warmer water and weed related.  Yesterday we found them all over the place in a big weed flat.  They were anywhere from 2 to 7 foot deep.  Not really schooled up yet as we were getting one here and one there.  But there were a lot of 'theres' so we are gonna have our first big fish fry of the year tonight.  Yeah!

Minnows on bare hooks with sinker under a certain colored bobber worked the best.  I really didn't start catching them until I moved my sinker right up against the jig.  But that was me.  The others had their sinker about a foot up from the hook.  I would have liked to try some other presentations but we were in my buddy's boat so I didn't have my arsenal with me.

We kept most of our tungsten ice fishing jigs out this year as more and more folks are seeing the advantage of using them in open water.  Fast dropping, smaller profiles and easier for the fish to suck it make them an ideal bait.  I like to use the ones with hair or add hair to the jig.  That small flutter the hair makes is irresistible to the fish.  Naked or tipped with your favorite meat will do the trick.  I've also had some guys tell me you can see them easier on your FFS (forward facing sonar like Livescope, MegaLive, etc).

I got my boat ready to go.  Do you? Get 'em ready. I always take a maiden voyage out by myself to see what I forgot.  There always seems to be something.  And I'd rather have it happen to me than to me and a client or two.

I've started taking a few reservations for guiding this summer.  That always warms my bones.  Give a call and we'll get out and have some fun.  All the info is on the website at https://deweycatchemandhow.com/pages/northwoods-fishing-guide-service

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The shop is pretty much set up for open water tactics now.  A few new items and a whole bunch of your favorite tried and true items are hanging on the hooks waiting for you to pick up.

Right now for live bait we have Jumbo Panfish worms, Crawlers, Wax worms, White, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Pink & Multi-colored Spikes, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads, Mousees AND LEECHES!  

Our hours are:
Monday thru Thursday - 6am to 6pm
Friday - 6am to 6pm
Saturday & Sunday - 6am to 5pm

We have to continue to squelch a few rumors.  The shop is still for sale.  Business is great but Linda and I are ready to ease into retirement.  WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!  If you have an interest in owning and operating the largest non-franchised bait shop in Wisconsin, call Jim Cheshire, Realtor, at 715-892-4223.