Musky Fishing In No. Wisconsin 86

Looks like we’re done for this year up in my neck of the woods. Literally overnight we had most of the lakes either freeze over completely or enough ice to prohibit access to any remaining open water. I’m pretty sure there are a couple lakes I could still get on but with temps in the single digits gear ices up so badly that trying to fish is an excercies in futility. I may try to get down to Green Bay to fish a day or two before the season closes but not sure I can swing that just yet. I’m a pretty avid ice fisherman so I’ll be jumping on to that forum but still keeping an eye out here. Musky fishing is my passion so I can’t totally ignore it! Here’s a shot of one of our lakes that was pretty wide open on Thursday. No wind and temps of about 5 degrees overnight put the nail in the coffin.

Hey Pete you ever icefish for them ?
We have a lake by us that has only musky, golden shiners and sunfish in it and the muskies are all 40″ to 50″, the only way to fish it is to carry a boat in or Icefish nothing like a 40″ 20# fish on a tip-up
with the season closing now on Dec 1st this may be the only year we get a chance at them,

Pete, the Fox river and Bay Beach has been smoking hot for Musky lately… lots of 40-48″ fish and some Bigguns too. They are pulling cranks on boards.

mrwalleye, I hope you are using quickstrike rigs.

Thanks for the info Tom. The entire rest of the staff at Rollie & Helen’s is hunting this week so I’m kind of the lone ranger minding the shop. Doubt I’ll make it down so get a big one for me!
Mr. Walleye, I’ve never really targeted musky through the ice. Just not my cup of tea I guess and I’m usually fishing them in open water up till the end of the season (November 30). However, I have caught a number of muskies hitting my walleye bait during the ice season. Smaller fish can be had and if you play them right it’s not too hard to get one up to the hole. They’re usually not too acrobatic once the water temps get down. I’ve also caught (and lost) a few bigger fish and lost at least one upper 40’s fish last year. They seem to just peal line off as they slowly just put pressure on and eventualy break or cut the light line I’ve got on for the walters.

Always
You had to watch you tip-ups at all times and when a flag went up you ran as fast as you can or they would spool you.
It was hard to get some of the people that went out to listen when we hold them that they had to run to the tip-ups. but they learned fast, nothing like seeing the look on their face when the tip-up slams onto the side of the hole