Mincoqua Area Report – 2025

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 01-06-25:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to 2025!!!

A new year and positive outlook for ice anglers. Following the warm up and rain that took the snow off the ice on the lakes, bitter cold has moved in to build our ice base unimpeded. A couple light dustings of snow have all but blown off with the recent winds. Creepers are a MUST!! Our local emergency room reportedly had 90 cases of people falling and being hurt in one day! Be very CAUTIOUS!!

Fishing took a bit of a dip from the previous weekend, but not surprisingly. Last weekend was a new moon period PLUS very warm (averages above 35 degrees). Cold (sub-zero) plus wind (really sub-zero) has thinned out the ice crowd for the time being.

Crappie: Very Good-Good – Best over basins of 18-23’. Roaming schools taking waxies on Rattlin Kastmasters, Tikka Flash. Minnows on tip-downs (tough in single digit weather). Lots of catches reporting 9-11” eaters with slabs to 14 ½”. Some Crappies in weeds mixed with Gills, but these fish seemed to be reluctant to bite. Best on tiny jigs (#12-#10) tipped with pink/bubble gum plastics.

Bluegill: Very Good-Good – Deeper weeds of 8-12’. Waxies or plastics (red, purple, browns best) on #3 & #4 tungsten jigs. Subtle colors best when they need “convincing”. Some Gills being found suspended out away from weeds in 14-20’ taking wigglers and spikes fished 3-5’ off bottom.

Walleye: Good-Fair – Action slowed and reports of light biters picking up tip-up bait, moving a bit then dropping, sign that smaller bait such as small shiners, smaller sucker or large fatheads on #12 trebles would be better set-up. Despite that, still some very nice Walleyes being caught, many in the slot to be released (20-26”). Cold snap may have had a lot to do with recent reluctance.

Northern Pike: Good-Fair – A little slower and deeper. Still nice Pike in the low to mid 30” range. Suckers and shiners as per usual along deep weed edges of 10-14’.

Yellow Perch: Good-Fair – Getting a few more reports of Perch working mud flats adjacent to weeds taking wigglers on Hali jigs and #2 Swedish Pimples. Also, some action in 5-8’ weeds on medium fatheads or a couple waxies on Northland Forage Minnows.

Largemouth Bass: Fair – Action slowed as temps dropped. Still a few anglers catching Bass on jigs tipped with waxies meant for Gills or Perch in weedy flats.

Whitefish: Not a lot of reports. But the few anglers catching Whitefish on #5-#6 Swedish Pimples tipped with waxies or a minnow head.

With ice thickness reports of 10-13” and building (the lakes are “BOOMING”), this coming weekend should provide even better access. Snowmobiles, ATV’s and UTV’s are fine, should have safe truck travel once lakes reach 14-15” of ice. Little snow in the forecast and mild temps in the mid 20’s for the weekend.

Ice Fishing Tournaments
January 11th – 17th Annual NCO Club & AMVETS Post 724 – Lake Nokomis
January 11th – 31st year – Rainbow Ice Jamboree – Rainbow Flowage
January 18th – Kurt’s Minocqua Madness – WIFA Highschool – Minocqua Chain
January 18th – 10th Annual Iceholes of the North – Sponsored by Team Retreat Musky Club – Various lakes
March 1st – KISS – WIFA Highschool – Minocqua Chain

Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
http://www.kurtsislandsports.com
Like us on FaceBook
Minocqua, WI 54548

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 01-13-25:

Another good week of ice fishing conditions coming to a halt this Monday/Tuesday as cold (subzero) and wind will keep most anglers off the ice for a couple days. Three to four inches of snow will give the ice a little traction, hopefully not insulating enough to keep from building more ice.

Crappie: Good – Most reports from anglers finding Crappies roaming basins of 15-24’. Small jigs with rattles or blades best for drawing in fish (Kastmasters, Tikka Flash). Tip-downs with rosies also picking up fish. Some weed related Crappies coming on bright jigs tipped with plastics (pink, white, silver and blue best).

Yellow Perch: Good – Mud flats of 15-28’. Fast dropping spoons (Bull spoons, Halis, Flash Champs, Pinheads) tipped with wigglers, red spikes or Berkley Power Nymphs working. Nice eaters in the 9-11” range for the most part. Lots of smaller fish to sort through.

Walleye: Good – Early morning and the last of light. Medium shiners along weed edges of 8-14’, suckers over sandgrass flats and gravel humps in 14-22’. Jigging Raps and Rattlin Raps still producing some nice fish, but action towards the artificial baits seems to have slowed as ice thickens. Still good to use to locate fish, even if reluctant, then go back to live bait on a dead stick or tip-up.

Northern Pike: Good – Typical tip-up bite along deep weed edges or in the heavy cabbage. Use big baits (shiners, suckers) to garner attention. Rigs with blades also help to add “flash” as the big baits struggle on these rigs.

Bluegill: Good – Weed Gills in 7-10’ using #3 tungsten jigs in dark colors tipped with red, purple, motor oil plastics or a colored spike. Suspended basin Gills taking larger #4:#5 tungsten jigs in glow patterns tipped with spikes or waxies.

Largemouth Bass: Fair-Good – Will slow with cold but should pick up by week’s end. Some notable Largemouth caught over weekend in the 16-18” range. Tops, a 22” behemoth on a jig and waxie meant for Gills.

Whitefish: Fair – Anglers report fish skittish, not liking too bright or too active a lure. 40-50’ depths.

The slight pause with the cold and wind (chills to -30) should give us a chance to prepare for some even better ice for travel. Most lakes reporting 12-14”+, with more to come. Even with the arrival of the 4” of new snow, travel and access should be excellent. Snowmobile use will be better and snow isn’t deep enough to hinder ATV, UTV or even foot traffic.

Ice Fishing Tournaments
January 18th – Kurt’s Minocqua Madness – WIFA High School – Minocqua Chain
January 18th – 10th Annual Iceholes of the North – Sponsored by Team Retreat Musky Club – Various lakes
January 18th – Battle on St. Germain Lakes
February 8th – Willow Haven Ice Fishing Derby – Hazlehurst
February 15th – 24th Annual Plum Lake – Plum Lake
March 1st – KISS – WIFA Highschool – Minocqua Chain

Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
http://www.kurtsislandsports.com
Like us on FaceBook
Minocqua, WI 54548

Mark

From Kurt’s Island Bait for the date 01-23-25:

All right ladies and gentlemen ice anglers… Start your engines!
I realize my reports are on the conservative end in regards to driving trucks on the ice. Plenty of anglers have already been driving trucks I know, but I couldn’t in good conscience give an all-around okay. Following the past couple of days though low temperatures of 22 and 27 below zero on the 20th and 21st of January, the 16-20” reports from Saturday will surely be in the 20-24” range by this Thursday. With 2+” of snow on the ice, access by trucks and even all-wheel drive cars will be fine.

Crappie: Good – Decent bite, even for the few crazies such as my grandson who went out in 17° below temperatures on Monday because Lakeland school was closed. Nice crappies with many in the 10-13” range including a 15” slab caught and quickly returned by musical talent Bernie Thompson. Suspended fish in the 16-24” depth from reports being caught 3-6’ off the bottom using Kastmasters and Tikka Flash, both spoons that were tipped with wax worms. Still some fish hanging out in the weeds were being caught but very tight to the bottom on forage fry jigs tipped with waxies or spikes.

Yellow Perch: Good – Best in 16-20’ mud flats. Schools are cruising. With the cold, the best is to wait your turn as they come through. Northland Forage jigs with a single hook tipped with the minnows taking the best perch. Pimples and Halis tipped with red spikes are good choices; just have to deal with more of the smaller Perch.

Bluegill: Good – Nice Gills of 7.5″-8.5″ with a few over 9″ around cabbage flats of 8-12’. Mostly working into the weeds to pull fish up and out. Some very nice suspended Gills are being found along with the Crappies and Perch.

Walleye: Good-Fair – Still some decent action for mid-January. Lack of snow on the ice may be contributing. Live bait continues to be the best choice as all species, especially Walleyes that seemed to be a bit finicky this past week. Top bragging rights go to Sawyer of Winneconne, Wisconsin with a beautiful, predusk 28 ¾” monster. Congratulations Sawyer.

Northern Pike: Good-Fair – Surprisingly, not a lot of larger fish from the reports that we gathered here this week. Some decent action on eaters of 22-27″ on big shiners and suckers. Most of them have been related to weeds of 8-14’.

Largemouth Bass: Fair – As in “Fairweather ice fish”! Typically, when temps get below 20°, we don’t see as much activity from Largemouth. Still, a few of them up to 17″ were reported over the weekend.

Whitefish: Fair – Not much on the Whitefish front. Should get better as travel conditions improve.

Despite all of this great ice for access and travel, still be cautious of ice heaves. The Rainbow Flowage, Willow Flowage, Fence Lake and North Twin (which has a 3-ft heave) are bodies of water where you need to watch carefully. Moving forward it looks like a great ice season. 2’+ of ice and lots of access. People with permanent shacks are starting to pull out the extensions already and creepers are still a good idea with such little snow on the ice. Not a lot of anglers out Sunday through Tuesday with dangerously cold temperatures but that should change coming Wednesday.

Big shout out to the three schools and four teams that competed in the Minocqua Madness on Saturday. Teams from Winneconne, Slinger and Wausaukee hit the ice and stuck it out catching lots of fish in six of the seven categories (there were no Smallmouth for the day). Lots of fish, great competition and a great bunch of young anglers. The WIFA organization has done a great job of getting these young anglers out on the ice and introducing them to the sport of ice fishing. Whenever you can, support the WIFA organization to help support our wonderful sport.

Ice Fishing Tournaments
February 8th – Willow Haven Ice Fishing Derby – Hazlehurst
February 15th – 24th Annual Plum Lake – Plum Lake
March 1st – KISS – WIFA Highschool – Minocqua Chain

Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
http://www.kurtsislandsports.com
Like us on FaceBook
Minocqua, WI 54548

Mark