It’s been a while since I’ve been down there but the WI side where all those streams and rivers flow in used to produce a lot of big pike, and Id imagine they still do. Sorry I can’t be more specific.

In a word, NO!

I think that trying to manage a species of animals like the DNR trys to do is a fools errand and the lakes will go through their naturally occuring swings if they are allowed to. When th do nothing right steps in to “fix” a problem things get worse.

They preach we need to protect lakes from invasive species yet they go and “introduce” muskie and stock with fish with a different genetic makeup than native fish which hurts or eliminates natural reproduction then we become dependant on stocked fish (job security?)

Though I suppose if the government can do such a great job with global warming/climate change/or whatever it is I maybe shouldn’t be so discourged. :/

I’ve been carrying a small barometer I bought at cabelas a few years ago to see if I could see any correlation. I haven’t noticed a big difference in open water – time of day seems to be a bigger deal. When Ice fishing I’ve grown to prefer lower pressures, but I think this may be light relatd as low pressure almost always means clouds – which will extend morning bits and make the night bite start sooner.

The report posted on the Outdoor News website Thursday said the area on Knife Lake by the Indian Mounds Park on the southern part of lake was producing sunfish and crappie. I am likely headed there tomorrow morning, so hopefully that’s accurate.

Traveled up to the Moose Lake area last night, fished a smaller lake (<1,000 acres) and had 4-5″ of ice anywhere I cared to go. The front that came through I don’t think helped much as only a few smaller pike and some perch came above th ice.

Thanks for the information, looks like I’ll be headed further north, and quite likely a smaller body of water as we won’t be gaining any ice today or tomorrow. I’ll repost here Thursday morning with how much ice I find wherever I end up going to help with weekend plans.

Oxygen is what I’d be looking for in smaller shallow lakes like these, that is where the active fish will be. This means locating springs or moving water like the currents generated by the chain of lakes or the creek mouth in the first lake you posted. But springs and moving water also mean thinner ice in those spots – so step lightly.

It’s nice to see another pike fisherman who doesn’t rely on a spear! PowerPro has been my briad of choice for the pasr decade and a half and they make an ice-braid so I’d suggest that with a wire leader. If you’re looking for stealth mode the “tieable” wire leaders are pretty nice and aren’t as clunky because they don’t have the big snap on the end.

I’ve got an older Lowrance H2O waith a lakemaster chip, this is an older device and still works great – if you’re looking for a deal I’m sure you could find a used one out there in good condition. I’ve been thinking about upgrading to a newer unit but haven’t found the need.

Vados is the way to go, they have the most consistently high quality live bait (and variety) than any shop I’ve come across.