Now that we are well into our ice fishing season which is typically much later than most areas in the ice belt but we are in full swing and have been seeing some great fishing on the off shore reefs for Whitefish and have been chasing some walleyes in some shallower water areas. As far as the whitefish fishing has been going we have been finding great success fishing in water depths from 45 to 65 feet of water using baits such as Rapala jigging raps along with using Rapala jigging shad raps in sizes #2and also #3 along with some days having great action on the #4 Rapala ultra light Rippin Rap.
Here on the Bay of Green Bay we are usually dealing with some pretty strong currents when we are fishing in then deeper water so when we have strong currents present we need to switch up to the heavier baits to cut the current better and have better feel with our baits. By using heavier baits it is much easier for us to feel those subtle bites from the whitefish in the deeper water but more importantly the jigging technique has to be constant and just right to maximize on you catch.
With the lack of snow this season and along with pretty rough ice conditions the travel has been pretty slow in areas with better traveling being a mile or so off shore. The good news this season compared to last season ATV travel with tires is good do to us not having much snow on the ice.
On the walleye end of things we have been so busy on the whitefish trips we have not had a lot of time chasing the walleyes which I love to do but we have been seeing walleyes present of course we do not get a lot of bites with the walleyes but they are there and we have opportunities at them daily when we can put our time on them. Our typical set up for baits with the walleyes consists of using two different presentations. One presentation is alaways a #5 Rapala jigging Rap with a minnow head and the other proven bait fo us is a 1/4 oz Hammer Head jig from VMC with an emerald shiner presented about 12 to 18 inches off the bottom. There is lots of time to take advantage of the ice fishing season here in Door County and the walleye fishing will only get better as we move into late ice season.
Paul Delaney
WWW.lateeyessportfishing.com