Rhinelander Area Fishing Reports

The weekend proved to be seasonable temps and cold nights dropped water temps drastically. The sucker bite has begun to ramp up with fish moving into a fall pattern. Sucker supplies have been great with a average size of bait being 12-16". With cooler temps many of the lakes are seeing less boat traffic and less fishing pressure also.

Musky: Work off the remaining green weed edges at least a cast length with your artificial baits. I run one sucker in the upper quarter of the water column to trigger any fish that have followed baits in and convert them into striking. When having two anglers in the boat  one sucker is suspended via a float and placed about 30' behind the boat just above the bottom. Covering waterat slow speeds is critical with .07 a max speed to keep your live bait at correct depths.

This week we are going to be 10 degrees above average which will be great for fair weather fishing but may slow the bite to early late evening feeding windows. If you are marking biat stick with it and larger fish will be present during majors and minors. The best part of running suckers is you usaully don't know what size fish you'll end up with untill it's closer to the net. The picture is from a sucker bite that we had and I figured it was a decent fish but till it got close to the bag did I notice that it was a hybrid. Good luck and tight lines!!!

Saturday proved to be a great day to be out on the water during the early morning hours and just at moon over head. My Client who was over for the Hodag Country Fest had a amazing morning boating his first ever musky and also his second fish a couple hours later. I ventured out with a friend for some night fishing and to fight off the bugs while in between casts.

Musky:

Getting out prior to and after the buzz on the lakes from recreational boaters is key this time of the year. Heading out to fish from the last couple of hours into the late evening also pays off if you have decent bug repellent on hand. The surface bite is still in full swing and rubber is starting to pic up with panfish starting to suspend out deep. Lake X Fat B on shallow weed edges accounted for two of the fish and a regular sized Bulldawg put the other fish in the bag. The night bite is another great time to get out and be productive for musky. I get out prior to sunset and check my spots that have produced well during the day and try for a chance of catching one while it,s light yet. After dark I fish those same areas and make sure that everything is in place for netting and release tools when the fish takes a bite into the bait. When fishing with a partner pay close attention to casts and keep in your zone of the boat to prevent crossing lines while casting.

Future forecasts are predicting a slight  cooling trend from friday to sunday and precipitation for both days this weekend. Chances are it will change but fishing in the rain can be very enjoyable as long as there is no lightning. Good luck and tight lines

Thanks for the great report Dan. Over here in Taylor and Price counties Fish have been in shallow weeds. Like pike shallow. I plan to start focusing more on casting into weed edges in the 6 to 10 foot range now. Water temps should be getting into the low seventies here.

Just going into middle of the first full moon of musky fishing and larger fish are on the hunt. Water temps are on the rise with recent warm weather and weed growth was not effected with a cooler spring. Key periods of majors and minors are the best times to be on your best locations where fish have been seen through the day and when feeding windows open.

Muksie: Weed edges and just outside of them have been geat areas to start when getting out during the mid day. Glide baits and medium sized bucktials are a what I've been relying on and with the water temps climbing surface baits are now on the menu.  Lake X Dr. Evil has now boated two fish over 40" for me this year already. Paying attention to moonrise and moon underfoot has also been key since the beginning of season this year.

With unseasonally warm weather predicted this weekend I'm sure that landings will be packed during the day. Getting out prior to the rush and when pleasure boaters are heading in for supper will ease congestion when heading out to you favorite lakes. Fishing will remain strong following the next couple of days after the full moon. Good luck and tight lines!!!   

Fish were on the prowl with the recent full moon on Friday and the bite was exceptional just before moonrise and sunset. I went out scouting on two different bodies of water and had little sucess on the first one I ventured out on. Some bodies of water are in the current mid winter slump that usaully happens this time of year. Expect drastic changes in fish activity this upcoming weekend with temps forecasted in the mid to upper forties for highs. many people are driving full size vehicles out as of late and this weekend will put the hurt on many of the landings exposed to the sun.

Gills: Fish were most active the last hour of daylight just before the sun hit the tops of the trees. Larger jigs yielded the largest of fish with crappies being in the schools also. Jigs tipped with grubs worked best and they paid little attention to Gulp. If they were on the screen you could'nt get down fast enough after taking a fish off the hook. Smaller jigs worked better on Sunday due to the heavy wind gusts which slowed fishing down considerably.

Pike: Females were roaming weed edges in search of smaller prey. Many times I placed my camera down to witness 3-4" perch at every hole I jigged at. Medium shiners were the best for theses toothy critters.

With the drastic warm up this weekend and warm temps through next week please use caution heading out. Normally we are sitting around 24+" of ice this time of the year and a foot of snow for insulation. This year that is not the case with only 18" being the most I've been on and next to nothing for snow cover. Good luck and tight lines!!!

Continued 2/14/17

Colder weather put a great hard surface on the lakes in the area this past weekend. I was on two seperate lakes on saturday and there was zero slush but plenty of ruts from other anglers that had been out during the week. The one lake had a double layer of ice just a inch down from the top.

Gills: Plenty of fish were marked on both lakes and the move to the second lake payed off with several eater gills being caught just before dark. Oranges and whites were my best colors for jigs. I tipped them with Berkley Gulp fish fry and made sure the jig sat right for the finicky fish. Also caught a couple of smaller crappies and lost one decent fish at the hole.

We did recieve a couple inches of snow in the area on Monday and should not weight the ice down at all. If you are planning on heading out on the ice make sure you're going out only by snowmobile or four wheelers. Our ice this year has taken it's toll on several trucks traveling on the ice. Please be safe and tight lines!! 

Abnormally warm temps have produced substantial slushy conditions on all lakes in the the area. The good news is that we should not be recieving the largest amount of snow from the next snow storm rolling through. Temps will begin to drop once the front passes and highs in the 20's during the day and single digits at night will begin to harden things up once again.

Northern pike: Fish were putting the feed bag on during the afternoon on Friday's rain conditions. We had not even put our third tip up in and flags were flying! Several smaller fish were caught and released before Branson caught his largest fish ever. We were fishing just off a point with 8-12 FOW and using medium golden shiners. We made sure to get to flags immediatly due to many pick and drops that resulted in stolen minnows.

Perch: Action was steady until the last hour of daylight Forage Minnows tipped with minnow heads caught the larger fish. Light bites were the norm for them also just barely moving the springs on the Legend Ice rods.

I'm still only venturing out via four wheeler and with snow totals dropping over the past weekend plan on using them till the end of the season. Being mobile is still the key at this time of the year and fishing will continue to pick up as days are getting longer. Good Luck and tight lines!!!

Just coming out of a brutal cold snap and fishing was a little bit slow with the high winds combined negative degree temps on Saturday. On a positive note ice conditions are on the rebound with exposed ice on many lakes and lower snow totals. There are still variations of ice thickness with 10-13" we measured on one lake on Sunday. I expect the recent snowfall to blow off quickly due to no slush on the ice and 30 mph winds they are predicting overnight and into tomorrow.

Perch: Fish are roaming in and around deeper water 15-17' and were coming through in our daytime walleye areas. Northland Forage minnows tipped with full crappie minnows worked well in deadstick presentations. Fish were also caught on 1/16 jigs tipped with 1" Berkely Gulp minnows.

Pike: Flats adjacent to deep water saw the most action during evening hours both Saturday and Sunday. Medium golden shiners held up a foot off the bottom to give a easy meal to passers by.

There is starting to be lighter vehicle traffic now on some lakes around the area. If you have a wheeler or suv it's still a wise choice to use them when heading out with how unprodictable our ice has been this year. Running water lakes or flowages are still flowing large amounts of water through them and will continue till the end of the ice fishing season. Good luck and tight lines!!!