Ice Fishing
Are you done for the season?
I think I'm done! What a year. Started on November 10th! Ended on April 3rd.
Took a long period off in Jan/Feb for youth sports. Lots of great memories and fishing trips. And, Ifish and Waltereye, today was not a good day. LOL. They were not biting. I thought it would be great before the rain/snow came in. Nope.
Ice was 15 inches, but very easy to drill through. Something definitely changed in the past couple of days in Vilas. This is the time it can go very fast. Be safe out there if you still get out. Might have a couple of days yet if you know what you are doing and are on the right lake.
Mentally I'm not quite ready to give it up, but my body says otherwise. Didn't even have the drive to get out last weekend so I think I'm calling it quits. It was a heck of a grind this year.
Had the opportunity to fish a total of 16 new lakes between WI and MN, 42 days on the ice, 2000+ holes dug, too many hours to keep track of, weekly fish fries and a whole lot of memories. Biggest crappie 14.5", biggest gill 9.75", biggest perch 13.25". No PBs but a great overall season of good numbers and found some new high quality lakes that I look forward to trying out this spring.
Time to catch up on house projects, till next year! Tight lines fellas.
I am not the only one still ice fishing....just seems that way. Anyways, quite a few guys on Big Arb today. I got out to my spring spot in Vilas Co. and the ice was great today! 18 inches. Where I used to live in Southern Wi, that would be a LOT of ice. Ice was in really good shape today. The layers that I thought would make it deteriorate quickly this year have held up so far. I did notice the shorelines getting soft on the north side. Next week will be real bad for the ice, but still some time left before things get rotten... Every lake is different. Some are still in good shape! Can't speak for others....Fishing was good again. Love this time of year!
Got out again today. Beautiful day. 18 inches of ice on the lake I was at. Ice still was relatively strong. Have a little time yet to still ice fish in Vilas County... Fishing wasn't as good as Tuesday, but still got some nice fish and it was a great mental activity right now.
Was on a west-central WI lake with a small current through it yesterday. Had 3" of frozen slush, 2" of water and then 6" of good ice. Gave you a little scare when you would break through that top layer occasionally. Hard to find a spot to walk on, probably my last time out in this area.
Was able to get the ATV out on 2/3 lakes this weekend, north shore access points ice is starting to separate from the shorelines. Sad to see! Should be fine for walking on for awhile but I think the ATV saw it's last weekend on the ice.
Rough fishing overall, 7 degree AM temp made it feel more like mid-season than late ice and the fish seemed in about the same mood.
Kinda hoped to come up north to our place this weekend for one last horrah on the ice for some crappie action. Folks and local leaders seem apprehensive about us coming up so we might decide to stay clear. So I guess I’m done. Sucks but I don’t want to be that guy who wipes out a community.
Was stomping through old holes with 3" of ice on them in the Eau Claire area last night. Rain turned some shoreline ice dark but no open water and basin was still solid. Mid 40s-50s all next week with sunshine and it'll go fast but for now it's surviving the rain. Hoping Hayward area got less rain than we did in EC.
Fishing was unfortunately not worth the torture of fishing in a downpour lol
Rain wasn't as bad as they predicted in Vilas Co today and the temps were cool. So, basically, a 34 degree day with light rain much of the day. Turned to snow around 6:00. Could have been worse. Cold rain doesn't seem to affect ice much. For example, we had an inch of ice on our road coming in yesterday, and there still looks to be an inch as of tonight. Nothing really changed.
So, a little more ice season yet! Gotta get out while we can.
