Open Water Reports

The ice fishing gear

Is stowed for the year.

Springtime is coming at last.

So we get out our boats

And focus our hopes

On catching a new record bass.

I'm sure many of you are like me... the ice is thinning, the weather is warming up, and you're getting your boat out.  Now we just need to know where the open water is.

I plan on driving to a few lakes here and there and posting them on this forum so people know where the open water is, and I'd appreciate input from others when they find it!

If anybody has any lakes in Waukesha County they want to get updates about, let me know since that's usually where I fish.

If your an early season guy, head to the rivers---waders or boats allowed. Fished the Wisconsin below the Dells dam Thursday afternoon for about 6 hours. The dam was open and putting out some strong flow to accommodate the melt and the rain this week. Winds were also an issue even in the river canyons of the dells, blowing about 20-30 at times. Spot lock on a trolling motor or a good river anchor, or fishing from shore, were the best options. Finding a slack water area along a current break with a shallow shelf dropping semi gradually into deep water, that was the ticket for spring walleye. You could sit in the current and catch males and shorts all day if your a three way rig guy. I like to chase the bigger females who follow the slack water and feed shallow at dusk. Casting plastics in the little window between 4:30-5:30 basically, I caught bookend 5 and 5.5 pound Walleyes on Cabela 4" brown and bright orange tri-twister tails. Using an 3/8 ounce mooneye jig head. These fish were shallow, in fact the first one surfaced almost instantly like a bass...I would guess they were right at the break from 3-10 feet as is continued deeper to 30 feet about 20 yards from shore. My casts were hitting the bank and being swung into the current break from shallow to deep...but obviously pretty dang shallow...24.25 and 24.75 full of spawn and river strong muscled specimens. I tend to weigh on the conservative side, probably were more like 5.5 and 6.0..I hurt my back landing them by myself...I am not kidding...

I know it's a bit early for this, but I miss open water so much. My boat is neglected. Can't wait to fish in sandals, shorts and t-shirts. Almost ready to blast down to the Gulf Coast and grab some sunshine!! I hate Winter more and more each year. Sigh.

Swung past Smoky's Bait Shop... Pewaukee Lake is open as far as the eye could see.

cool, opening day in may should be better than last year as long as it stays warm for the rest of the month.

Snorkel,

I drove past Big M on my way to work tonight.  Boxhorn and Schultz are open, Durham is open water but still has a barricade at the launch. Looks like the lake was pretty much open, but it was hard to tell for sure.

I didn't have time to check Bass Bay, but I did check out Little Muskego, which looked wide open, so I'm guessing the bay is also open.

Anyone know if Big Muskego (main lake) has opened up? 

People are launching at the Okauchee public launch. The guy below was powering around breaking up the remaining ice in the launch bay. Public service is brutal,  but somebody's gotta do it, lol. Upper Oconomwoc lake also 90% ice free, some home owners were launching their boats  and docking at their piers, one big pontoon even.

Cannot wait until Lake Mendota opens up so I can go after those cats.

Agreed.  With weather in the 50s this week and the potential for rain, I think we're pretty much there.  I was thinking of hitting some of the lakes that are mostly open anyway.

It will not be long, the high winds today should help.

Some of the smaller ponds in my area (oak creek/caledonia) are almost ice free.

Little Muskego (at Idle Isle):  Still looks completely locked up, but the ice at the launch is starting to melt.

Big Muskego:  I checked Durham and Boxhorn, everything still covered in ice.

Bass Bay: Still completely covered, though with the main lake still ice, I'm not sure how you'd get there anyway.

Wind Lake and :Lake Denoon are both still completely covered, and people were still drilling holes on Denoon.

3-18-19

Pretty Lake: Shore at the launch is starting to melt, but the lake itself is still completely locked in ice.

Hunter's Lake:  North end is starting to open up, but still 98% covered in ice.

Spring Lake (Dousman): From the street, it looked like it's still all ice.

Golden Lake:  Ice as far as I could see, though the marshy area to the north might be starting to open.

Silver Lake:  Still people ice fishing out there.

Oconomowoc Lake:  The northwest shoreline is starting to open, and all of the channels from Upper Oconomowoc are flowing.

Upper Oconomowoc Lake:  Water is flowing from the dam at the south, and the north end is opening nicely.  The channel that leads from Okauchee is about 95% open with some residual ice on the south shore.  From the Wisconsin Ave launch on Okauchee, you could get to the north end of Upper Oconomowoc.

Okauchee Lake:  The Wisconsin Ave launch is about 95% open, but you can only go towards Oconomowoc.  Okauchee itself still has ice about 30 feet past the ramp.

The north end across from Whisky Waters looks pretty open (maybe about 50%), and the channel under the W Lake Dr bridge is open until you get to the eastern section.

The launch at the Golden Mast is still completely locked down with ice, but it's very thin.

The north shore on the east end near yacht club is still covered in ice, but the far northeast bay near Moose Lake is open.

Pine Lake is starting to thaw at the ramp, but the main lake still is ice.  I kind of looked like the south end was melting, but that's from my view at the ramp and I could have just been seeing the sun's reflection.

Moose Lake, Cornell Lake, North Lake, Beaver Lake, and Pewaukee Lake (checked the Maple Ave launch and by Smoky's) all look to be completely ice covered, but Pewaukee's shoreline in Beach Bay is starting to melt.  People were still on the ice from Smoky's.