Minocqua Area Fishing Report - 12/10/24

Wrong again!

Last week I was SO SURE we were going to have some great early ice conditions, just waiting for the wind to lay down and let the cold take over…then the snow…then the not so cold…

Was there ice fishing?  Yes.  Was it great?  For the few that found some safe, fishable ice, not great, but good.  Problem was some of the ice that started to form, unformed.  Holes opened up in areas that had freshly skimmed and some areas got soft following warmth and rain Sunday (12/8).

The bright side is there are areas with 3-5+” of ice and anglers have done well for Walleye, Pike, Bluegills and Crappies where safe ice has allowed angling.  All ratings where fishing is ice safe to do.

Walleye:  Very Good – Shallow water, 3-6’ at and just after dusk.  Shiners on tip-ups as water a bit shallow for most jigging rap techniques.

Northern Pike:  Very Good – Shallow weeds from early morning on.  Medium to large shiners in 3-8’ of green weeds.

Bluegill:  Very Good – Good numbers of nice Gills in the 7-8” plus ranges over mud/cabbage flats in 3-8’.  Starting mid-morning through late afternoon.

Crappie:  Good – Not as many reports as Gills, but some anglers finding Crappies in 6-8’ weeds using Gulp Alive minnows on horizontal jigs.

We have forecast of some snow (12/10-12/11) but also of temps coming in below zero or just barely over.  That should give us the base we need to lock up some good ice.  Following that a mild weekend, but hopefully not so much it hurts.

Lesson is, I’m too old to use comments like “its on like Donkey Kong”, never even played it when I was young.  I’ll stick to verbiage I’m used to like “23 Skidoo” and “Cat’s meow”.