Fishing has been good, Ice has been bad

During the course of the last week leading up to today, we have heard of several vehicles falling through the ice as well as snow machines and wheelers getting into pickles. We have also recently heard of casualties as well.

The old saying, "ice is never safe" should be at the back of all our heads as anglers. With the warm up we have encountered, mixed in with the rain, it has been a perfect recipe for un-safe ice.

In lower parts of the state, anglers are even experiencing open water. This is very pre-mature for this time of year and also sad if you are hard core ice fishing heads. With all that being said, we do have lots of fishable ice in the twin ports area.

Just be very cautious when venturing out and use your best judgment. Good news is it’s only late January, meaning we have lots of winter left.

Lake Superior ice is sketchy in a lot of areas. When venturing out of the Chequamegon bay areas, use extreme caution. We do not encourage anyone to go off the beaten path until we get back to the ideal low temps and low winds.

We were able to find good fish moving around the area while looking for fresh schools of feeding predators. White fish and Trout were caught on aggressive jigging cadences using spoons tipped with minnow heads. Dead sticks were slow.

St Louis River is also seeing thin ice areas, so again use extreme caution. Some decent walleyes are biting at the sun up and sun down times.

Key is to think outside the box. Spoons tipped with whole minnows has been producing a few fish and we are also getting some perch and pike as well.

Inland lakes have been the most consistent bite. Walleyes have slowed down, but pan fish have been active as well as pike and bass off of weed edges. Clam tungsten tipped with Maki plastics or Northland Impulse has been the best presentation with most success. Tip ups are also getting some fish with whole shiners with tails cut off.