Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, Wisconsin Ice Fishing Report 3-7-14
I think that I speak for everyone when I say…”Finally!!!” What a welcome warm up after a brutal couple of months, and the long range forecast looks like it’s holding steady with no major warm ups or deep freezes. Just some comfortable weather to be on the ice…”Finally!!!”
With that, our attention has turned to lakers, and lots of them. Like many, Josh has enjoyed the opportunity to get on top of some fish that haven’t had a hole drilled over them in quite some time. Nothing better than a hungry fish that hasn’t seen a lure in awhile. We’ll take it! A week ago Friday, Josh and Acorn took out good buddy Josh Harner, and the fish were popping! They iced plenty of fish in 60′ to 260′ of water on Beetles, spoons, and Gulp! As is usually the case with laker fishing, several fish were hooked and lost as well.
On Sunday, Josh, Acorn, and John Darwin did some scouting and found active fish in 60′ – 130′ of water. They iced 6 lake trout in about 5 hours with the largest taping out at 21″. Beetles and Spoons tipped with herring and shiners were the baits of the day. OK… I have to say it. Where are the pictures of Acorn? Is it the jynx of the 40″ lake trout???
On Tuesday, Acorn and Josh chased lakers again for about 3 hours and found biters in 100′ to 140′ of water. They landed 4 fish up to 24″ and lost several others in a short amount of time. Vibrato’s and tubes were their go to baits for the day. Look who has the hot hand.. Josh is back in business. Sorry Acorn!
Wednesday and Thursday found Josh and Acorn back behind the camera of John Gillespie’s Waters and Woods. Josh, Acorn, John, Pete, Ryan, Rusty, Rob, and Randy spent two days getting after it and putting some nice fish on the ice with a 5 lb to 7 lb average. They fished 100′ to 140′ of water over the two days with Vibrato’s, swimbaits, and tubes. Their fish ranged from 20″ to 33″. It was a very tough bite however with landed fish hard to come by. They lost twice as many as they caught, but had consistent action over the two days. I have no doubt it will be a great show, and I can’t wait to see it. Tune in next Saturday, 3-15-14 to Fox Sports Net at 9 a.m. in Wisconsin or check your local listings. Once again… Job well done gang!
As for the ice, we have plenty of it. Problem is that we also have a lot of snow and slush. Inland lake travel continues to be miserable, and I don’t recommend you venture onto anything you don’t know is stable. Even snowmobiles have been rendered useless. Your only option is snowshoes or a plowed road if you have one that is still usable. The interior of Chequamegon Bay has become a bear as well. The ice roads are not usable for the most part, and there is more than enough slush and snow out there to give you plenty of greif. Snowmobiles are the only way to go. As you move toward the Bayfield peninsula, travel is a bit more reasonable with a few slush pockets. Overall however, snowmobiles aren’t having any difficulty getting around. Remember, ice around the Apostle Islands should never be considered safe. Use every precaution you have if venturing out there, and never assume anything. Enjoy the warm up everyone, and have a great weekend!