Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, Wisconsin Ice Fishing Report 3-26-15
The end of the ice fishing season brought on a flurry of activity over the last week. With good ice on the Ashland side of Chequamegon Bay, Aron Kastern was on a pretty good perch bite. After he sent me a picture of his buddy Davis Oliphant holding a nice 12 1/2″ fish, I figured Greg Miller from The Hunt With Greg And Jake and I should join him to help keep these bandit fish under control. Greg and I joined Aron on Thursday as we maxed out his ATV with humans and gear. Apparently someone was supposed to bring another one… Despite our transportation challenges, we were able to get on some fish throughout the day in 10′ – 11′ of water. We had a lot of lookers, but takers needed some coaxing. They were definitely not in a feeding mood, and we moved frequently from hole to hole to find aggressive fish using small spoons and tipped with minnow heads. At the end of the day we ended up with several in the 9″ – 10″ range along with a 14″ whopper landed by Aron. There were quite a few 
smaller fish in the mix as well. Nice to see the different year classes of perch out there. Aron’s friend Steve Maderich joined us half way through the day as well and added a little excitement when he battled a fat pre spawn mid 30’s pike to the hole on light tackle. After a few photos, the fish was returned to the big lake so it could take care of business. Nicely done Steve! Not that we needed any reason to laugh, but I had to chuckle when a bold seagull snuck off with an unattended perch laying by the hole I had just left. Fool me once Mr. Gull!!! Although the fish weren’t jumping on the hook by any means, I couldn’t have asked for much more on what will probably be my last ice trip on Chequamegon Bay for the year. Thanks to Aron, Greg, and Steve for a fantastic day! As for the perch, I suspect we’ll be back next season to settle the score…
Aron spent the weekend guiding Bill and Nick Jakusz along with their friend Mark Messer, and they got into a 
good whitefish bite in 28′ – 32′ of water jigging small flashy spoons tipped with plastics. There was 15 inches of good ice at that time, but sun exposure and warmer temps had started to take its toll by the end of their trip. Aron’s buddy Bucko joined the party and put some nice fish on the ice as well. The biggest fish they caught topped out at 5 – 6 lbs., and it was an excellent way to finish off what’s been an outstanding season on Chequamegon Bay. Whitefish 
definitely carried the torch this year for Aron and his crew providing lots of action and lots of fun! Another job well done Aron, and congratulations to a great looking gang on a nice mess of fish!
Safety should never be compromised, and the ice on Chequamegon Bay is at the point where we wouldn’t recommend anyone travel out there. There’s a few folks still getting after it, but they’re doing so at their own risk. As for the inland lakes, ice is deteriorating rapidly and pulling away from sun exposed shorelines. My good friend Brody Moreland reported a solid foot of good ice last weekend on one of the inland lakes, but there was some honeycombing going on. There’s definitely some opportunities out there to get a few panfish yet, but use extreme caution if venturing out. Conditions will change day to day from now until ice out, so be prepared to play it safe. We’ve officially stopped booking ice trips for the season, and I’d like to thank all of you that came to fish with us this winter for your support. You make it all possible! Special thanks goes out to Josh Teigen and Aron Kastern as well for all of their 
hard work. They drilled holes tirelessly through good weather and bad to keep their customers on fish and having a good time. The smiles in the pictures they sent me every week said it all. You guys are a credit to our profession, and we appreciate all of your efforts! Open water is just around the corner, and we’ll resume our reports as soon as we can get back out there. Stay tuned, and enjoy a good fish fry with some of those fillets you put in the freezer this winter. I know I will…. Go Badgers!!!