Chequamegon Bay & Hayward, WI Ice Fishing Report 1-27-16
The fish are sure making up for the late start we had this ice fishing season. Chequamegon Bay is giving up some good fish, and the inland lakes continue to produce as well. We’ve been in a snowy pattern up around Lake Superior over the past couple of weeks, and it’s definitely looking more like a traditional “up north” winter with close to 2′ of snow on the ground in some areas. That hasn’t exactly helped us make more ice, but there’s still plenty of accessible spots both inland and on the big water. Aron Kastern split his time between the two over the past week and found a good panfish bite on the inland lakes in 20′ – 24′ of water putting crappies up to 12″ and bluegills up to 9″ on the ice. Small jigs tipped with maggots/waxies produced better than plastics. Ice conditions have improved, and Aron reported 8″ – 9″ with no slush. Snowmobiles and ATV’s can be used for travel depending on snow depth with snowmobiles being the best all around bet.
Whitefish and trout have been active on Chequamegon Bay, and Aron’s crew has been on top of them. Jigging spoons and kastmasters tipped with plastics in 40′ – 60′ of water have been producing nice catches. 30 – 40 whitefish days have been common with the average size running around 18″. A few nice browns, lakers, and splake mixed in makes for one heck of a fun day on the water with some good eating as a result. Aron reports 5″ – 6″ of good ice in most areas he’s fishing within the bay, and snowmobiles have pretty smooth sailing. By the looks of these pictures, I think it’s safe to say we’re on a good bite right now. Mild temps over the next few days should make for some comfortable fishing conditions with another cool down expected next week. Excellent work once again by Aron and the crew. I’m just waiting on my delivery of smoked fish… Nice job fellas! Give us a shout if your looking to get on the ice. Now is the time!!!