Archived Chippewa Flowage Report

Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) -Ice depths are in the 18" to 22" range on most lakes across the Northwoods and travel conditions did worsen with the high winds of this past weekend. Many lakes had packed trails that most vehicles could readily access, but the blowing snow of Saturday and Sunday caused quite a bit of drifting. This has hampered travel on many lakes and there have been quite a few reports of anglers getting stuck out on the ice. Slush has not been the main problem but frozen ruts and heavy, grainy snow that has been bogging down even some 4WD vehicles. As such, anglers should be cautious and try to stick to the established, packed-down trails. The erratic and constantly changing weather of the past week has made for some tough fishing action. Most of the regular walleye ice anglers have reported inconsistent success, with some decent catches made about every third day. No one tactic or area has been better than the other, as rock bars, gravel drop-offs, weed bed edges, and muck/sand flats have all been experiencing various levels of action. Panfish success has continued it's mid-winter slow period, and most of these anglers have been moving around quite a bit -- from lake to lake, and from spot to spot on a lakes - searching for the active fish. Success has been low but a few fair catches of crappie and perch have been reported. The best action in the past week has been for northern pike, with some decent action seen during the mid-day hours. Large golden shiners fished over the top or along the edges of any old weed beds have produced the best success.