Fishing with the Guides - Vilas County News-Review

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Conditions excellent for ice anglers here

What a perfect set of conditions for ice fishing so far this year and it shows in the number of anglers we have seen on the ice.
At this point, we are starting to see some vehicles on many lakes. Ice thickness now runs from 9 to 13 inches on all area lakes. Despite that, be careful on the Chain of Lakes for current areas, as

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Ice fishing season off to great start

After a little snow, we had almost perfect winter weather over the New Years weekend and thousands of people took advantage of that weather to get out on the ice.
They were, for the most part, rewarded by

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Anglers hitting lakes as good ice develops

The North Woods has had a very good winter so far for ice anglers, with great ice development and not too much snow.

We are hoping for a little snow for the cross-country skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts, but we don’t want a huge snow to ruin mobility on our lakes.

The ice is

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Early ice fishing better than last year

So far, it looks like we are on the cusp of a wonderful ice fishing season. Perhaps we are being rewarded for the really bad one we had to endure last year.
Ice is developing very well and runs from

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Colder temps this week should improve the ice

The ice fishing season, despite last week’s warmer weather, is now in full swing with many of the smaller and mid-sized lakes covered with ice and safe for anglers.
As always, caution is advised. Spud your way out there. With

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Ice fishing starting on the smaller lakes

The North Woods is getting into the start of the ice fishing season now, with some decent ice on a number of lakes.
Caution is still advised when you are going out on to the ice, especially if you are going to a new area on the lake. We have reports of ice as thick as 6 inches on some lakes. There is still

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Ice anglers waiting for lakes to freeze

There is not a lot of fishing going on right now in this area, as the lakes have not developed enough ice to be safe for anglers to get out on. There are a lot of people anxiously waiting for this to happen.

If you remember, the good early ice last year was basically ruined by

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Ice fishing season just around corner

With ice now forming on the smaller and mid-sized lakes, we are exiting the open-water fishing period and heading to the ice fishing season.
Oh sure, there are a few muskie nuts still on the water, but for the most part we’re just waiting for enough ice to get on those lakes for the early walleye fishing. There will be some ice anglers who

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Open-water fishing winding down in North

The transition between fall and winter continues with some decent fall weather followed by some cold and snow.
The water temperatures are dropping again and soon we’ll see some serious icing on many lakes. Temperatures are in the 30s on all lakes, with some of the small lakes in the very low 30s and

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Muskies, walleyes still hitting on Chain

Well, we’ve moved into that late fall period in which there are not many anglers out there, as most anglers are now waiting for ice fishing.
This is the period for trophy muskie anglers and some tough walleye anglers. Water levels remain high and the weeds are now mostly down.
With the leaves down, the sight lines are

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It’s transition time for many anglers

We are in the transition period between open-water fishing and ice fishing. As I wrote this, it was cold, windy and snowing, but it is supposed to warm up this week and actually be nice for a week or so.
The ice that developed on the smaller lakes should melt this week and

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Muskie anglers waiting for one more warm up

The cold weather makes it feel more like November. We could use a break with some temperatures in the 40s.
Water temperatures in area lakes have dropped into the 40s and even the low 40s on the shallower lakes. This is very early for this. There is some ice forming in bays on

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Late fall is best time for walleyes, big muskies

We certainly have had some colder weather for this time of year, with a “whiteout” snowstorm last Friday. For those of us who were on the lake at that time, it was quite an experience.
Water temperatures are dropping down into the 40s now on all lakes. This is

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The colder weather to help muskie fishing

It’s getting cooler now and that is good news for the fishing, especially the muskie fishing. What a year it has been for the fishing, with warm spells and cold spells and most of all — through it all — wind.
As of Saturday, the water temperature was

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Muskies, walleyes take center stage during fall

Fall is a great time for the muskie hunters and walleye anglers. If this writer had his choice, there would be two Octobers.
Days are getting much shorter now, an indication of what is to come.Water temperatures are mostly in the 50s. Meanwhile, water levels are high from the rain again, with more than 6 inches falling in September. Weeds are

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Walleyes heading toward deeper holes on Chain

We’ve had our usual roller coaster weather for the last few weeks, but looking at the forecast it might be getting colder for good with high temperatures in the 40s later this week.
Fall turnover was delayed on many lakes by this warmer weather, but

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It’s turnover time on many area lakes

Cold nights have caused the water temperature to drop significantly, bringing the process of turnover to many area lakes.
Turnover is welcome to many anglers for this reason: the best fall fishing of the year is after turnover when the lakes clean up and are very clear. On the lakes where this is happening, the water will be

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Patterns changing with fall weather

Fall is indeed here. Water temperatures on our lakes are dropping like rocks, falling into the 60s.
We are starting to see color on the soft maples and some of the birch trees. We’ll be seeing some turnover on some of the smaller lakes and on the

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Walleyes can be found on the deeper mud flats

Wind, rain, rapidly dropping water temperatures, is it fall yet? All signs point to a very early fall this year. With the Labor Day weekend behind us, there will be much less traffic on all lakes which makes it easier on the anglers.
Walleye are moving deeper on the Chain of Lakes and are mostly in the

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Walleyes moving to holes on Chain

We’re starting to get hints of fall, as the temperatures are dropping into the 40s some nights. It feels great after a summer that had many very warm days.
Water temperatures are

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Walleyes, crappies moving to the holes

The end of summertime can be both wonderful on the water, along with some tougher fishing periods. It’ll get better as we head into September, which is usually a fun month to fish all species.
Walleye fishing has been OK on the Chain with

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Water temps dropping on most area lakes

The North Woods has had all kinds of weather in the last two weeks, from hot to cool. It really is starting to feel like fall out there on some days.
Walleyes, for the most part, have moved deeper on the Chain and are in or near the holes. By far the best bait for them for the last several weeks has been half-crawlers on jigs. A few walleyes are

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Fish patterns changing as water temps drop

As we move toward fall, the water temperatures are dropping on all area lakes and fishing in general is very erratic, with great fishing and poor periods mixed together.
Water levels remain high as they have been all summer. Weeds, especially

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Walleyes are located in deeper weeds, holes

It hardly seems possible, but we have reached August and are heading to the end of summer. While we are bound to have some warmer weather, these cooler nights are certainly welcome.
The water temperatures have begun to

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Water temps are on summer roller coaster

The water temperatures on area lakes had spiked into the low 80s and then recently dropped into the mid-70s. The fish don’t know if it’s summer or fall, and on some days can be very inactive.
Lake levels are

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Daytime fishing tough with the heat

This has been a summer to remember with the hot weather. Water temperatures did drop some with the colder nights last week, but are hovering in the 75-degree range and threatening to go higher.
This makes for tough daytime fishing, so

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Summer fishing patterns have arrived

The summer fishing patterns have certainly arrived, expecially with the high water temperatures. This drives fish deeper in general, although you will still get some in the weeds, especially the deeper weeds.
You’ll see a lot of boating activity also, so the best times to go fishing are

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Water temps skyrocket over Fourth of July

It always seems to get unreasonably hot and humid around the Fourth of July and this year has been the poster child for that weather.
People seemed to be more in the water than on it, and lakes were absolutely jammed with boaters of all sorts. If you wished to go fishing, the best times were in the evenings or

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Warmer weather in fishing forecast

With the Fourth of July this week, we are going to get the hot and humid weather we always seem to experience in the North Woods at this time.
Water temperatures are rising quickly now, with the hot sun and the long days. Weeds have grown nicely with the warming water and overall the fishing conditions are

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Anglers still waiting for consistent weather

The very inconsistent weather patterns continue, making it either very hot and humid or cold and rainy. We hope for some consistent weather for more than a 3- to 4-day period, but it just won’t happen. We did appreciate that rain last weekend, both for plants and grass and to wash the pollen away.
The annual mayfly hatch is

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Mayflies hatching on most lakes now

Once again we have had a week of cold, then warm temperatures, with the resultant rise and drop in water temperatures. Add to that a pretty good rainstorm and those temps really dropped for a few days.
We’re done with the spawning efforts for the most part, except for

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Spawn wrapping up for most fish species

The inconsistent hot and cold weather has had an effect on the fishing, both from a comfort level for the angler and in the fish spawning behavior.
Fortunately, most of the spawning is over for all species but bluegills and a few bass. We’re glad to be getting into summer soon and hopefully a slightly more consistent weather pattern both for

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New weed growth should help fishing

Wow, that was quite a cold front we experienced last week. It did have some effect on the fishing, as some of the bass on the shorelines left for deeper water. The muskie fishing slowed down also.
The fishing will improve as

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Best fishing of year could be this week

With the recent much warmer weather, the water temperatures have warmed considerably. This is good for everything, especially the weed growth and the crappie spawning run.
The bad news is with the warmer weather came

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Warmer weather should help the bite