Fishing with the Guides - Vilas County News-Review

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Inconsistent temps tough on anglers

As we get ever nearer to opening day of the Wisconsin game fishing season on May 1, the weather is hard to figure out. The up-and-down temperatures are certainly having an effect on the water temperatures and the spawning activities of the fish.
Anglers sure wish the weather would settle down and

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Perch, crappies lead spring fishing parade

With spring in the air and the ice out on all area lakes, open water fishing has started for panfish on North Woods rivers and lakes.

There were a number of anglers with boats heading out on the Chain of Lakes Saturday looking for perch and crappies, but fewer on

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Plenty of fishing available this spring

With the ice having gone out almost everywhere, open water fishing has started. There were a number of anglers with boats heading out on the Chain of Lakes last weekend.
The Chain has dark water and

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First spring fishing means rivers, perch

With last Sunday’s snow and colder weather, a few dedicated crappie anglers still ventured out there for that last ice fishing outing.
The biggest thing about spring ice is that it weakens so much from the sun on the surface and you just can’t trust it. The other big thing about the ice at this time of year is that

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Lake ice fading with warm temps and rain

Man, is the ice going quickly this spring. The combination of very warm weather and the rain has made for a lot of black ice out there. To me, this ice is scary stuff and I won’t go on it, as it is honeycombed.
The other problem for ice fishermen is that

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Panfishing improves with spring ice melt

Spring is here! Just kidding, folks. We certainly have had some nice days in the last week or so, but just as certainly we will have some rough weather before the snow is gone. We’ve had a pattern of late snowfalls in the last few years and this writer thinks that will happen again this year.
The ice has taken a beating with the last warm spell, and

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Anglers concentrating on panfish in North

Well, the winter game fishing season is over for this year. The results were pretty good, despite the fact that it trailed off as usual in late February.
The season started pretty early for walleyes and stayed strong until that midwinter severe cold period in February. It never fully recovered after that, and stayed only “medium well” for the rest of the season. Overall, we would give it a

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Game fishing season ends Sunday, March 7

The North Woods had some absolutely wonderful weather following that severe cold stretch of early February. The nicer weather allowed a greater number of anglers to get out on the ice.
The great late-season ice fishing for panfish is here, though

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Fishing improves with rising temps

Absolutely beautiful weather followed the very cold weather during the first half of February, allowing anglers to get outside and enjoy what is left of winter.
There is only a little more than a week of game fishing season (ends March 7) and

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Warmer winter temps should help anglers

Frigid cold weather the last several weeks has reduced the number of ice anglers locally. This has been a winter of extremes, with nice winter weather for the first two months and really cold weather this month.
Now that we are in the second half of February, we

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Colder temperatures slow fishing in North

Winter is finally here — to a very high degree. Heavy snow cover, wind and really cold temperatures have made it much harder to be outside ice fishing. Nevertheless, there have been a number of serious guys and gals going out there.
There is now some slush on all lakes, but

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Walleyes still hitting on Chain of Lakes

There has been a bit of a slowdown in fishing success in the last week or so in response to the colder weather. Not as bad as usual, but still there.
We are also getting a slightly heavier snow cover out there, but still lighter than normal. This has been causing some slush on a few lakes. Fortunately, nothing like last year. There have been

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Ice tops 12 inches on most area lakes

The North Woods finally got some cold winter weather last week and it slowed down the ice fishing for some anglers still venturing out.
Anglers still have great ice conditions out there. Ice thickness is now averaging over 12 inches on most lakes, but you should be careful on any lake with current, such as all the lakes on

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Ice conditions great for winter anglers

Great ice conditions continue across the North Woods, encouraging anglers to get out and try for their favorite fish.
We have roughly 12 inches of nice black ice, and with some colder weather we expect it will quickly get thicker. There are cars driving on some lakes, but mostly snowmobiles or four-wheelers. On the Chain, watch for

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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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