Fishing with the Guides - Vilas County News-Review
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  • Summer fishing patterns mean deep weeds, wood

    We are quickly heading for midsummer weather and it is going to be busy and enjoyable on the water. The spawns are mostly over, with the exception of a few bass and some bluegills. Weeds are growing nicely now, with great cover for the fish and the water temperatures are rising nicely. We have had some cold nights, but
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  • Spring fishing peaks with everything hitting

    Despite the extremely wet weather last Saturday, the activity and fishing has been pretty good lately. Some nicer and warmer weather was expected for this week, and the fish will respond to this by finishing their spawning activities with warmer water. 

    It’s hard to believe that
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  • Fishing action very good despite the cool temps

    Despite a continuation of inconsistent weather, the fishing has been normal for this time of year. It does not look like we’re going to get consistent weather this year so it will be interesting to see what the hottest part of the summer brings us. These cold nights are unusual for this time of year and it continues to be cold days for June, which is
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  • Warming water temps will improve all fishing

    We are finally done with “colder than normal” temperatures now and the fishing will improve as the water temperatures warm into the 60s. Anglers can expect to find fish in the typical late-spring patterns now.

    Muskie fishing season is  
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  • Post-spawn walleyes return to feed in weeds and brush

    Fishing conditions are staying the same as we head into Memorial Day weekend, as far as weather goes, with some rain, cool weather and of course, wind. Despite that, fishing remains pretty good. There were still some spots where some walleye were spawning last weekend despite the late calendar days, but that species is
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  • Waiting for walleye recovery, some turn to bass, crappies

    There is one thing which has not changed since the winter: the wind. It has been blowing for what seems like forever and with heavy gusts. All through the winter, it mandated some sort of shelter for most anglers. Now, it’s making fishing tougher by continuing to blow us around as we try to hold on the good spots. Oh well, we
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  • Sun, cooperative walleyes made for a great opener

    We got lucky. We earned it. After a miserable spring, with snow, rain and wind, we had pretty decent weather for the opening weekend. Sure, it got chilly Sunday evening, but it still was much better than the rest of the last month or so; and the fish were right there spawning for us. There might still be some vagabond ice on the biggest, deepest lakes, but
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  • Opening day finally arrives and the ice made it out

    Well, here we are, the week of the opener on a very unusual spring. It has been a pretty solid piece of anxiety to see if the lakes will be open, but most of them are. With the possible exception of an arctic storm, things will be OK on all the small and midsized lakes in the area. The Chain is open and has a lot of current. Some of
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  • Improving thaw means timely ice-out for some

    Our weather is improving, but not fast enough to give us anything close to a normal opening weekend. There will be some lakes open, especially on the upper and lower chain. The lateness of that opening is going to help us some and we could get a break with a major change in that weather, but it has been
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  • Now the biggest question is ice fishing on opener?

    Now the biggest question is ice fishing on opener?

    What a miserable month we’ve had for planning fishing this year. Here it is in the second-half of April and the weekend felt like January. It surely feels like our thoughts about opening day and the perch fishing that comes before it were way too optimistic.

    There have been years that there was
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  • There’s still some good ice but conditions change quickly

    As we get toward the middle of April, we still have considerable snow on the ground but warmer weather is coming with rain. This is not good for this time of year. This is the time usually when we can get some nice sunny days and start, reluctantly, with some yard work. We hate this yard work, but love the opportunity to do some
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  • More snow, lots of ice brings opener concerns

    Once again there isn’t much to talk about as far as fishing goes, with weather that if anything was worse than the week before. We got three inches of new, wet snow overnight on Sunday. But
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  • Cold hampers ice fishing but the best is coming

    This hasn’t been the best late ice fishing weather, especially with the cold, high winds and blowing snow of last weekend. It seems to this writer that our weather has changed somewhat in the spring and fall. Our fall weather in late September and October has not been as cold as it was many years ago, and the spring weather is
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  • There’s still plenty of ice as spring warmth arrives

    There’s still plenty of ice as spring warmth arrives

    We are slowly feeling the pleasures of the oncoming spring, but know deep in our hearts that at least one snowstorm is still in the plans. We’ll be bummed out about that, but it will melt pretty quickly and we’ll be back catching some fish and planning for open water. The ice is still more than two feet thick on most lakes and on many lakes they’re
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  • Warm-weather forecast should improve fishing

    Not much to talk about this week, with the cold weather and game fishing season over. It has been too cold to cause any panfish to act in any way like spring is coming, but the weather is changing and this period will start in a couple of weeks. It sure hasn’t felt like spring yet, but it’s the middle of March. The first warm weather hits this week, with
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  • Get out the tip-downs, it’s time for crappies

    Well, our winter game fishing season is over for this year. The results were pretty good, despite the fact that it tailed off as usual in late February. It started pretty early for the walleye and stayed strong until that midwinter severe cold front. 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 ends Sunday when focus turns to panfish

    Well, not much time left for game fishing, as that season ends this weekend, always the first Sunday in March. From this point on, we will have shorter reports until the open season starts later in the year. The game season seemed to kind of filter away this year, as it does every year. Now the focus will turn to March panfish and it will be a delight to do this considering
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  • Cold, windy weather continues as anglers wait for warm-up

    As our winter season winds on, it hasn’t gotten any better weather-wise. So far, February has been colder than January. Last Sunday was great, but it was just a tease for all of us and the wind this winter has been brutal. When, oh when, will at least some signs of spring arrive for more than a few hours? This is the time of year when
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  • Cold has anglers anxious for warmer March days

    We have certainly had enough January weather here in February. While the sun is warmer, our weather for the last several weeks was too cold. We need a little spring to get out on the ice and our blood flowing a little. This is the time of the year that the winter is getting kind of long. We are seeing a lot of shacks on the ice now, which is
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  • Anglers patiently waiting for a little warmer temps

    As we head toward the end of the game fishing season, the fishing can be a little inconsistent, depending on the weather conditions that pass through. All in all though, the ice conditions are fine this year for snowmobiles and our ice anglers.

    After such a poor start, who would have thought we’d
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  • Cold weather slows fishing, somewhat

    This recent cold weather has slowed fishing down some, all except those anglers with shacks and portable heaters. Cold weather is expected this time of year, but also that in February we’ll get paid back by getting some really nice weather; we hope. To this point we’ve had a good ice fishing season. It will be very interesting to see what the late winter and spring conditions bring us. That
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  • Cold weather, wind make ice shelters a good idea

    As the winter progresses, we get some good weather at times and some bad weather. This is the time of the year that our weather seems to be on the bad side, with low temperatures and wind. Cheer up; we’ll soon be in February, with more good than bad. 

    At this time, most ice anglers are using shelters for protection from the wind, but
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  • Ice fishing conditions are ideal for January

    We’re now in the heart of winter and things are looking pretty good as far as fishing goes. It was such a crazy and inconsistent start to the ice season that it was impossible to say how the season would go. Luckily, no one in the area went through the ice, but that first ice was pretty bad. Repeated warm spells made it even worse, but
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  • Ice angling conditions, success very good

    As we head toward midwinter, the ice fishing situation has stabilized considerably. There are very good numbers of ice anglers going out almost on a daily basis. We have had some snow and cold, but the ice is running from 8 inches to 14 inches thick on most lakes. You’ll see autos on many lakes now, and four-wheelers and snowmobiles on all lakes. Unless
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  • Good ice, no slush a welcome change

    Good ice, no slush a welcome change

    Thanks to a major pre-Christmas thaw followed by a holiday cold snap, we finally have some good ice and no slush on the majority of lakes. We are now seeing a good number of anglers on the ice and many of them are venturing out on snowmobiles, ATVs and even side-by-side UTVs. Many of the lakes with snowmobile trails crossing them have
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  • Ice is in good shape on North Woods lakes

    Ice is in good shape on North Woods lakes

    We finally have some pretty good ice out there, so let’s all hope that we do not get any more “weird” weather to screw it up. We are now seeing a good number of guys on the ice and they are reporting some good action, we just hope the coming snows aren’t too severe.

    With a little more snow, the
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  • Warm temps make better ice formation

    Warm temps make better ice formation

    What a bit of weather we experienced last week, with a nasty piece of wind to add to the mix. We’ve lost the balance of snow that we had, but that was not a bad thing for the ice, as the ice is now forming well on the area lakes. The warmth and the rain knocked the snow down on the ice and it has made for much better ice fishing conditions out there. The snow turned to water and
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  • Weird weather impacts ice

    We continue to get just awful weather for ice development, with the certainty of a lot of slush developing with this snow. Our only hope at this point is that this warm weather coming will cause the snow cover on the ice to thin significantly. With the weird weather we’ve had so far, who knows?

    Much to our surprise, there were a number of ice fishermen getting out last weekend for
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  • Need more cold to improve lake ice

    Need more cold to improve lake ice

    There’s not a lot to write about this week in the ice fishing world, as the ice is still thin and we had another snowstorm over the weekend.

    This second early winter snowstorm is not what we as ice anglers hoped for. It looks like it could be another slush season, as the ice we do have is cracked due to
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  • Ice anglers to pursue walleyes, perch first

    The snow over the weekend and on Monday is sitting right where we don’t want it — on the ice. At this point, we are worried about ice development with all that insulation on top of the lake ice.

    This is beginning to resemble
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  • Ice fishing nears here as lakes freezing up

    Ice fishing nears here as lakes freezing up

    We are so close to ice fishing now that the hard water anglers can taste it. If it will stay cold now, the ice will form fast. Small lakes and bays already are covered with a thin layer of ice.

    This is a good time to remind everyone to
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  • Many looking toward ice fishing on lakes

    There is not a lot going on in the fishing world at this time, just a few diehard muskie fishermen and one or two walleye anglers out there.

    Open water is almost done for the year and many anglers are now seriously looking forward to the ice fishing season. With the cold temperatures, the water is looking more and more like
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  • Anglers still trying for muskies, walleyes

    We are ever so slowly coming to the end of the open-water fishing season, with many anglers turning their thoughts to the ice fishing season.

    There is some fishing left, mostly for walleye and for muskie. Water temperatures are now in the 40s and will be sinking more later this week with colder air and some snow moving into the North Woods. Nothing could be worse than
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  • Walleyes, crappies moving to holes

    Hopefully, many outdoor enthusiasts were able to take advantage of the beautiful weather in the North Woods over the weekend. Now the weather is finally settling into a more normal pattern for this time of year.

    Anglers are seeing many lakes in the process of fall turnover right now and
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  • Walleyes, muskies still on anglers’ radar

    The water temperatures are falling quickly in lakes across the North Woods and we are seeing the process of turnover taking place on many lakes. This does make fishing tougher, but when the lakes clear up after turnover, anglers get some of the finest fishing of the fall for walleyes and muskies. 
    Lake levels, if
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  • There’s still time for walleyes, muskies

    There’s still time for walleyes, muskies

    It is sad to see all or most of the fall color gone. I wish there was a way to make it stay longer. Now that the late fall season is upon us, we have a lot to look forward to for hunters and the late fall anglers. There’s a lot more room around the lakes for the fall muskie and walleye anglers.
    Water temperatures are
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  • Color winding down, but fish still hitting

    It certainly has been beautiful out there. I was wrong several weeks ago when I predicted the color was coming early, but it was right on time. 
    The bad thing is that the autumn color doesn’t last long enough.The recent rain has knocked some leaves down and lets us know that the end is coming. The next color, unfortunately, will be
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  • Walleyes moving to holes on Chain

    It certainly has been beautiful out there. The great thing about fall is the wonderful color. The bad thing is the color doesn’t last long enough. 
    The warm weather we’ve had has actually raised the water temperatures on some lakes. The lakes range from 64 to 70 degrees. 
    A number of smaller lakes have completed the turnover process and
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  • Muskies getting active with turnover starting

    As we move through the fall, turnover is starting on many area lakes. This has happened because of the cold nights. The last thing we need now is warmer weather, which tends to keep the effects of  turnover longer. 
    If the lake you want to fish is green, with
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  • Walleye, muskie action can be good during fall

    Today is the first day of autumn and there are splashes of color all over the place. It is beautiful out there, and will become more so in the next few weeks. The nights have been cooler and this is dropping the water temperatures into the 60s on most lakes. 
    The annual rite of turnover has started on some lakes. If it warms up, we’ll
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  • Quieter lakes, fall color make fishing nice now

    Fall appears to be here. We are seeing a steady decline in the water temperatures and some color already along shorelines. 
    As anglers, the most important part of this is the decline in water temps, which triggers some feeding activity from walleyes and muskies. We are
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  • Fish moving deeper as water temps drop

    We are definitely seeing signs of fall now as the nights are getting cooler, ferns are starting to get brown and some leaves are falling. It seems to be coming early this year.
    The water temperatures are now down in the
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