Fishing Report for:
Douglas County, WI - December 30th, 2011
This report provided by Jarrid Houston of Houstons Guide Service

Greetings Ice Dwellers, and Happy Holidays,

Hopefully everyone was on the nice list and Santa treated you good.

Fishing this month has been great.  This is no suprise, because early ice usually is a great time of the year to catch nice fish.  Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been finding great opportunities for Pike and Walleye fishing with tip-ups.  Some of the local NW WI lakes that I fish have been producing great numbers of fish too.  This is always a good sign to start off a hard water season.  Taking fish with tip-ups, is always one of my favorite ways to fish.  Choosing locations, and setting up the tip-ups varies in areas.  

For early pike we set the tip-ups with a "Pike-Rig" which consist of a couple of trebles, on a wire leader, a beed and a blade above (for action).  These can actually be purchased at most sporting goods stores, but I like to rig my own.  When it comes to fishing pike, I like to use bigger bait.  Either larger sucker minnows, or big shiners (my favorite).  If it is a sucker minnow, I will put one of the trble hooks in the upper lip, and the other treble just through the outside of the tail end of the dorsal (so minnow can still wag its tail).  The bead and blade will shake with vibration from the minnow, and this causes fish to notice the bait.  When I choose a location for the tip-up, I am looking for weed edges, and/ or signs of other pan fish (pike will vacate an area filled with blue gills and/or perch).  I will drop down my bait not all the way to the bottom but somewhere in between.  You dont want to get caught up in weeds with your minnow.  Pike have there eyes on the top of there head, so having the bait higher in the water colum is okay.  Of course this all depends on what the depth your fishing is.  I have caught pike as deep as 20 ft. and as shallow as 2 ft.  But a good rule of thumb is somewhere around the 7-12 ft.

For Walleye (my favorite) we use a "Walter Rig".  This set up is different for we usually down size the bait.  I will use a smaller treble strung on a MonoFiliment leader and a double barrel swivel attached to the tip-up line.  I still use the small blade n bead, because it has worked as a good attractant for me.  When choosing my bait, I will pick a smaller shiner, or sucker minnow.  I will hook it at the tail end of the dorsal, and lower it down so it is around a foot off the bottom.  When choosing a walleye location, I look for mid lake structure either in the form of a sunken island, or edge of a shallow sand bar adjacent to deeper water.  With these depths, I will usually put these tip-ups right on a contour line around 18-22 ft.  The best time these fish bite on the lakes that I mostly fish it at night (especially dusk, and dawn).  So I like to add a red lighted LED to the tip-ups, so I can see when they are up.

When choosing a tip-up, you want to make sure you get one with an easy smooth spin.  I have Beaver Dam, and Frabill Wooden tip-ups.  I also, use thermal hole covers to keep the tip-up from freezing in the hole.  When its really cold out, I will check my flags about once every hour to make sure the minnow is still kicking good, and the hole is not frozen.  I also add reflective tape to the flag, so I can see with my light when its dark out.  This is also good for passing traffic, so your tip-ups dont get ran over.  

Tip-ups are a great way to catch fish, and done take much effort.  I always try to have one soaking in the water everytime I go fishin.  Tight Lines!!!    

Happy New Year,

Jarrid

Houston's Guide Service

218-393-4962 or houstonbsu@hotmail.com