January Blues!

It’s beginning to sound like a broken record.
Out off Merrit Street, white bass and perch but it seems to be the only game in town right now. The Gladwater Beach area is still producing white bass and perch on the east shore of Lake Winnebago with crappies mixed in.Walleye fishing remains slow system-wide. Many people are seeing walleyes high in the water column but remain uninterested in any offerings. Lake Poygan has had brief spurts of walleye action in low light and frontal conditions. The south end is extremely slow for some reason this year. Many people I have talked to can only muster a handful of perch per outing. This is the toughest part of the year, but fish certainly eat. Waiting them out and not looking for an active school will limit your success.The feeding window seems to be smaller in January so you need to be on top of the fish when they feed. Underwater cameras become a necessity to eliminate unproductive time on the hard water. The main basin of the lake seems to be the best areas to fish. It’s a comfort zone the fish seem to be looking for, water temperature and food, cause fish to suspend over the mud. The mud is usually considered to be at depths of 15- to 21-feet.
This is a great time of the year to switch up presentations and give the fish something they haven't seen a million times. I love tungsten and plastics this time of year, a little smaller and they fish fast, which gets you back down to the feeding fish. Crappies, whitebass and perch love them and you can change the color of plastic rapidly to help pattern the fish.The ice roads are in great shape with all clubs having their roads out and bridged if necessary. The general consensus is 20- to 22-inches of ice across the entire lake with bad spots in front of the river mouths as usual.The water is super clear, which is setting the stage for a great but short sturgeon spearing season.Remember, buy a road pass, it will help keep those ice roads plowed. Visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Fishwinnebago or on http://www.fishwinnebago.com for more information on Lake Winnebago.



Until next time, good luck and tight lines!