Well this past weekend was our last push for whitefish. A large crack developed last week thursday which made us pull most of our gear closer to shore. We finished our season on Sunday by running a lighter crew. We had a great year of whitefishing, the bite seem pretty consistent throughout the year. The biggest challenge was getting to the fish grounds. The combination of a late freeze and rough ice made it difficult, but we made it happen. We hauled the houses home this week and have been strictly targeting walleyes.

The walleye bite is starting to crank up pretty good. We have been fishing 20-30 feet of water using jigging rapala’s with minnows. Ice seems to be holding alright with this warmer weather. I am thinking we should have ice up until next weekend, all depends on the winds and rain. I am running smaller groups for walleyes to some closer shore spots. We walk out and fish a couple hours. Here are a couple pictures from some of the walleyes we have caught this week.

If your looking for a trophy, now is the time!!!

JJ
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The ice has remained very stable even through the warm weather this weekend. The warm has created a couple wet and slush sets, but most of it remains very normal. We received a little snow sunday night, so some of these wet spots are very slushy.

The fishing this weekend was a little tougher than usual. I attribute that to the weather. There was a very strong high pressure that made the fish very neutral. We still got a couple limits and every one enjoyed catching a few. Most of our fish were deeper 80-100fow using slider rigs with gulp. We have been catching a couple burbot also.

I have a couple spots of open, fir day, saturday and sunday. After that the weather looks warm… so if you want one more chance at a catching some whitefish lets go! During this warm up I will start doing my fully guided walleye trips. There have been a couple walleyes showing up as of late, the bite will only get better as we get into march. We should be able to fish walleyes till late march…. Please let me know if you would like to get on my walleye list and i can contact you if you would like to get out. call or email me jjsguideservice@live.com

The warm temps didn’t seem to hurt the ice pack, just LOTS of water on top of the ice from all the snow melt. There were areas with 12-22″ of water on top.

The fish was decent for some groups and a little more challenging for others. Changing baits and moving around seemed to be key for most groups. I attribute this to the weather change. It was a good weekend to get out other wise.

I have a couple spots that just opened for Saturday, 2 person house and a 4 person house.  Let me know.

The strong southerly winds are sure blowing up here in Door County. The ice pack seems to be holding very nice south Sturgeon Bay. There are several smaller cracks that have opened up but are not interfering with the ice guiding operations.

The groups today did very well. The slider rigs with waxes seem to be producing the most fish. Technique is super important this year, if you know what your doing you will catch fish. However it does take some groups a little while to catch on, but they still catch fish.

I am starting to take names down for late ice walleye fishing trips. Send me an email if you would like to get on the list. jjsguideservice@live.com

Still fishing deep and find good bites on the traditional whitefish rigs. The bite seems to be very consistant for anglers who know are familiar with the technique and are using the right  gear. We have about 12-18″ of ice. Travel seems to be ok, warm weekend ahead with some strong south winds. Hope we make it through this weather event!

On Monday I fished with some friends of mine from Rapala. They brought their kids along and had a blast. We did a little filming for some new products and photo work.

The major weather event last week did not do to much damage to the ice pack where we were fishing. A very very cold shot of air will hang around till well after the weekend. We are back out fishing and the bite is on. Limit catches or near limit catches for most groups. Have a couple spots for thursday and friday. Next week has a little room. Inquire for more details

The bite has been good on the traditional whitefish rigs in 50-80 fow. Fish size seems to be up this year.

Well the strong winds and snow did some damage to the ice, especially in the northern half of the bay. Most of the ice from Little Harbor across to Marinette let loose and blew across to the west shore with the strong east winds. On Wednesday afternoon it returned with the west winds. This ice is still moving up in that area, and therefore I have suspended all fishing operations on the deeper water spots, due to the amount of play in the ice. On Monday there were also several large crack forming along sherwood point, that also increased concern This weekend we are only running a few groups on some near shore spots, but hope to return out to those deep spots by Monday.
The good news is that a really cold shot of air is going settle into the region for the next couple weeks, so it will be game on. If your still itching to get out, I have some midweek spots that are still available.

JJ
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Had a great weekend on the ice! All groups caught fish and filled their limits. Most anglers picked through them to find the bigger fish. Fished the traditional whitefish rigs in 60-80 fow. Bites was good and consistent action. The ice is pretty slush and some cracks have opened up a little. Pulling most of my houses back into the harbors to ride out this storm. Some availability on week days…

VERY strong South East winds which could make those cracks expand a little. Ice depth is good 10-14″ some spots with 8″

Some  availability on week days…

The fleet is out! We have all the houses on our typical whitefish locations. The bite is very good. Limit catches or almost limit catches for most groups. The traditional whitefish rigs being the best bait of choice. Fishing in 50-70 FOW.

Trip Availability. I have openings on Sundays and Weekdays. I will not be guiding on Wednesday, we will be having a very large blizzard (12-14″) with 30-40mph winds. Gives me a day to get the tracks on and do some gear maintenance. Feels good to be back out on the whitefish grounds, and seeing so many familiar faces. Thats what its all about!

Touch base after the weekend.

I have been receiving numerous phone calls and emails in regards to trip availability. Currently I have two opening on Saturdays. 1/30 Saturday and 2/6 Saturday. I have a 4person house available on both those days. I also have weekdays and some Sundays also open. All is subject to change.