North Woods Fishing Report: Early December

Staff Account December 04, 2021

This week the fishing updates have been few as many of the local guides have thrown in the towel on the season. Rather than adding any colorful descriptions of their experiences, simple photos were shared to describe the grand finales...

The following photo, shared by Fred Palermo, was simply captioned "Hard Water"

Another of our guides, Al Frost, shared his last catch with a picture of a beautiful musky captioned "Done".

And then there was Doug Smith, who sent the most telling picture of all with no caption just a sad feeling interpreted.

Fortunately for the followers of these updates, Jim Stewart, owner of the Musky Shop was willing to give it a go this week on some remaining open water to share his findings on the fishing in December.

There are a few of the lakes that are still open here in the Northwoods of WI.

Water temps on the lakes with open water are 33-35 degrees. The Weather has been overcast for several days with light snow showers.

Muskies will still hit Suckers, however one needs to move very slow, stay at approximately 1 mph to catch these hunters.

Casting is pretty much done for the season as it is just too cold to cast as equipment freezes make it nearly impossible. Trolling has been productive. Anglers need maintain speeds of 2.0-3.0 mph depending on the wind and lake conditions. Speed is pretty important but mainly use your speed to get the baits to run properly. The deeper clear lakes will be the most productive and will be the lakes with open water.

Lures Choices: Crankbaits such as 9" and 13" Grandmas, Slammers, Bucher Depthraiders, and a reel sleeper just before ice up are Suick Cisco Kids. Cisco Kids seem to have the right wiggle that trigger slow and lethargic moving skies.

Colors: Natural are the best on the deep clear cisco based lakes. Perch, walleye, sucker, cisco, tullibee, and also baits with prism or holoform finishes for just a little extra attraction. Bright colors work sometimes too as it's just something different they are not used to seeing.

Where: Northern WI. Lake Tomahawk, Trout Lake, Fence Lake, parts of The Three Lakes chain, Two Sisters Lake.

As this might be the last opportunity to catch a musky this year, hopefully we have given you a few pointers to help you find success. Finally, here are some pictures from Jim's last day on the water following his own trolling advice.

Musky Shop Trolling Fishing Blog

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