Lake Winnebago continues to see heavy traffic from sportsmen looking for walleyes, perch, white bass, burbot, and pan fish.  The ice is starting to breakdown in some areas, especially near the mouth of the river.  Several individuals did break through in this area over the weekend, so do take extreme caution while on the ice.  Ice depths ranged from 2” to 17” on most parts of the lake.  Water clarity for the majority of the lake is decent.  With the warmer air temperatures this coming week, be sure to be aware of the environment around you for quickly changing conditions. 

The mouth of the Fox River in Oshkosh is being fished heavily at the current time.  The ice is breaking down quickly, so it is a high risk area.  The walleyes are staging at the mouth and some of the best action of the season for large walleyes has come from this area.   Blue and green have been the primary colors, usually tipped with a minnow head.   

Asylum and Miller’s bays are full of small perch.  They are readily visible on the cameras, but nearly impossible to catch. 

Brothertown continues to produce plenty of white bass.  Many of the whiteys are coming on perch colored jigs or on metallic spoons.  The perch are also present, but not in big tight schools.  The perch tend to be a bit deeper, maybe 14’ of water when found, and in the bottom third of the water column. 

North of Pipe there has been reports of a mixed bag of fish present.  Saugers, walleyes, perch, and white bass have all been taken over the past week in this general area.  Swedish pimples is the most productive bait here.

The southern portion of the lake has been slow.  From Fisherman’s road south to the lighthouse in Fond du Lac has produced only a hit and miss fish over the past week. 

I did not receive any information about Lake Poygan this week. 

I would expect the mouth of the river to become unfishable in the very near future.  The walleyes will be leaving their winter haunts and starting the journey to the spawning areas in the next two weeks.  Look for pan fish to move into the shallow bays, looking for warmer water. 

This week (March 5-7) features the Green Bay/ Northeast Wisconsin Fishing show at Shopko Hall.  I will be wandering around a bit, so say hello if you see me.  Also a reminder-- Ice Breakers 5 will take place on March 12-14.  Ice Breakers has moved from Critters in Winneconne to the Fremont Event Center.  Please be aware of this venue change.  This is a free show!   I welcome your fishing reports at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Be safe on the ice, and open water seems just days away now.