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More large walleyes are starting to show up around DePere on the Fox, as days grow longer and closer to the spawn. The pre spawn walleye bite remains good, with bigger fish showing up near the dam at night, along deep edges in daylight, and on the flats after dark. Trolling, casting rippin raps, crankbaits, and blade baits have been best for bigger fish. Male walleyes remain active, as jigs, blades and hair jigs are taking most of these smaller fish. Crappies are active in off current areas, most of which are shallower than river structure. Small jigs, minnows, and ice flies with waxed are best. Down river, near the mouth as it enters the Bay, big pike are being taken on dead bait and golden shiners. Some adventurous souls are still ice fishing these big pike, as they are moving into shallow spawning habitat, but please be careful if you decide to take this approach. As always, be safe, and take a kid fishing.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service
920-973-2868

Great walleye fishing on the Fox continued through most of last week, with a few more bigger fish starting to appear along with the many 17-22” walleyes, which are keeping most anglers busy. Every day a different lure seems to emerge as the lure of choice, with the staple of jigging, blade baits, hair jigs, and rippin raps being best choices. With the snow from Saturday and Sunday, water temps should drop a bit. Night fishing has also emerged as a good option, with casting cranks or trolling cranks behind planer boards taking nice walleyes. If we could get out of this late winter chill I believe more big fish would be taken. Down near the mouth of the bay, some bigger pike are being taken on dead bait. Quick strike rigs with smelt, suckers, or golden shiners are the best bet for these big fish. Crappies are also being caught in shallow tributary streams and current edges. If you go, please be safe, and take a kid fishing.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service
920-973-2868

The Fox River bite at DePere has been red hot, with the first full week of open water walleye action providing great fun for those hardy souls looking for a late winter walleye fix. The best daytime bite has been casting a combination of blade baits, jigs with plastic/minnows, and hair jigs. The fish are in thick along the main channel, with many 18-22” walleyes and the occasional large pre spawn female being taken. Along with walleyes, some anglers are finding crappies and perch in shallower slack water areas. Perch season closes March 15, so be aware if the changes in seasons. Walleye limits changed as of Monday on the Fox, with 1 fish 28” or bigger the limit March 6 through May 5. On May 5, the limit in the river reverts back to 3 fish no size limit. Please be aware of the change, and don’t be afraid to inform those unknowing of the limit. As always, please be safe and take a kid fishing.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service
920-973-2868

The weather is playing a huge factor on the accessibility of ice and open water around Green Bay. Early this week boat fishing was excellent, with anglers averaging 30 or more walleyes per trip on the Fox River. Hair jigs, blade baits, rippin raps, and jigging with minnows or plastics were all taking fish. A few of the 25” or bigger female walleyes were caught, but the majority of the fish are 17-22”. As of late Thursday, skim ice returned on the river, delaying boat fishing till it warms up. On the Bay, remnants of ice remain around Deadhorse Bay, Suamico, University Bay and Oconto, but great care needs to be taken on the ice. Wind plays a huge role here, and large floating sheets of ice shift with changing wind directions. Check with Smokey’s before going, and use caution. Fishermen are taking pike, perch, and whitefish on the ice. Be safe, and take a kid fishing.

Yah, only at Smokeys
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service
920-973-2868

Sent from my iPhone

The weather is playing a huge factor on the accessibility of ice and open water around Green Bay. Early this week boat fishing was excellent, with anglers averaging 30 or more walleyes per trip on the Fox River. Hair jigs, blade baits, rippin raps, and jigging with minnows or plastics were all taking fish. A few of the 25” or bigger female walleyes were caught, but the majority of the fish are 17-22”. As of late Thursday, skim ice returned on the river, delaying boat fishing till it warms up. On the Bay, remnants of ice remain around Deadhorse Bay, Suamico, University Bay and Oconto, but great care needs to be taken on the ice. Wind plays a huge role here, and large floating sheets of ice shift with changing wind directions. Check with Smokey’s before going, and use caution. Fishermen are taking pike, perch, and whitefish on the ice. Be safe, and take a kid fishing.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service
920-973-2868

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
Since I did spend a little time looking ant and walking on a little bit of Green Bay ice this weekend, I felt
one more report was needed.
Both in person visually and the satellite pictures from the weekend make the ice on Green Bay look like
it is in good shape, when in fact it is not. Prior to the snow fall last week most of the outer areas of
Green Bay were open water with a few ice flows. The near shore areas had very suspect and punky or
“Honeycomb” ice. With the little colder weather much of the open water areas slightly skimmed and
then the snow fall coverage has made this ice look like better than it is.
In just about every location and or landing along Green Bay both east and west shores there are areas
where there is a “crust” of 2”-3” of ice covered in snow with slush under it. Let me be clear, this is VERY
DANGEROUS ICE! It is not only dangerous for any kind of Snowmobile, ATV, and UTV traffic for sure it is
also dangerous for walking traffic. It is not clear hard ice it is soft crusty ice with little to no strength.
There were reports along many areas of the East shore where anglers were “Breaking through” when
and getting wet when walking out. I personal walked around several large areas like this up near
Sturgeon Bay this Saturday.
IF you are thinking about trying to walk out on any ice left on Green Bay pay close attention to your
winds and bring a spud to check the ice as you go don’t take any areas for granted. USE EXTREME
CAUTION this cannot be stated enough.
My advice would be to make other plans and stay off the ice.
No fish is worth your life!

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
Howdy folks this will be it, the last report for a short Green Bay ice season if you want to even call it
that.
The major ice pack on Green Bay has blown apart and moved out to the open water. Satellite pictures
from Sunday Jan 19 th tell the tale of lots of open water up through the entire Bay.
There is some ice hanging on in protected areas like Dead Horse Bay and Suamico and University Bay but
all these areas have take a beating as far as ice strength the last week and from hear on out all ice on
Green Bay should be considered extremely dangerous. Use extreme caution on any let over shoreline
ice.
Many areas I was scouting over the weekend even though on top the ice seemed good I had ice from 8-
12” in areas around Sturgeon Bay but drilling half way through it the partial hole would fil up with water
seeping from underneath in a few minutes.
I did hear of some Pike still being caught in the shallow water in Suamico and Dead Horse Bay on tip ups
with large shiners. Perch activity as usual was better away from the commotion.
Reports are Red River and Bay Shore alone with Volks all have ice but it is not great and with open water
near by all these areas are susceptible to instability with winds. Reports of some Whitefish catches were
still coming in over the weekend along with a few Walleye.
Little Sturgeon Bay and Sawyer Harbor both have people still out fishing but travel should be limited to
foot traffic or ATV/Snowmobile but with those be very careful as the ice around points and various
structures is very soft and there are more cracks and shoves where ice is buckling all over these areas in
the last week. Some Pike coming in the back of Little Sturgeon along with a few decent perch. Box Tip
ups and Tip downs were key for Perch along with Tip ups with large shiners for Pike action.
Downtown Sturgeon Bay went from completely iced in a week ago to all open water shore to shore.
The impending snow storm this week will make the conditions even more suspect to trouble.
My advice, make other plans for the upcoming weekend…. If you do decide you want to venture out on
the ice please, please, please, do not become a statistic use extreme caution.
No fish is worth your life!

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com

With the unseasonably warm conditions here, the Fox River, along with its launches, opened to fishing last week. Many boaters took advantage of this mid-winter break, and busted out the boats. Walleye fishing was excellent on the river, with the best bite going on mid-river structure edges. Jig/minnow, jig/plastic, blade baits, rippin raps and hair jigs took the most fish. Conditions on the river are likely to be in flux, as winter looks like it will return by Tuesday this week with snow and colder conditions. Call ahead to Smokey’s for the latest conditions and information. Be safe and take a kid fishing!

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt Jerry Ruffolo
Anglers Plus Guide Service LLC
920-973-2868

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
Well folks Mother Nature is kicking our butts! The remaining time of ice fishing on Green Bay should
officially be considered day by day and very dangerous. I never dreamed I would be giving that kind of a
report on ice conditions in the middle of February! All locations are seeing great deterioration of the ice
conditions and all the landings are getting bad as we are on day 2 of 5 with temperatures into the mid
40’s. If you are venturing out anywhere on Green Bay ice use EXTREME CAUTION and watch your winds.
There are too many areas of open water across the entire Bay and all the ice along the east shore is
suspect to move at any time and any location. Ice between the tails and in Deadhorse bay is still locked
in but travel with caution.
Reports were spotty at best for catches of Whitefish along the east shore. A limit is possible if you
capitalize on the active fish if you find them but for most catches of 1-5 fish were more common. Volks
landing, Bayshore, and Red River were the most popular along the east shore. Again, this week use
EXTREME CAUTION in those locations.
Dead Horse Bay, and the Suamico area have reports of mild Perch catches, along with a stray Walleye.
Numbers of people on weekends have kept the action slower. Tip downs are still the most productive
set up for Perch and trying to get away from others has been the best bet. Pike are still being caught on
tip ups with large shiners in the shallower areas.
Sugar Creek to Lime Kiln Rd up to Little Sturgeon had some folks walking out to try to find Whitefish but
there was a large open water area just outside those locations and I would advise staying off the ice
there.
Little Sturgeon had seen some perch activity on tip downs and jigging and even box tip ups but over the
weekend the activity level was slow for keepers due to the high traffic of anglers. You may have to sort
through the little ones to find a couple keepers. Pike activity in Little Sturgeon has slowed to almost
non-existent.
Sawyer harbor Perch and Pike catches both slowed the end of the week but there is still some activity
there for both. Please travel with caution in that area as there are rock areas and springs around the
bay will show themselves with this warmer weather.
The Fox River is completely un-safe for ice fishing at this point but keep your eyes peeled you may be
able to get your boat back out before the end of the week!
We pulled all our Whitefish rental shacks of the ice in Door County on Sunday and are now holding out a
last-ditch hope that we may get cold enough weather after Thursday to get out to fish some of the
shoreline spots one more time this season if the ice holds up…… but it is not looking good.
Be careful out there no fish is worth your life.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com
www.finfanatic.net

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
The cold weather surely did not last long enough. Green Bay did make good gains on ice in about every
location, but the winds have certainly not been our friend. The Bay is not locked up and there are still
several significant areas of open water that have been lingering and will continue to cause trouble over
the course of the next few weeks. The up coming weather is also not doing us any favors as it will be
into the 40’s and some rain and snow and more high winds. Please use caution when venturing out at
all locations.
Most reports this last several days along the east chore have Whitefish fishing being very slow. Most
folks are reporting 0 to 5 fish and very very few limits. The moon phase and high pressure probably did
not help with any feeding activity. Fishing was too spotty to get a feel for the best tactics.
Dead Horse Bay, and the Suamico area are still producing some Perch catches, along with some Walleye
but the action has certainly slowed. Tip downs are still the most productive set up for Perch. Tipping
with a small shiner or Rosie Red. A few Pike are still showing up on tip ups shallow.
Lime Kiln Rd, to Little Sturgeon had lots of folks looking for Whitefish but the action along those areas
was also spotty at best. Along with locations like Riley’s Bay and Sand Bay. A few adventuress folks did
manage to sneak out to the south end of Larsons reef over the weekend but with the winds and weather
I would advise staying off those areas for now and if you do want to go check them out later this week
travel very cautiously as the possibility for more cracks to pop open is very real.
Little Sturgeon and Sawyer harbor both saw a fair number of Perch fishermen over the weekend.
Getting away from the majority usually resulted in better catches. Jigging and Tip downs were both
successful.
The Fox River has walkable ice on most of the river south of highway 172. Do still use caution this week
with the warmer weather pattern setting in. Walleye catches were reported to be good over the
weekend. A few Whitefish remain in the river and were showing up while targeting Walleye. Don’t be
afraid to try the shallow flats for some Walleye activity. Jigging raps tipped with a minnow head was the
best tactic.
We did run 8 of our Whitefish rental shacks over the weekend but like most guides we pulled them in to
shore on Sunday to wait out the weather early this week. Fishing for us was slow at best with 0 to 4
Whitefish caught per shack. We did manage a few bonus Jumbo Perch over the weekend to add to what
little action we had. Fish were very spooky, and the ice for 3 days was making a ton of noise.
Be careful out there no fish is worth your life. Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com
www.finfanatic.net