Category: General

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
Overall the Green Bay ice situation for sure has deteriorated. With the weather pattern this week it will
continue to get bad as we warm to near 50 by Thursday, along with some predicted rain.
The Fox River has opened up and the boat ramp at both Metro landing and Fox Point Landing both have
had a launch lane that has been opened up by some diligent fishermen. There is still ice flow coming
down river so mind that when loading and launch your boats but if you are looking to get out in a boat
there is an opportunity. Walleye were biting over the weekend on Jig and Minnow, Plastics and hair jigs.
All Ice areas should be considered very dangerous and extreme caution should be take on all Green Bay
ice until colder weather returns.
The lower bay areas like Volks and Bay Shore all have walkable ice as of right now but that is going to be
suspect at the week goes on. The same can be said of Deadhorse Bay, Suamico and Geanos.
Everything in Door County that is outside of any bay should be considered suspect and dangerous
moving through this week.
Little Sturgeon and Sawyer Harbor both had had a folks venturing out over the weekend on foot, action
for Perch was fair, but like all areas this week use caution as the weather progresses.
No one should be attempting to venture out to any of the areas on Larsons reef as that is extremely
suspect with open water and not at all safe for travel.
If you are headed to Green Bay to get your ice fishing fix on use extreme caution, pay attention to wind
direction Green Bay is NOT locked in and potential for movement is high.
My humble opinion would be to make other plans for this week/weekend and not take on sketchy ice.
.Yah, only at Smokeys!!!

Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
Well folks as I type this, I am sure most are aware we are in the middle of an extended bit of a warm
spell here in WI. With that said extreme caution should be used on all of the ice on Green Bay no matter
the location.
The Fox River should be avoided the ice has become very dangerous and it is not getting better soon.
The lower bay areas like Volks and Bay Shore all have walkable ice and reports are the ice is ok but
deteriorating so be prepared. Fishing for Whitefish in those areas form most reports has been good and
a few Walleyes have shown up also.
Areas like Deadhorse Bay and Suamico still have ice but reports are the access areas have become
troublesome so use caution.
The Door County ice areas like Sugar Creek, Lime Kiln, Big Rock, Sherwood Point all may have ice but
should be considered suspect and with open water out on the bay wind and current shifts could present
even more danger for those locations. Just this last Saturday a portion of the ice pack pushed out
offshore opening a gap 100-200 yards wide. Reports of Whitefish Acton have come on from those areas
but mind your surroundings and winds if you are out there.
Little Sturgeon has had a good amount of traffic still even some ATV and light UTV traffic but continue to
use caution if planning to head there as the warm spell will continue to have the potential to deteriorate
the ice. Reports of some Perch action in the mornings have come in but you may have to sort through a
few small ones to get a keeper. Tip downs have been working with minnows.
Sawyer harbor has also had a fair amount of folks venturing out as the action for Perch has picked up
some. Similar techniques with box tip ups and tip downs are taking fish besides a few jigging.
No one should be attempting to venture out to any of the areas on Larsons reef as that is extremely
suspect with pockets of open water and not at all safe for travel. Even areas like near shore Oak Avenue
and Cabot point are all very suspect to deteriorating conditions and should be avoided or at the very
lease use extreme caution.
Big boat traffic on Green Bay has come to a halt for a few weeks now with the closing of the port.
The next 10 days of weather have very mild temperatures in the forecast so if you are headed out be
prepared for changes daily. We still are holding out hope for a forecasted cooling trend moving thru in
mid-February but that remains to be seen.
If you are headed to Green Bay to get your ice fishing fix on use extreme caution, pay attention to wind
direction Green Bay is NOT locked in and potential for movement is high.

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.
I know everyone has been watching this cold spell waiting and itching to get their boots and ice suit on
and hit the ice.
There are finally areas of fishable ice on Green Bay.
With that said extreme caution should be used on any of this early ice on Green Bay no matter what the
location. You should plan on limiting your travel to walking for your first adventures out. Just because
you may see other people out and they may have a shack out or even a snowmobile never assume you
can just drive out onto the area. Check the ice yourself and use caution.
As far as locations the Fox river has reports of 6”-8” of ice. Some Whitefish and a few walleyes are being
caught with your typical vertical jigging tactics and baits.
The lower bay areas like Volks and Bay Shore all have walkable ice and reports are the ice is rough, so be
prepared also reports are those locations have a lot of slush under the rough ice. Fishing for Whitefish
in those areas form most early reports has been slow. You can get a limit if you are patient and work at
it.
Perch folks are venturing into Deadhorse Bay and Suamico but no real reports of great action as of yet.
The Door County ice areas like Sugar Creek, Lime Kiln, Big Rock, Sherwood Point all may have ice but
should be considered suspect and with open water out on the bay wind and current shifts could present
even more danger for those locations. Some reports of light Whitefish Acton have come on from those
areas.
Little Sturgeon has had a good amount of traffic even some ATV and light UTV traffic but continue to use
caution if planning to head there. Currents and rock areas can leave soft spots and thin spots even in
protected bays like Little Sturgeon. Reports of light Perch action and a few Pike catches have come in
but not hot and heavy.
Sawyer harbor has had a fair amount of folks venturing out but again the action for Perch and Pike has
not been hot and heavy.
No one should be attempting to venture out to any of the areas on Larsons reef as that is spotted with
pockets of open water and not at all safe for travel.
Reports off the west shore areas around Oconto are similar with some light Perch action from Oconto
and Park 2.
The strong winds on Sunday have moved some of the northern skim ice on Green Bay and left some
holes. Couple that with the warmup in the forecast and the fact that boat traffic on Green Bay
continues conditions will keep things unstable for a few weeks it looks like
If you are headed to Green Bay to get your ice use extreme caution, pay attention to wind direction
Green Bay is not locked in and potential for movement is high.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!
.

Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com

First and foremost, no ice is ever safe ice.
I know everyone has been watching this cold spell waiting and itching to get their boots and ice suit on
and hit the ice.
There are finally areas of fishable ice on Green Bay.
With that said extreme caution should be used on any of this early ice on Green Bay no matter what the
location. You should plan on limiting your travel to walking for your first adventures out. Just because
you may see other people out and they may have a shack out or even a snowmobile never assume you
can just drive out onto the area. Check the ice yourself and use caution.
As far as locations the Fox river has had folks venturing out for the last few days but again cautions foot
traffic only. Some Whitefish and a few walleye are being caught with your typical vertical jigging tactics
and baits.
The lower bay areas like Volks and Bay Shore all have walkable ice and reports are the ice is rough, so be
prepared also reports are those locations have a lot of slush under the rough ice. Fishing for Whitefish
in those areas form most early reports has been slow.
Perch folks are cautiously venturing into Deadhorse Bay and Suamico but again use a lot of caution. No
real reports of great action as of yet.
The door county ice areas exposed to the big winds all week are still very suspect and dangerous. Even
thou most areas seemingly have some rough ice. Sugar Creek, Lime Kiln, Sherwood Point all may have
ice but should be considered suspect and with open water out on the bay wind and current shifts could
present even more danger for those locations.
Little Sturgeon has had reports of folks very cautiously venturing out but again do not just go driving
your ATV out foot traffic and drilling and spudding your way out is recommended. Currents and rock
areas can leave soft spots and thin spots even in protected bays like Little Sturgeon. No real reports of
catching going on yet but that is because up until a day ago no one was really out there.
If you are headed to Green Bay to get your ice fish on for the weekend, please use extreme caution.
Even though the week has provided us with a good start to making some good ice no areas are in mid-
winter form and should be all approached with caution. I can not over state that fact!
Also be advised that shipping traffic out on Green Bay does continue and it looks like Sunday will be a
strong southerly wind shift, that can send a guy floating on an iceberg pretty quickly.

Yah, only at Smokeys!!!

Capt. Robert Claus
FinFanatic Charters
920-360-2904
finfanaticcahrters@yahoo.com
www.finfanatic.net

We have hit what I like to call our “tweener stage” here in the Green Bay area for fishing. Not cold
enough to make safe ice for fishing and just enough cold to freeze up landings and access points to
prevent open water fishing.
For the next week please stay off all the water ways on Green Bay as ice conditions are just skim ice and
now we have a small layer of snow on them making for dangerous conditions. We also have another
round of snow hitting our area mid-week which will also make conditions even more sketchy.
Most prediction models are currently showing a cold spell starting around January 12 th so hopefully we
will see some significant changes to ice conditions after that.
As for now please stay off all the ice on Green Bay.

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

Happy Holidays to you all.
The unseasonably warm weather has us looking at absolutely zero ice anywhere on Green Bay that a
person can fish on. Currently it looks like we will not see cold temps to start to freeze up early ice areas
until after January 3 rd or 4 th . Until then if you have not put your boat up for the winter take advantage
of some open water possibilities.
The Fox River daytime bite has been producing some Walleye and Musky activity. Most days the bite is
slow to fair. Artificial like Hair Jigs and Jigs/plastics worked slowly can produce some catches.
Jig/minnow combinations have also been producing some daytime catches even with the low river
current. The Walleye activity after dark trolling stick baits like P-10s has been above average with some
nice catches hitting the nets. A few fish have been caught casting cranks below the Dam in DePere at
night also.
University Bay when not riddled with ice cubes has been a good area to troll some cranks and been
giving up some good catches.
Further up Green Bay the Perch activity around the bays of Sturgeon Bay and the Oconto area shallow
have been good.
Be aware all area harbors have pulled their docks so launching can be a little trickier.
It looks like colder weather is coming our way soon so stay tuned!

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

Not much has changed from last week. With the lack of current in the river fishing has been slow. Walleyes are still being caught from the mouth of the river to the dam. Trolling the 172 flats, jigging structure and slow retrieving cranks baits are catching some fish. Musky are still being caught casting and trolling the 172 flats and on the east side of the river in front of Smokeys. Casting rubber and trolling Raz Shads, Super Shads, jointed and straight stick baits. Shore fishermen are still getting walleye, pike and some muskies by metro launch. By Voyager perch, walleye and some white fish are being caught. This will be the last report on open water fishing for this year. Once the ice season starts Captain Robert Claus will be writings a weekly ice report. Smokeys will be closed from December 28th until March 1st (taking a little vacation mangs). Have a merry Christmas and happy New Year. Yah, only at Smokeys!!!

Fishing on the lower bay and Fox River has been a little slow with the cold temperatures we had last week some of the boat landings and water ways had ice making it difficult to get to the hot spots. This week with the warmer temps fishing should pick up. Walleyes are being caught by the mouth of the Fox, the 172 flats and by the deeper pockets and where there is current. Trolling and jigging are catching fish. Also fishermen are having some luck with live bait using a slower presentation. Musky fishing was tough last week with ice conditions but again everything should open up this week with the warmer weather we are getting. Trolling the 172 flats and the mouth of the Fox with crank baits has been working the best. Casting rubber towards the shore by the mouth in front of Smokeys is also a good place to try. Last year on December 7th one of the larges muskies I have seen was caught casting rubber it was 55 by 29.5 a 60 pound fish. Shore fishing by Metro is picking up again. Walleye bite is better at night and the pike fishing has been real good. Some muskies are being caught too. There has been reports of perch, walleye and whitefish being caught out of Voyager. Remember to take a kid fishing. For more information give us a call at 920 593 1749. Yah, only at Smokey!!!!

Fishing on the Fox river last week was pretty good. Walleyes are being caught jigging around structure and areas where there is more current. Trolling the 172 flats was also very productive for catching some nice eyes. The night bite seems to be the best. Lots of muskies were caught last week trolling the mouth of the river and the 172 flats by the warm water discharge on the west side of the river. Perch were still being caught out of Bayshore, the Suamico river, Duck Creek and the Fox. This might change in the beginning of this week as colder than normal weather is icing up some of the water ways. Shore fishing by Metro and Voyager park is still going strong especially during the evening hours, with fishermen catching some nice walleye, pike, musky, whitefish and an occasional brown trout. For more information on the bite give us a call at 920 593 1749. Remember to take a kid fishing, yah only at Smokeys!!!

Fishing on the lower bay has been hit and miss for all species of fish. The lack of current in the river is having a big effect. Walleyes are still being caught in U -Bay , the mouth of the Fox, 172 flats and by the dam. Trolling cranks , jigging hair gigs, rippin raps and jigs and minnows are working. Musky fishing in the same areas above are your best bet. Casting rubber, bucktails and trolling cranks. Perch fishing is still good out of Bay Shore, Suamico river and in the Fox River using small minnows. Shore fishermen are doing pretty good out of Metro and Voyager, the night bite seems to be working the best with nice walleye, pike and musky being caught. Remember to take a kid fishing. Yah, only at Smokeys!!!