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Taylor County fishing report
April 3, 2008

A few anglers are still chasing late season bluegills and crappies through the ice.
Nancy Shotliff at Rock Point Bait recommended chartreuse and orange jigs tipped with wax worms for bluegills at this time of the year. She said the few anglers who are going out are not reporting a lot of success.
“They are catching some, but not a lot,” Shotliff said. “It’s slow all over.”
Shotliff said anglers are trying all over area waters in search of panfish, and it’s hard to tell if the fish are deep or shallow right now. She added ice on many area lakes is still two feet thick.
“A few people are going out once in a while,” said Fuzzy Ellenbecker at Fuzzy’s General Store. “But don’t put away your ice auger if you want to go fishing on opening day.”
According to the state Department of Natural Resources, winter-like conditions this past week have kept ice conditions in pretty good shape on most lakes across the Northwoods. Ice thickness is still in the 24 to 28-inch range, with 3 to 6 inches of fresh heavy snow on top.
Many of the access sites have become very rutted up — but quite a few vehicles have still been making it out to many of the favorite fishing spots. Warmer temperatures are predicted for later this week, so look for travel conditions to become very sloppy and any late season ice anglers should consider going out by foot. Anyone venturing out on the ice at this time of year should be very cautious as access and ice conditions can change in a hurry with warm, sunny skies or a heavy warm rain.
Late-season panfish anglers have had limited success in the last week. Fishing conditions have been good but area anglers have reported some slow action. Most anglers have been catching a few perch and bluegill, but the crappie have been a bit harder to find. Wax worms and small minnows have been the best baits, with the fish being found suspended off the bottom near any kind of cover.
The water has not yet begun to run down the holes -- but look for panfish action to pick up when this spring phenomenon does start in the next week or so.