Merrill, WI help

[mattstark44]

Hi guys, I'm heading up to pick up a snowmobile in Merrill, WI and looking for some advice on a good lake to ice fish in that area.  I would like to get on some Walleye, Perch, Pike or Crappie.  Any help that could put me on some fish would be appreciated.

[da.mike]

Lake Alice in Tomahawk, WI. Take Hwy A exit off of Hwy 51. Keep going straight...you can't miss it.

[mattstark44]

How about Lake Alexander for some Walleye, Perch, and Pike?  Anyone ever fish there?

[WalleyeCrawl10]

I wouldn't fish lake Alexander if I were you, just simply the fact that its so slow right now and the river is really a hit and miss type of area. You can go up river aways on hwy 107 to rock island bar which is on the left. There you will find shanty town and by this I mean a few hundred shacks. If you're just looking to fish for the day and have a couple few beers and not fish so serious this is the place to go. My buddies have a shack out there and last weekend they had 18 tipups setup and only caught 1 little wally, 2 small northerns, and a 32 inch musky all together amongst em.

Also there is lake pesabic which isn't to difficult to fish. This lake holds pike, perch, bluegills, largemouth, and some wallys. I've always liked this lake because it's clean, it was close to home, and you usually catch fish. The only drawback to this lake is the size of fish and that its pretty shallow everywhere. It's like 12 ft deep at the most and most places around 4 to 6 ft depending on location and such. The perch in this lake are very small, no jumbos. The bluegills are also small, maybe 6 inches to 9 at the biggest which you catch few of. The Bass and Pike is what you catch the most off of medium to large shiners on tipups. The Bass range from bout 12 inches to 17 or so. The Pike are bout 18 to 22 inches with a rare few over 25 inches. The biggest Pike I caught was 31 and a half. Now the wallys are strange. You can catch dandys and keep em. They are usually always over 20 but you can only keep 1 over 14 inches on this lake. Also the Walleyes never bite til after dark and you really have to work hard for em.

Hope this helped. 

[mattstark44]

Walleyecrawl10  Thanks for the info, I'm really confused on where to try.  Have you fished North of there around Tomahawk or South by Wausau?  I think I'll have to talk to some locals when I get up there and go from there.  Thanks again for your advice!!

[Novak]

Hey Matt.  Lake Mohawksin in Tomahawk will get you on some fish. Big lake but it's got quality fish in it.  If you head up that way, stop in at Aquatic Arts sports shop and talk to them about where to try and what's hot.  They'll help you out.

~Novak

[WalleyeCrawl10]

Novak has the right idea. I actually live within a mile of the aquatic arts and I get my bait there. They're always pleasant to talk to and usually have an idea of what going on. I do believe they give some good advice. As for fishing in Tomahawk there is many places to go. Lake Alice has all sorts of places to go but I haven't ventured much on Alice. There is a bay by Edge Water Golf Course off of Hwy A east of Tomahawk that I have fished. I caught a 34 inch pike there this year however its the only pike i've gotten there in like 4 times. The rest I jigged for bluegills. It's only 4 to 5 feet deep there at the most in the bay but you'll catch 7 inch bluegills all day long if you find em.

Mohawkin is a good place to try like Novak said. I've caught a lot of Walleyes on Mohawksin but there is some places off of 86 west that you can try for Crappies and panfish. This place recently my Dad showed me was okay I suppose for Crappies and Gills. It was very spacey with the bites we had but out of the 4 of us, a guy pulled a crappie so big I thought it was a bass at first. It was over 13 maybe almost to 14 inches! He caught 2 of em like that. But in like 6 or 7 hours of fishing we only catch 7 fish and only 3 crappies. Thats between me and my Dad that is.

Another place to try which I am very unfamilar with, (saying this means I have never fished this lake), is Lake Nokomis. This lake is enormous! I haven't lived in Tomahawk long enough to find any hotspots but guys tell me they catch everything in this lake from little perch and bluegills to nice muskies. But unfortunately that's all the knowledge I have for this. I do know you can get on Nokomis from Hwy Y and Hwy L.

But wherever you go I just want to warn you that it is already the slow time of year when we have that thick ice and the fish just don't seem to bite very well. 

[mattstark44]

You guys have been very helpful, THANK  YOU!!!!  We are going to get bait Saturday morning before we go out at Aquatic Arts.  I would like to get on the elusive Walleye and from the pictures I've seen there is defiantly potential for trophy fish of all kinds.  I will be happy to just get out on the ice, here in Iowa I've only been out once and that was at Prairie Du Chen.  I'm pretty excited to get out and try a new area, I'm going to have to take some Tylenol PM tonight so I can sleep.  I know what your saying about the slow time of the year, seems unfair it's here already.  Is there any areas with some vegetation you know about?  I was also curios about the Spirit River flowage for some Walleye and Crappie maybe?  Wish I could stay for about a week and really check the area out.  I will be on a snowmobile pulling a green Eskimo Quickflip 3 at least if the ice is thick enough for the snowmobile.  If you see us out stop by and say "Hi"  Best of luck to you guys if you go out!