Kurt's Island Sport Shop

Kurt's Island Sport Shop Minocqua's expert professional fishing guide service. We have live bait and full line of fishing tackle, sporting goods, hunting, clothing and boots.
(1)

Minocqua Area Fishing ReportBeautiful week of weather, could have used some more rain, but…With the warmth, water temps ...
06/08/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Beautiful week of weather, could have used some more rain, but…
With the warmth, water temps climbing into mid-70’s already, pushing fish out of the late May patterns and into early summer a bit ahead of schedule. Expect bites from last week starting to shift this coming week.

Smallmouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Anglers reporting fewer bedding fish than last week. Temps speeding up the spawn. Post spawn Smallies outside spawning areas hitting suspending jerks (Husky, X-Raps) and swimming Marabou jigs. Season not open until June 20th, best to let those battlers go even then.

Walleye: Very Good-Good (and slowing) – Definite drop off by Sunday (6/7) over mid-week when shallow w**d bite (4’-8’) was hot, even during sunny afternoons. Large leeches and medium redtails on w**dless jigs did the trick. Water temps rising, plus the prospect of Mayflys getting ready (not yet, but could with heating lake temps) mean consider some off w**d mud flats, dragging crawlers or leeches on jigs or Lindy Rigs.

Northern Pike: Very Good-Good – Active in shallows feeding up on just about anything that moves (found Perch, Crayfish, Bluegills and even a Mudpuppy in the bellies of some I filleted and sent home with clients). When on the feed any fast-moving lure or bait will trigger hits. Mepps Aglia #3 & 4’s, chatterbaits, Boonie Baits, 4” swimbaits and Husky Jerks have been favorites.

Yellow Perch: Very Good-Good – Mixing in the shallow w**ds with the Walleyes and Pike, grabbing what they can. Best to down size a little with medium fatheads on 1/16 oz jigs. Perch of 9-12” this week feeding up.

Largemouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Shallow water as the “Green” Bass are next to bed. The trend of the year – Fuzzy Dice, Ameoba’s or Silencers pitched into the shallows and danced back have been a hit. Wacky worming, 3” swimbaits (Kietech Impacts, Crush City Mayors and Mooch Minnows) as well as, small spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. Evening bit on top-water (frogs, mice, Whopper Ploppers) starting up.

Bluegill: Good – Piling up in shallows, some reports of bedding, but seems early as Gills move in after Largemouth. Thunderbugs, small leeches, Gulp Maggots and wet flys cast behind small bobbers.

Crappie: Good-Fair – While still getting caught in all the regulare post spawn areas – w**ds, drowned wood – and some showing signs of missing their spawn (dark orange-colored eggs), active fish hitting small swimming plastics (Kalin Crappie Scrubs, 2” Twister) and the always edible Mini Mites.

Musky: Good-Fair – Most anglers moving and catching smaller (low to mid-30”) fish using light bucktails, 6” twitchbits, and 5-6” swimbaits in shallows of 5-10’. A few on quick-set rigged suckers, but with the water temps in mid-70’s, hard to keep lively.

With temps forecasted to hit upper 80’s by Wednesday (6/10) before dropping back into highs of 70’s, even upper 60’s, promise (will see) of rain, lake temps may settle down by the coming weekend. New moon is the 14th, my favorite.

Pics of the Week
Peter of Wisconsin Rapids with a nice Northern Pike
Miles caught this nice Pike while fishing with cousin Peter and Grandma Becky
Becky Engstrand of Rudolf, WI with a Northern Pike
Mary Beth Walton of Milwaukee with a 12” Jumbo Perch
Steve Salzbrenner with a 30” Northern Pike – Caught and Released

Minocqua Area Fishing ReportA beautiful week for fishing, a couple days of east winds shy of a perfect week. Overall, f...
06/02/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

A beautiful week for fishing, a couple days of east winds shy of a perfect week. Overall, fishing was good and looking forward, no reason to think it won’t remain so with steady temps in the upper 70’s to low 80’s forecasted all week.

Smallmouth Bass: Excellent-Very Good – Many bedding fish, some already done due to warm temps. Top-water action hot on Chug Bugs, Tiny Torpedoes. Urchin style baits have been the rage as well as Senko’s, Neds, Yum Breakin Shad and Flukes. Post spawn fish hitting X-raps and Husky Jerks out over 8-12’ breaks away from spawning areas. Season does not open until the 20th of June, but Smallies best for catch and release anyway.

Walleye: Very Good-Good – As cabbage w**ds starting to grow and thicken, work leeches on 1/16 – 1/8 oz jigs through 6-12’ patches. Wind blown w**ds best, but even the lee sides holding fish. Minnows, crawlers (1/2 crawlers in w**ds) and 3” plastic swimbaits (Kitech’s) snapped through these areas popping fish. Stomach searches finding mayfly larvae, so don’t discount mud flats in 12-16’, especially on the Flowages

Crappie: Very Good-Good – Lots of signs that bedding is over! Work tall narrow leaf cabbage outside of previous spawning areas. Mini Mites, Crappie Scrubs, Charlie Bees all good choices worked through top half of tall w**d growth in 8-12’ of water.

Northern Pike: Very Good-Good – Loving the new w**d growth to set up for ambush. 4” swimbaits, Mepps #3: #4 Comet Minnows, Boonie Baits and chatterbaits. Even the “fly” guys catching some Pike on large streamers. Jig and chub or a sucker of 4-6” under a float good back up.

Yellow Perch: Very Good-Good – Nice Perch of 9-12” showing up where new w**d growth is emerging. Mostly showing signs of feeding on dragonfly larvae (thunderbugs) and small crayfish. Use thunderbugs (if available), medium leech or 1/2 crawlers all working!

Largemouth Bass: Very Good-Good – Next in line to move up to spawn. Largemouth feeding up on most anything that moves in the warm shallows. Wacky Worms, Flukes, tubes and 4: Power Worms fished on 1/8 oz jig heads doing the trick. Top-water action on plastic frogs, spiders and mice as well as the smaller size 60 to 75 Whopper Ploppers towards evenings the most fun!

Bluegill: Good-Very Good – Nice Gills in the 7-8 1/2” range slurping up small leeches and thunderbugs in 6-9’ w**ds. Some top-water action on calmer evenings reported by fly anglers and spinning anglers using poppers and dry flys (spinning anglers using clear plastic bobbers to cast light lures.)

Musky: Good-Fair – Most on smaller bucktails, 6” twitchbaits and small 6” gliders. Smaller Musky in mid-30” size range cruising shallow inside w**d edges, larger fish a bit deeper over 6-10’ w**ds.

Patterns should continue to hold as a week of steady, warm weather should help w**d growth and hopefully stabilize the fish still waiting to spawn. Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass in that order will be in next. The leech bite has really picked up on a lot of lakes and the month of June looks like it should be a great one on the water.

Pics of the Week
Kinsley at it again with a nice Crappie off Grandpa’s dock!
Cooper caught some fun Bass off of Grandpa’s dock!
Geri Koch of St. Germaine with a 23 ¼” Walleye! C&R
Tom (Dog Boy) Waite of Honey Creek, WI with a healthy 15” Largemouth – C&R
Will Lask of Edwardsville, IL with a nice 18” Walleye!
Kyle Lask with a 23 ¾” Walleye – C&R
Kyle again with a nice 30” Northern Pike!

Minocqua Area Fishing ReportWhat a great Memorial Day Weekend!Lots of sun, warmth and good fishing! Anglers saw plenty ...
05/26/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

What a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Lots of sun, warmth and good fishing! Anglers saw plenty of opportunities to pursue and catch their favorite fish. Weather made fishing comfortable for a change, HWY 51 was open, life in the Northwoods is Good!

Rock Bass: Off the Charts! – When three families of visitors to the Northwoods from the Kentucky (Louisville) area, with seven kids ages 3 to 8 can catch and release over 250 Rock Bass in a day (in shifts) of fishing…enough said!

Crappie: Very Good – And not even peaked! Crappies moving up to the shallows in preparation to spawn. Crappies taking small plastics such as Bobby Garland Slab Slayers and Itty Bitty’s as well as Mini Mites or 2” twister tails. Most fish being found in 2-3’ of water as they look for their perfect spawning grounds.

Walleye: Very Good – Despite some hic-ups with high skies, Walleye activity early and late in the day, as well as on dark water bodies of water was very good. Working 3-4” swimbaits in depths as little as 3’ to as deep as 9-10’. Keying on any cover available that held bait fish that were moving into warming shallows, Walleye were also actively hitting jig and minnow or leech combos and shallow running minnow stickbaits such as Storm Jr. Thundersticks and floating Rapalas.

Northern Pike: Very Good – Feeding heavily on small Yellow Perch, so matching the hatch (green, yellow, touch of orange) all good choices on the artificial spectrum, as well as jigging 4” chubs or suckers on w**dless jigs and light wire leaders. Any sign of green w**d growth has the chance for a good Pike hang out in these shallow waters.

Largemouth Bass: Good-Very Good – Bass cruising shallows, feeding heavily on minnows and insects. Shallow running square billed cranks, 3” swimbaits and all varieties of soft plastics. Nice reports of Largemouth to 20” this weekend.

Yellow Perch: Good-Very Good – Small leeches, thunder bugs and small minnows in w**dy pockets of 4-7’. Wood in 7-10’ also producing nice Perch.

Musky: Fair-Good – Most reports from anglers were of smaller fish, though some 42-44” fish were reported. Small bucktails and 6” twitchbaits though some anglers caught Skies on small 7-8” live suckers.

Smallmouth Bass: Fair-Good – Finding them was the key. Staging out from hard shallow bottom spawning areas. Swimming black or brown Marabou jigs or working twitchbaits out over 8-12’ areas. Should see a major move into shallows as water temps are cracking into the low 60’s and should hold.

Bluegill: Fair-Good – Mostly due to lack of reports or lack of anglers targeting. Thunder bugs, small leeches, leaf worms all good. Should see a big upswing in action moving forward.

With temps in mid-80’s to mid-70’s all this next week, expect spawning activity for Crappies and Smallmouth Bass to jump! The warm weather will bring bug hatches and spur on some good w**d growth to get things really rocking this week. Water temps that have been hovering in the mid to upper 50’s will be heating up into the mid to upper 60’s – great week of fishing opportunities ahead.

Pics of the Week
4-year-old Molly proudly displays her big catch
Boyd, 7 years old and mother Whitney, of Louisville, KY with his first Rock Bass
Young Collis, 5 years old, with her mom and best Friend Molly, all from Lousiville, KY with a brace of Rock Bass
Hank Hildebrtand and daughter Dawson with a nice Smallie
Collis Hildebrand of Louisvbille, KY proudly showing off her "Bass Thumb"! You Go Girl!
4-year-old David of Minocqua with a nice Crappie
Hayley with a nice Pike
Joe and Ben Piernick of Oregon, WI with a nice catch of Walleye
Jack Backler with a dandy Walleye caught on a soft plastic swimbait
Josh Selness with a nice mid-20” Walleye caught on a soft plastic swimbait
Tom Condoni with a pair of nice Walleyes

WE'RE HIRING/ full timeLooking for motivated, reliable team player for retail/service employment.ALSO Minn Kota Repair s...
05/26/2026

WE'RE HIRING/ full time
Looking for motivated, reliable team player for retail/service employment.
ALSO Minn Kota Repair service
Do you have knowledge of electric motors or willing to learn?
Pay dependent on skills and experience.
JOIN OUR TEAM

715-356-4797
[email protected]

05/19/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Our bouncing weather pattern finally bounced right for once giving anglers summer like temps Fri:Sat (80°) though winds were somewhat brutal. Sunday came back cold and windy, though less windy than Saturday. The sudden warmth brought fish activity and lots of good reports for those wearing sunscreen and fighting the wind!

Walleye: Good-Great-Good – The hot weather created a hot bite as water temps climbed quickly into upper 50’s and anglers reported hard hits on swimbaits fished in 8-12’ of water. Similar reports of active fish hitting shallow stickbaits towards dusk in the warming shallows. That was the feed window we had been looking for, unfortunately temps fell into the 40’s on Sunday (5/17) and it was back to picking and pecking with jigs and minnows for our keepers.

Crappie: Good-Great-Good – It’s that time! Crappies moving up into warm shallows, occupying wood in the water to prep for spawning. Besides the nearly impossible to resist Crappie minnow under a small float, casting small plastics, such as Mini Mites, Crappie Scrubs or 1-2” twister tails caught all the Crappies anglers cared to clean. The cool down slowed things, but on some lakes the Crappies stayed committed to the shallows!

Northern Pike: Very Good – Action on spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and 3-4” swimbaits when water temps hit the upper 50’s - back up with a jig and sucker or chub when faced with cooler temps. Any sign of green plant life, though did get a report of Pike holding deep (20-24’) over sand grass on the deeper, clearer lakes.

Smallmouth Bass: Good – Catch and Release only! Hitting twitchbaits, swimbaits and Marabou jigs worked in the 8-12’ range for these staging fish.

Yellow Perch: Good – Work shallow w**ds using a light 1/16 oz jig with a medium leech, fathead or ½ crawler. Most active Perch found in 4-8’ of dark bottomed north ends of lakes.

Largemouth Bass: Good – Seeking warm dark shallows. Swimming 1/8 oz jigs with 4” Power worms, 3” swimbaits, Ned rigs or the new-fangled Fuzzy Dice (ask Nick). Also, Micah behind the counter, hit Largemouth on plastic frogs during the weekend’s heat wave.

Bluegill: Good-Fair – Not a lot of reports, but some dock anglers catching Gills up in the shallows on small worms and plastics.

Forecast looks for a nice even warm up for the Memorial Day Weekend. Not the fast heat up of the past weekend, but something needed to sustain a good steady bite. Should be a good “fisherman” weekend with temps in 60’s, pushing 70’s and cloud cover. Leech bite is picking up and availability looks good. Thunder bugs are not available and the dace run is coming to an end. Redtails are starting to trickle in.

Minocqua Area Fishing ReportNot the easiest week weather wise. Cold and high winds have kept lake surface temperatures ...
05/11/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Not the easiest week weather wise. Cold and high winds have kept lake surface temperatures hovering in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. New w**d growth has been limited along with all the goodies that come with!

Northern Pike: Good – Cruising amongst any signs of new w**d growth in 4-8’ of water. Slowly working a black chub on a 1/16-1/8 oz w**dless jig has been best as Pike not overly aggressive. Three-inch paddle tail swimbaits or twister tails fished in same manner also picking up fish.

Walleye: Good-Fair – Bite was improving before weekend’s wind and cold. Light biting! Dragging large fatheads or large dace minnows in 6-9’ picking up finicky fish. Leeches also showing up in bellies of kept Walleyes, so not a bad idea to carry a dozen or two along. Late afternoons to early evenings when temperatures have peaked for the day seem to be best.

Crappie: Fair – Same story. Wind, cold pushed Crappies that had been moving in to warm, back out into 10-12’ depths where they are being found staging. Best to suspend a small Crappie minnow or Mini Mite under a slip float to tease them to bite.

Yellow Perch: Fair – A few being picked up by anglers targeting Walleyes in that same 6-9’ of green plant life. Medium fatheads, leeches or small crawlers (beavertails) good choices. Most showing signs of coming back from rigors of spawn – should be hungry.

Smallmouth Bass: Fair – (Catch and Release only) Working twitchbaits and 1/8 oz black Maribou jigs in 8-12’ of water (thanks Chris), most effective.

Largemouth Bass: Fair-Poor – Not much to report. Few targeting. Mostly moved back out of shallows though should return once waters warm.

Bluegill: Poor – No reports

Have a bit of a reprieve on Monday (5-11) with sunshine and temps in low 60’s, then cooler with wind and rain chances Tuesday and Wednesday before we see 60’s again. Been a slow first 9-10 days of the season. Good news is the gradual warm up will spread the upcoming good bite out for a while!

Pictures of the week
Marla Harmon of Tallahassee, FL with a nice Mother’s Day Pike
Gabbi Condini with her first Walleye of the year
Mystery angler…can anyone identify this mystery angler 😊

05/04/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

And they’re off! The 2026 Walleye opener is in the books. A bit of a soft opener overall with participation somewhat down (with the exception of the usual “gathering” places). Reports varied depending on what lakes/flowages people fished. The cold opening morning (23° around Minocqua) did not help. Lake surface temps had been hovering around 48-49° but rebounded with warmer afternoons pushing temps into low-mid 50’s. Most reports show signs that Walleye are past spawn in the Lakeland area, though further north on deeper, colder lakes with temps in low 40’s, spawn still occurring.

Walleye: Good – Really depended on whose boat you were in, very good in some, not so good in mine. Shallow water with sand in 3-6’ using jigs tipped with large fatheads or 3” twister tails during the day. At dusk casting shallow running stickbaits proved best accounting for nicer fish on X-Raps, Husky Jerks, Rattlin Rouges and Thunder Sticks. Fish to 27” this weekend with many over 20+”.

Crappie: Good – Cold nights pushed Crappies off the shorelines where they had been warming themselves in 1-2’ of water. Four to six feet is where they seem to have moved out to. Anglers using small floats to suspend minnows and small plastics did well. Check water temps if on a boat – warmer water of 1-2° from one side of the lake to the other can mean all the difference.

Northern Pike: Good – Light biting but willing on live bait. Finding any green w**ds was key, feeding up on small Perch. Slow retrieving 4” swimbaits also picked up some Pike.

Yellow Perch: Good – Similar to Northern Pike, putting on a post spawn feed in shallow, soft bottomed bays with any signs of green w**ds. Small to medium fatheads on 1/32 oz jigs or under floats in 3-6’ depths.

Largemouth Bass: Good – Better early last week before cold nights. Look for warmest water near wood (trees, piers) or in soft, dark bottomed bays. Casting twitchbaits, swimming 3” twister tails or paddle tails and surprisingly (to me, but have gotten from several different “bassers”) chatterbaits! Big Largemouth to 20+” as females searching for the warm spas.

Smallmouth Bass: Fair – Not being targeted, still catch and release only, but some incidental catches by anglers working 18-22’ gravel slides for Walleye.

Another cool down mid-week (lows 28-30°) with highs only in mid-40’s will stall the lakes warming. By weekend back into mid to upper 50’s. The gradual warm up may help overall, not rushing fish and giving some time to build patterns.

04/27/2026

Minocqua Area Fishing Report

The 2026 Opener is just days away, May 2nd! Area lakes and Flowages are ice free and ready to fish. The Walleye spawn is different from lake to lake. Pre-spawn and spawning Walleye will be found on the larger, deeper, colder lakes, and some spawning still on large lakes further north. For the most part we should see plenty of post-spawn activity this opener. The barely warm up, mostly highs in the mid-40’s to mid-50’s this week, will slow down the lakes warming and stretch out any remaining spawn and post spawn activity.

On lakes and Flowages where spawning has occurred, casting shallow running stickbaits such as Storm Thundersticks, Floating Rapalas (F-7 & F-9), Smithwick Rattlin Rouges over shallow, newly emerging w**ds especially after dark. Weedless 1/16 oz jigs tipped with large fatheads, large Dace or small to medium redtails are the ticket for daytime fishing. Don’t be shy about using a ½ crawler or leech when fishing dark bottomed shallows either.

From work on our portable hatchery on Lake Minocqua, surface temps hovering around 48-49° as of this writing. Don’t expect much of an improvement.

Northern Pike are done with the spawn and should be putting on the feed bag. Look to newly greening w**ds first. Swimbaits, #3 Mepps or jig and sucker combos should work. Keep in mind with cooler water, slower retrieves will work best.

Anglers should expect to find Crappies, Perch and Largemouth Bass in the shallows warming and feeding. Very spooky in less than 2’ of water. Long casts are needed. Heavy floats (oxymoron) to make long cast with light baits; crappie minnows, Mini Mites, 3” Wacky Worms are the ticket!

Make sure to check for any new regulations on the waters you like to fish. Size and bag limits have changed on some (i.e. Willow Flowage, 10 fish bag limit on panfish). Stay legal and stay safe!

Address

824 Highway 51 North
Minocqua, WI
54548

Opening Hours

Monday 5am - 9pm
Tuesday 5am - 8pm
Wednesday 5am - 9pm
Thursday 5am - 9pm
Friday 5am - 10pm
Saturday 5am - 9pm
Sunday 5am - 9pm

Telephone

+17153564797

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kurt's Island Sport Shop posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kurt's Island Sport Shop:

Shortcuts

Share

Category