Musky close on December 31 and, new this season, may not be fished for through the ice. Inland trout streams reopen for catch and release at 5 a.m. on Saturday, January 2, the free fishing weekend is January 16 and 17, and Lake Winnebago's sturgeon spearing opens on Saturday, February 13. Walleye, pike and bass stay open into March, and dozens of lakes changed their own limits this year, so look the lake up before keeping fish.
What to fish for in early November
A quarter that begins on open water and ends deep in the ice season. The last weeks of open water belong to the musky, until their season closes with the year; the north freezes weeks ahead of the south, the Lake Michigan harbors stay open for trout through it all, and on Winnebago the sturgeon spearers go out in February.
These notes cover the whole winter, the ice included. In early November, the eight lakes in the season tables that get near freezing are usually still open water, at 45 to 49F.
Walleye
Bites best in the low light under first ice and again late in the season, and slows in the dead of winter, when the evening hour is often the whole day's bite.
Where. The Chippewa Flowage and the Minocqua chain, the Winnebago system, Green Bay off the Fox River, and the Wisconsin River below its dams.
The walleye waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Minocqua Lake about 45F Best Sun, Nov 8, AToday's forecast Lake Winnebago about 48F Best Mon, Nov 9, AToday's forecast Green Bay (southern bay) not modeled Best Tue, Nov 10, A+Today's forecast Yellow Perch
Gathers over soft bottom and is the staple of the big-water ice, the schools moving between flats from one week to the next.
Where. Green Bay from both shores, Lake Winnebago and the upriver lakes, and Chequamegon Bay off Ashland and Washburn.
The yellow perch waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Chequamegon Bay not modeled Best Sat, Nov 7, AToday's forecast Lake Mendota about 49F Best Sun, Nov 8, A+Today's forecast Pewaukee Lake about 49F Best Sun, Nov 8, AToday's forecast Crappie
Packs into winter schools that hang off the bottom in the deep holes and rise toward the ice at dusk.
Where. The bays and the old river channels of the Chippewa Flowage, the Hayward lakes and the lakes around Minocqua and Eagle River.
The crappie waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Chippewa Flowage about 46F Best Mon, Nov 9, B+Today's forecast Brown Trout
Comes into the Lake Michigan harbors and the lower tributaries for the winter, and on Lake Superior's bays it comes up under the ice with the splake and the lake trout.
Where. Open water inside the harbors at Milwaukee, Port Washington and Sheboygan and the mouths of their rivers, and Chequamegon Bay.
The brown trout waters we forecast Water Forecast Lake Michigan at Milwaukee Today's forecast Northern Pike
Takes tip-up baits along the weed edges right through the season.
Where. Shallow bays everywhere, the Madison lakes and the southeast lakes among them, and the Lake Superior ice, where it may be speared.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
Ice in early November
- Usually not iced over yet: Lake Mendota.
From the middle dates of each lake's own ice record, not a call on this winter's ice. No date makes ice safe.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Wisconsin in the next six weeks.
Every date for Wisconsin from November to February (4)
- Thu December 31Wisconsin's musky season closes, and it is open water only.
- Sat January 2Wisconsin's inland trout streams open at 5 a.m. for catch and release; keeping trout waits for the spring opener.
- Sat January 16Wisconsin's free fishing weekend is Saturday and Sunday, with no license needed.
- Sat February 13Lake Winnebago's sturgeon spearing season opens, for 16 days at most.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Wisconsin's north is reported every week in winter: the Hayward Lakes Outdoor Report on Mondays and Kurt's Island Sport Shop's Minocqua report on Tuesdays, with Chequamegon Bay covered by a bait shop's page, the DNR's occasional Lake Superior update and Jarrid Houston's column in the Duluth News Tribune. The DNR's Lake Michigan report carries a weekly Green Bay ice creel through the ice season. Winnebago, the Lake Michigan harbors in midwinter, Madison, the Wisconsin River and the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi had no dated written reporter that could be found, Madison's weekly report lives on social media and a phone line, and Outdoor News's report is for subscribers.
Where to fish in Wisconsin, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Hayward and the Chippewa Flowage
Chippewa Flowage · Lac Courte Oreilles · Grindstone Lake · Round Lake · Nelson Lake
The lake country around Hayward in the northwest, with the Chippewa Flowage at its center, a sprawling impoundment of bays, islands and drowned timber, and deep, clear lakes like Lac Courte Oreilles around it.
Who reports here. The Hayward Lakes Outdoor Report is written every Monday and posted on Tuesday all winter, with ice depths and the crappie, walleye and pike bite on the Flowage and the lakes around town, credited to the local bait shops.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, B+10 good hours50F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h223 cfsat CHIPPEWA RIVER AT BISHOPS BRIDGE NEAR WINTER, WI9 mi away
Vilas and Oneida counties
Eagle River chain · Minocqua chain · Lac Vieux Desert · Trout Lake · Tomahawk Lake
The heart of the northern lake country, around Eagle River, Minocqua and Boulder Junction: chains of connected lakes, many of them inside the Ceded Territory, where walleye limits are set lake by lake.
Who reports here. Kurt's Island Sport Shop in Minocqua posted its Minocqua Area Fishing Report every Tuesday last winter, from November 3 to February 24 without a gap, with the ice and the walleye, crappie and pike bite on the lakes around town. Eagle River's chamber posts a report too, but its site blocks automated reads, so how often it ran in winter is unknown.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A11 good hours49F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 6h
Chequamegon Bay and Lake Superior
Chequamegon Bay · Lake Superior · Apostle Islands · Superior harbor
The sheltered bay between Ashland and Washburn, the Apostle Islands at its mouth, and the harbor at Superior on the state's western tip: Lake Superior water for lake trout, brown trout, splake, perch and pike.
Who reports here. The Ashland chamber's bait-shop page is rewritten about every two weeks, with ice thickness on the Ashland and Washburn sides and what the trout, salmon, perch and pike are doing, and the DNR's fisheries staff update their own page now and then. Jarrid Houston's column in the Duluth News Tribune fills the weeks between, nearly every Friday, with the ice he guides on and the salmon, herring and whitefish under it.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sat, Nov 7, A10 good hours51F read by satellite from this water's surfacebest run 10h
Lake Winnebago and the upriver lakes
Lake Winnebago · Lake Butte des Morts · Lake Winneconne · Lake Poygan · Wolf River
The largest inland lake in the state, wide and shallow, with three smaller lakes on the Wolf River above it: a system with a lake sturgeon population speared through the ice each February, and walleye and perch that much of eastern Wisconsin fishes.
Who reports here. The clubs that mark the ice roads post their updates on social media, which the Fond du Lac County sheriff tells anglers to check, and the DNR runs the sturgeon season and its harvest caps. No dated written report on the walleye and perch could be found.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, A9 good hours52F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
Green Bay and Door County
Green Bay · Fox River · Sturgeon Bay · Little Sturgeon Bay · Door County harbors
The long bay between the Door Peninsula and the mainland, shallow and fertile toward the city at its southern end where the Fox River comes in, and deeper and clearer up the peninsula.
Who reports here. The DNR's weekly Lake Michigan report carries a Green Bay ice creel report for each shore while its ice survey runs, from about January 1 to March 31; its March 9 edition last winter covered the Fox River and Bayshore launches. A few charter posts on a booking site are all else that turned up.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A+9 good hours56F read by satellite from this water's surfacebest run 5h
The Lake Michigan harbors
Milwaukee harbor · Port Washington · Sheboygan · Kewaunee · Root River
Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shore from Kenosha to Kewaunee: open water, breakwaters and harbor mouths, and the short tributaries that trout and salmon run into from the lake.
Who reports here. The DNR names January's brown trout fishing in the open harbors and tributaries. Its weekly Lake Michigan report runs on creel clerks' work from March to October, so for Milwaukee, Port Washington, Sheboygan and Kewaunee in midwinter no dated report could be found.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
The Madison lakes
Lake Mendota · Lake Monona · Lake Waubesa · Lake Kegonsa · Lake Wingra
The chain of the Yahara River through Madison: Mendota, the largest and deepest, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa below it, and little Wingra, with panfish, walleye and pike within sight of the Capitol.
Who reports here. D&S Bait in Madison runs a weekly report, but on social media and a phone line, 608-BIG-FISH, so it is not quoted here. The State Climatology Office keeps the dates the lakes froze each winter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A+10 good hours55F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 10h
Ice
- Lake Mendota: usually ices over around Jan 2 (between Dec 25 and Jan 11 in 9 of 16 recorded winters, and Jan 1 in 2026).
The Wisconsin River flowages
Lake Wisconsin · Petenwell Lake · Castle Rock Lake · Wisconsin River
The big impoundments of the central Wisconsin River, Petenwell and Castle Rock above Wisconsin Dells and Lake Wisconsin below it, wide, shallow and fed by current, with walleye and sauger below the dams.
Who reports here. No winter reporter could be found for Lake Wisconsin, Petenwell or Castle Rock, and Travel Wisconsin warns of pressure ridges and moving water on these flowages.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 15, A+9 good hours54F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 6h
The Mississippi River
Lake Pepin · Pool 9 · Pool 10 · Prairie du Chien · La Crosse
The river along the western line from Prescott to the Illinois border, stepped into pools by locks and dams, with sloughs and backwater lakes beside the main channel and Lake Pepin, a natural widening, near the top.
Who reports here. Nobody reports the Wisconsin side of Pool 9, Prairie du Chien or the La Crosse backwaters in winter. Iowa's weekly DNR report covers the Iowa side of the same pools, with ice ratings, for Iowa's ramps.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A+7 good hours53F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
Ice
- Lake Pepin: the ice usually goes out around Mar 29 (between Mar 16 and Apr 8 in 9 of 15 recorded springs, and Mar 29 in 2026).
The St. Croix and the northwest lakes
St. Croix River · Lake St. Croix · Yellow Lake · Big McKenzie Lake
The St. Croix along the Minnesota line, from the mouth of the Namekagon down through the Dalles to Lake St. Croix at Hudson, a walleye, sauger and smallmouth river shared with Minnesota, and the lakes of Burnett and Polk counties beside it, Yellow and Big McKenzie among them, fished through the ice.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found, beyond anglers' forum threads that are leads, not sources.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A+7 good hours52F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
The southeast lakes
Lake Geneva · Delavan Lake · Pewaukee Lake · Okauchee Lake · Big Green Lake
The lakes of the southeast between Milwaukee and the Illinois line, Geneva and Delavan in Walworth County and the Waukesha lakes, Pewaukee and Okauchee, with deep Big Green Lake to the northwest, panfish, walleye and pike water through the ice.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found; the search of southern Wisconsin for this edition found none either.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 8, A10 good hours54F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 10h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- New this season: musky is open water only and closes on December 31, so this is the first winter in which no musky may be fished for through the ice.
- Inland trout streams now open for harvest on the first Saturday in April rather than in May, so the early catch-and-release season that opens on January 2 ends in early April.
- Dozens of lakes have new limits of their own for 2026-27, most of them in the North District: walleye slots protecting fish from 20 to 24 inches, panfish limits of 25 or 10, and new pike and bass rules. Look each lake up in the DNR's lake regulations before keeping fish.
- Adopted for April 1, 2027: Lake Superior's walleye limit splits at Bark Point, two, only one over 20 inches, west of it and five east of it. Nothing changes in this quarter.
Read on October 20, 2026, from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (its fishing regulations, chapter NR 20 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, its lake regulation lookup, its sturgeon spearing, license and ice safety pages and its rule changes).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- The license year runs from April 1 to March 31, so a license bought for the summer covers the whole ice season.
- Residents pay $20 a year ($7 at 16 or 17, or 65 and older) or $8 for a day. Nonresidents pay $55 a year, $29 for four days, $33 for 15 days or $15 for a day. Trout and salmon anglers add a $10 stamp: the Great Lakes salmon and trout stamp, or the inland trout stamp.
- Anglers 15 and under fish without a license, and on the free fishing weekend, the third Saturday and Sunday of January, nobody needs one.
- On the Mississippi between Wisconsin and Minnesota, either state's license is good.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- No angler may fish with more than three hooks, baits or lures in all, which through the ice means three lines at most, and every line must be attended: a bite left unanswered is evidence it was not.
- Never dump unused bait in the water. Dead fish or fish eggs used as bait are limited to the water they came from or to Lake Michigan and Green Bay, unless they were preserved without refrigeration or freezing; dead minnows lawfully taken in Wisconsin are allowed anywhere.
- When leaving any water, drain all of it from boats, bait buckets and live wells. The one exception is up to 2 gallons of water holding live minnows bought from a Wisconsin bait dealer and kept apart from the lake's own water and fish.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- On inland waters walleye, northern pike and bass stay open through the first Sunday in March, and panfish all year. The musky season closes on December 31 and is open water only, so no musky may be fished for through the ice.
- A lake with no special rule keeps walleye at three of at least 15 inches, bass at five of at least 14 inches and panfish at 25, and northern pike at five of any size north of US Highway 10 or two of at least 26 inches south of it. Many lakes have their own limits; look the lake up in the DNR's lake regulations before keeping fish.
- Walleye limits in the Ceded Territory of northern Wisconsin are set lake by lake: the default protects fish from 20 to 24 inches, the DNR can lower a lake's daily limit in response to the Chippewa bands' harvest, and nobody may keep more than five walleye a day across such lakes.
- Inland trout streams open for catch-and-release fishing at 5 a.m. on the first Saturday in January; keeping trout waits for the spring opener.
- On Green Bay and Lake Michigan northern pike are open all year.
Through the ice
- A shelter left on the ice must show its owner's name and address or DNR customer number outside in letters at least an inch high, and its door must open from outside. After the first Sunday following March 1 south of Highway 64, and the first Sunday following March 12 north of it and on the Great Lakes, a shelter must come off the ice every day and whenever it is not in use.
- No hole for fishing may be wider than 12 inches, except for sturgeon spearing, spearing on Lake Superior and a few other methods.
- Game fish, northern pike included, may not be speared, except sturgeon on the Winnebago system and pike through the ice on Lake Superior.
- Lake Winnebago's sturgeon spearing season opens on the second Saturday in February and runs 16 days unless a harvest cap closes it sooner, from inside a shelter, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. only. The license ($20 resident, $65 nonresident) must be bought by October 31; the upriver lakes go by drawing, applications due August 1.
- The DNR does not monitor ice and says no ice is 100 percent safe; it sends anglers to local bait shops, clubs and resorts for current conditions.
Read on these agency pages: Wisconsin DNR Go Wild: Nonresident licenses, Wisconsin DNR Go Wild: Resident licenses, Wisconsin DNR: Fishing licenses, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.25: License waiver (free fishing weekends), Wis. Admin. Code NR 21.03: Reciprocity on Wisconsin-Minnesota boundary waters, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.06: Hook and line fishing, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.08: Restrictions on the use of bait, Wis. Admin. Code NR 19.055: Drainage of water from boats and equipment, Wisconsin DNR: Walleye, sauger and hybrids seasons, Wisconsin DNR: Largemouth and smallmouth bass seasons, Wisconsin DNR: Muskellunge seasons, Wisconsin DNR lake regulations: Fenske Lake, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin DNR lake regulations: Europe Lake, Door County, Wis. Admin. Code chapter NR 20 (PDF), Wisconsin DNR: Lake regulations lookup, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.36: Bag and size adjustments in response to tribal harvest, Wisconsin DNR: Trout seasons, Wisconsin DNR: Fishing seasons, Wisconsin DNR: Northern pike seasons, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.11: Ice fishing and fishing shelter restrictions, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.09: Spearing restrictions, Wisconsin DNR: Lake sturgeon seasons, Wis. Admin. Code NR 20.10: Special lake sturgeon spearing restrictions, Wisconsin DNR: Ice safety.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chippewa Flowage | 47F | 37F | 35F | 34F | 34F |
| Lake Mendota | 50F | 41F | 35F | 35F | 35F |
| Lake Pepin | 48F | 38F | 35F | 34F | 35F |
| Lake St. Croix | 47F | 39F | 35F | 34F | 35F |
| Lake Winnebago | 49F | 38F | 35F | 34F | 34F |
| Lake Wisconsin | 49F | 41F | 35F | 35F | 35F |
| Minocqua Lake | 46F | 36F | 35F | 35F | 35F |
| Pewaukee Lake | 50F | 41F | 35F | 35F | 36F |
Ice, from each lake's own record
| Lake | Usually ices over | Usually opens |
|---|---|---|
| Lake MendotaWisconsin State Climatology Office, 2010-11 to 2025-26 | Jan 2Dec 25 to Jan 11 in 9 of 16Jan 1, 2026 | Mar 27Mar 13 to Apr 2 in 9 of 16Mar 13, 2026 |
| Lake PepinMinnesota DNR, 2010-11 to 2025-26 | not recorded | Mar 29Mar 16 to Apr 8 in 9 of 15Mar 29, 2026 |
The middle date across the winters each keeper recorded; under it, the range the middle half of those winters fell in, and the latest one. Each keeper defines ice-out its own way (completely free of ice, passable from one point to another, or 90 percent free of ice, as the Minnesota DNR puts it), so another source's date for the same lake can differ. What the ice usually does, not a call on this winter's. None of these dates means the ice is safe.
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward and the Chippewa Flowageat Chippewa Flowage | 8h 38m, Dec 21 | 4:21pm, around Dec 10 | 7:48am, around Jan 2 |
| Vilas and Oneida countiesat Minocqua Lake | 8h 39m, Dec 21 | 4:15pm, around Dec 10 | 7:41am, around Jan 2 |
| Chequamegon Bay and Lake Superiorat Chequamegon Bay | 8h 33m, Dec 21 | 4:17pm, around Dec 11 | 7:49am, around Jan 1 |
| Lake Winnebago and the upriver lakesat Lake Winnebago | 8h 53m, Dec 21 | 4:17pm, around Dec 10 | 7:30am, around Jan 2 |
| Green Bay and Door Countyat Green Bay (southern bay) | 8h 49m, Dec 21 | 4:13pm, around Dec 10 | 7:30am, around Jan 2 |
| The Lake Michigan harborsat Lake Michigan at Milwaukee | 9h 0m, Dec 21 | 4:18pm, around Dec 9 | 7:24am, around Jan 3 |
| The Madison lakesat Lake Mendota | 8h 59m, Dec 21 | 4:24pm, around Dec 9 | 7:31am, around Jan 3 |
| The Wisconsin River flowagesat Lake Wisconsin | 8h 57m, Dec 21 | 4:24pm, around Dec 9 | 7:32am, around Jan 3 |
| The Mississippi Riverat Lake Pepin | 8h 50m, Dec 21 | 4:31pm, around Dec 10 | 7:47am, around Jan 2 |
| The St. Croix and the northwest lakesat Lake St. Croix | 8h 46m, Dec 21 | 4:31pm, around Dec 10 | 7:50am, around Jan 2 |
| The southeast lakesat Pewaukee Lake | 9h 0m, Dec 21 | 4:20pm, around Dec 9 | 7:26am, around Jan 3 |