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Unseasonably mild weather is continuing, with much of the southern half of the state having no snow cover, and only far north central Wisconsin having enough snow for winter recreation. Most lakes across the state finally have some ice cover, but some of the larger lakes, like Mendota in Dane County and Lake Winnebago still have areas of open water.
Snowmobile trails are open in about a dozen northern counties, with conditions ranging from very good in Iron and Vilas counties, to good in Oneida, to only fair in Lincoln County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism’s Snow Conditions Report (exit DNR). Very few state parks or forest have been able to groom cross-country ski trails, with the exception of the Northern Highland-American Legion and Flambeau River state forests and Copper Falls and Council Grounds state parks.
This weekend kicks off the candlelight ski and snowshoe hikes at Wisconsin state parks, forest and trails, but all six events scheduled this weekend are in southern or central areas without enough snow for skiing. As of Thursday, all events were going to be held as candlelight hikes, and with mild temperatures in the forecast for the weekend, conditions are looking excellent for winter hikes by candlelight. Hikes will be held at Blue Mound, Harrington Beach, Mirror Lake and Wildcat Mountain state parks, and the Chippewa Moraine Recreation area and Havenwoods State Forest.
Ice depths now range from 7 to 12 inches across much of northern Wisconsin, with less on flowages. Ice through central Wisconsin ranges 4 to 8 inches and southern lake range from open water to 4 to 6 inches. But with mild weather in the forecast, recreational safety specialists are urging extreme caution for anyone heading out on frozen waters. Some ice anglers have begun to take recreational vehicles and even some trucks on to frozen water, but wardens are recommending against it. One truck went through the ice this week. State law requires these vehicles to be removed right away, which is a very costly venture.
Early ice fishing reports have been mixed, with some good action for northern pike and panfish, but slower action for walleye. Ice has begun to form again on Lake Superior’s Chequamegon Bay and Lake Michigan’s Green Bay, but not enough for travel. Strong winds in the last week have broken up much ice that forms. Anglers were still doing some open water fishing at Lake Michigan harbors and on the tributaries, with some action for brown and rainbow trout. Anglers were also open water fishing the Mississippi River, with little success for walleye and just some smaller sauger reported.
There were more reports of white-tail bucks shedding antlers this week. A reminder that the late archery, and Holiday and CWD management zone gun hunts run through this Sunday, Jan. 8. With mild weather, wardens report participation in the holiday and CWD hunts was up over the last week.
Recent waterfowl surveys have found unusually high numbers of waterfowl still being found in the state due to the mild weather and large amounts of open water. The surveys found good numbers of mallards, Canada geese, and various diving ducks like scaup, goldeneyes, ring-necked, and mergansers. They also still saw an occasional left-over wood duck, black duck, pintail or other puddle ducks not normally expected to be seen this time of the year. Other surveys found good numbers of eagles along the Mississippi River and about 300 eagles along the Fox River from Neenah to Wrightstown.
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