Jarrid Houston column: Hunt for walleyes in Superior Bay flats

Old Man Winter has been busy blowing cold north, northwest winds into our area of the world. As of this morning, it was 25 degrees below zero. With little snow cover and extremely cold temperatures, we are continuing to build on a great ice base — the best we have had in a couple years, matter of fact.

Let's dive into this week's fishing report:

Lake Superior unfortunately took the life of a young man from Ashland recently. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. It's always a tough deal when the ice fishing community loses one of its own. Lake Superior is among the most dangerous lakes in the world.

This last weekend, we elected to move trips inland on account of the unstable ice conditions of the Gitch. Even though the cold weather provided freezing temperatures, the winds and currents kept the areas north of Houghton Point and into the islands unstable. Now that the winds have died down and stabilized a bit, we should start to see more ice building.

However, as usual, please take Gitch ice trips very cautiously. Over the last several years, we have noticed many out-of-towners chancing bites to make unsafe social media videos. The fish is never worth it. I would rather chance my luck on typical "hammer handle" pike and conventional bass bites than put myself and others in harm's way.

The areas near Ashland continue to stiff up and are now hosting a few smaller trucks pulling ice fishing equipment. Some decent pike and perch continue to pave the way for areas near town and out toward the lighthouse.

Washburn to Houghton Point has seen a fair amount of traffic, and fishing has slowed a bit due to angling pressure. If you can avoid the weekends, you are much better off. Ice conditions from north of Houghton Point and into the islands are touch-and-go. Be very careful if you decide to try said areas.

For the most part, set lines with smaller golden shiners or lake shiners are getting a few splakes and browns. Jigging minnow heads on 3-inch spoons seems to be the better bet.

St. Louis River has had a bump in fishing traffic this week. This has been mostly on account of the cold weather conditions. A few walleyes are still being caught on the expansive flats from Superior Bay and upriver into the Arrowhead flats and Spirit Lake.

As usual, be careful around shorelines and areas with heavy currents. The river is not much different from the lake as far as safety measures should go. Early morning and later afternoons are still the best times to concentrate.

Glow-red rattling spoons tipped with a fathead have been OK, but dead-sticking a live minnow might be better. This can be typical for cold weather bites. In the back bays, a few perch and crappies have been reported. We have also got a few reports of some burbots showing up in the low light/dark times of the day.

Inland waters were buzzing with activity before the arrival of the extreme cold. Set lines over 7-foot depths covering vegetative areas have been getting some nice pike and bass. We even got into a rogue musky the other day on a trip. Smaller minnows have been better with the cold weather. Typically, if it is cold outside, it can be best to downsize.

Panfish bites have been hit-and-miss, but the fish we have been catching have been quality size. Small 1/32 green tiger tungsten's over 14-foot weed lines have been a go-to. When you catch a fish, you shouldn't waste much time trying to get your lure back down for another bite.

Panfish are certainly starting to school up, so keep that in mind on your hunts. Live meat rigs (spikes or wax worms) tipped on the tungsten jigs have been better than soft plastics this week.

For walleyes, keep looking toward mid-lake humps and work the bite window times of early morning and later afternoons into the dark.