DE PERE, Wis (NBC 26) -- This Sunday is the deadline for anglers to get their ice shanties off of lakes, and while that can be a painful process for those who aren't ready to stop fishing quite yet, there are opportunities to still get out there and fish for boaters.
It was just a couple of weeks ago when the Fox River in De Pere was still riddled with ice houses. But this early spring weather changed that in a hurry.
"A buddy of mine was out ice fishing the Saturday before last and it was 12 to 13 inches of ice when they started and five when they came in," says Scott Scarpelli a fisherman from Green Bay.
On Monday the ice is almost non-existent on the Fox River and boats are once again heading out onto the water and catching walleyes.
"They are biting. The males are for sure, I caught 25 to 30 in just four hours this morning," adds Scarpelli.
At this point in the season, only one walleye can be kept on the Fox River, and it has to be more than 28 inches in size. But anglers say when you're bringing them in on repeat, it's almost a numbers game.
"It's not unheard of to have a 100 to 150 fish day right now," says Troy Crause of Walleye Mafia Guide Service.
Crause says this is his favorite time of the year to get out onto the water. It's that time of the year when most anglers haven't taken their boat out of storage yet but also a time when the fish, are starting to get active again.
"Right now this time of the year the river is just full of fish."
And while maybe a hundred or so fishermen made Monday into their extended weekend near the Fox River in De Pere, Crause says if you can make the time for it in the next couple of weeks you just might have a fishing story you can brag about until summer rolls around.
"I think this week and probably the next two weeks is really going to be on fire," adds Crause.
