ice fishing during night time for walleyes and Crappies southeast WI

i know it is few months away from safe ice, but i just want to get all things set up for ice. last few years i been struggling to being able to get some walleyes on any lakes near me. i did able to get few crappies but i know i could get more if do right way. i been mostly hitting powers, and silver lakes during night time for crappies and walleyes. but few times i did attempt Delavan or Geneva. last 3 years i only get two walleyes though ice, one is small and one is 16". i normally use small, medium shiners or walleyes suckers on tip ups for walleyes. i use 8 lb line leader with blank orange hook/ medium sinker. crappies i would use crappie minnows with small hook or jig on jig rod but still only get few or sometimes even nothing. any tips would be great.

Powers Lake gives up it's share of walleye thru the ice, all i can say with certainty from personal experience, almost never in the crowds, and always where i can find schooled perch suspended over deeper water (over 16ft) and never near any of the known structure Powers has. Now that's just me and a few close friends & family members experience.. My issue is finding a consistent open water walleye bite, we struggle patterning them on this lake. Easier to head to Delavan with the boat. Hope that helps.

Rikkus (Rick), it seem we is at similar spot on powers lake. it been struggling there lately. i normally get many walleyes and crappies out there easily when i am a kid with my dad, but it seem changed now. for your plan on Petenwell, it actually easy to find fish there. you just need to find drop. normally 8-10 fow, drop to 14-20 fow. you just need find that between drop- you will be sitting on gold. i go there few times a year. but i am trying at least to stay around southeast wi as i don't have time or money to keep up driving 2, 3 hours away often since i am in college. attached picture is from castle rock lake, which one of chain lakes along petnewell. it is during boating last June but i go there during ice as well and get them.

Hi, I myself am just learning the SE WI Ice Fishing, too. I have been Ice Fishing in Northern MN for more than 40 years. Last year I decided instead of driving 9 - 12 hours, (and passing up great fisheries along the way), I am going to learn the lakes within a 3-hour drive. Last year Powers was one of the first lakes I fished. It was freaking cold with 30 mph winds. A friend tagged along that fished this lake before. We did manage a 23" walleye on the tip up. And, it was a night bite. We didn't catch anything with the jigging. 3 total that night, two went back. We walked out from the landing about 200 yards, I believe it was the SW side. There were quite few people fishing to the north. We were pretty much by ourselves, with no one around. The Tip Ups were setup pretty much as you described, 8lb leader. We used larger Shiner type minnows. I am looking at going back to Powers and try Camp Lake this season. Where I had the best luck was on Wind Lake. Again, I had no guidance and pretty much poked around. I went out of Sportman's Landing on the NW end of the lake. And drove to the South - SW end, getting away from all the crowds. I did okay all season, catching Walleye, Pike and Perch. I tried for the Crappie & Gills with no luck whatsoever. But last year was a tough season. And, I moved around quite a bit to find the fish. Night fishing was great. We would setup Tip Ups at night with lights, and sit in the truck watching the flags. We used red treble and single hooks, #6 size and the larger Shiner type minnow. Sometimes a Slick Jig or a simple ball jig. Wind worked out so well, I never made it back to Powers. This season, I have booked a guide for early and late ice fishing on Castle Rock & Petenwell. I am also going to try hammer Bago this season & do the Bago Bash. I figure that these are close enough for day trips & overnighter's. If you're interested in partnering up for the next season, let me know. Last year was a bit of a bum rush, no one wanted to go out. All was too cold, and you definitely need a power auger with extensions. This year I added the Frabill Thermo DLX Ambush and the Jiffy Pro 4 Propane Auger to my arsenal of gear. Good Luck and Tight Lines to you,... Rick