Northern Door County Lakeside: Finally, some news the majority of anglers wanted to hear. The salmon have started to arrive in Bailey’s Harbor. Chinook salmon started to pick up around July 9th, with boats catching upwards of five fish. As the week progressed and went into the weekend the fish were still hanging around. Majority of the boats came in with three to five fish. Chinook salmon were being targeted in 90 to 150 feet of water. It seemed like everything came on the top 50 feet of the water column. The surface temps were 63 degrees with 47 to 52 degrees reported 50 feet down. The only pattern that was picked up this week was using green or blue colored baits. Fish were caught on downriggers, dipsy divers, 200 feet of copper, and even different lengths of lead core. Five, seven, and even 10 colors of lead core all produced fish. Flasher fly combos on dipsy divers produced some of the larger fish that were caught over the weekend. It seemed like anglers that focused around Moonlight Bay and the Cana Island Lighthouse had the best luck over the weekend. Anglers fishing out of Gills Rock picked up some fish over the week as well. It seemed like most anglers were working around 120 feet of water. Both flasher fly combos and magnum spoons took fish over the week. One angler went out of Rowley’s Bay for salmon and managed to catch one chinook. That angler was working the 90-110 feet of water range. Smallmouth bass fishing in and around the Mink River is still producing fish, with a few five pound fish being caught yet. Anglers using plastics had the best success in the Mink. The water temps near the Mink River are still in the 70’s. Shore anglers fishing off the pier had success for smallmouth bass using leeches and a bobber. One group of anglers I talked to caught 12 smallmouth bass in roughly two hours, however, majority of the fish caught were under 12 inches.
Northern Door County Bayside: Smallmouth bass fishing remained steady throughout the week with boats catching roughly 20 fish per boat. The water temps in Fish Creek to Sister Bay were 69 to 71 degrees. The closer the anglers got to the shorelines the warmer the temps were. While out by the Little Sister Islands and Strawberry Island the water temps were closer to the 69 degrees. It seemed like anglers using plastics targeting the 8 to 15 feet of water had the best luck. The average size of fish caught were around 3-pounds. Shore anglers at Weborg Point in Peninsula State Park caught rock bass and a few smallmouth bass over the week, these anglers were using worms. The best spot for shore fishing over the last week was at JJ’s dock in Sister Bay. With the northerly wind that occurred over the weekend it pushed some bait up along the break wall and the smallmouth bass were stacked up along the break wall. Most of the fish were caught using worms. The smallmouth bass ranged between 10 to 12 inches while a larger bass would be caught occasionally. Andersons Dock had its usual crowd over the weekend with a handful of smallmouth bass caught. The anglers that caught smallmouth bass had best luck using leeches that were suspended six inches off the bottom. Yellow perch fishing has remained slow over the week. Egg Harbor was the only port that yellow perch were caught throughout the week. The best time for perch fishing is early morning with fish being caught between 5 and 7am. There was one perch caught at the piers in Fish Creek on Saturday.
Chaudoirs Dock: There was steady use by walleye and yellow perch anglers at Chaudoirs dock this week. Successful yellow perch anglers were keeping anywhere from 1-5 fish with a few white bass mixed in. A party seeking walleye ended up catching five sheepshead instead. There is an increasing number of pleasure boaters utilizing this launch, especially over the weekends.
Sawyer Harbor: There was limited use at Potawotami State Park and Idlewild launches during our survey time. Higher use likely occurs during the weekends.
Little Sturgeon Bay: Carmody launch showed light use with just under ten trailers in the lot. The only one to exit or return during the survey time was a commercial rig.
Sturgeon Bay: Fishing pressure was moderate this week with many parties being successful targeting smallmouth and perch. Slip bobbers with minnows and night crawlers has been working well for perch in 10-12 feet of water. Smallmouth have been caught with the normal dropshot and tube baits, as well as with night crawlers. Most fish can still be found within 8-12 feet of water, as they continue to transition into their summer patterns they will continue to move towards deeper water.
Sugar Creek, Fish Haven: Neither Sugar Creek or Fish Haven access points are being utilized by anyone in the last week.
Kewaunee County
Kewaunee: Due to the high lake levels this spring and summer the City of Kewaunee has decided to close its public boat launch on Monday, July 1 at 8:00 am due to infrastructure and safety concerns, although the public will be able to use Salmon Harbor Marina to launch boats for the time being. The city of Algoma will honor Kewaunee seasonal passes through the end of July, and possibly longer. For questions, please contact the Kewaunee City Marina.
Algoma: Anglers are still picking up a decent mixed bag of rainbows, lake trout, and a few kings out over deeper water (250-500 FOW). In the normal mid-July spots the action for kings has picked up over the last week. The best time to pick up kings seems to be either in the first couple hours or last few hours of daylight in 100-200 feet of water, 40-80 feet down. Several kings over 30-pounds have been landed; including a 33-pounder landed on a charter boat. Fish have been hitting both flasher fly combos and bright color spoons. With the Kewaunee/Door County Salmon tournaments beginning Friday, anglers are hoping the bite stays strong.
Red River: Red River access is popular for recreational users with kayaks and jet skis. A couple of larger boat trailers were observed but did not return for an interview during the survey period.
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: July 15, 2019
Fox River
Fox River Mouth: This boat launch had medium to light usage during the week. The busiest day on Saturday, but a lot of the boats were pleasure boaters. The few boats that were fishing were mostly targeting walleyes. They didn’t have the greatest luck but managed 1 or 2 walleyes. Of the three boats targeting musky, and only one boat managed to land a musky.
Foxpoint/Fairgrounds: The usage of this was low all week. Most people who launched were pleasure boaters with just a few boats for fishing. The few anglers that launched from these sites were targeting smallmouth bass, walleye, and musky. The only species that anglers had a little luck catching were smallmouth bass. The shore fishing was low this week as well. Most shore anglers were targeting sheepshead and walleye.
Oconto County
Anglers saw good fishing for perch and walleyes this week in the bay off Oconto. Walleyes were caught from Oconto Shoal south to Pensaukee. Anglers were targeting depths of 15 to 25 feet with crawler harnesses and casting shiver minnows producing fish. Perch fishing was good between Oconto Park II and the Oconto River. Crawlers were producing the most fish with minnows catching the larger fish. Only about one out of five perch were large enough to keep, so anglers had to do some sorting. Several large perch were reported up to 16 inches.
Geano Beach: The boat launch was being used heavily during the week due to the walleye bite being very good. Most anglers that were targeting walleye were catching at least 3 walleyes. Most boats were trolling with flicker shads or night crawler harnesses.
Brown County
Duck Creek, Longtail Point: A few fishing boats and kayakers are utilizing the launch at Duck Creek. There were only a couple of fishing boats a day out. Anglers were trying for perch and smallmouth bass, but most came in empty handed.
Bayshore Park: There has been lots of people using Bayshore on the weekends, while during the week it lightens up a bit. There has been a good mix of anglers and pleasure boaters alike. Anglers targeting walleyes are having success. On average, parties are keeping anywhere from 3-10 fish. Flicker minnows in fire tiger or purple have been productive. There have been a few anglers targeting musky but have only been catching some sheepshead in the process. Shore anglers along the break wall were mostly out to enjoy the weather. Most were after anything that would bite and were only out for short intervals.
Suamico: Suamico was being used heavily due to the walleye bite being very good. Most anglers targeting walleyes are catching at least 3 walleyes. Most of the walleyes being caught are between 16 inches and 23 inches. A few sheepshead and catfish have been caught as well. On Saturday they ran out of parking spots in the main lot and the overflow area, so people were parking on the road. There weren’t many shore anglers, and the few that were out didn’t have much luck.
Marinette County
A few perch were caught by shore anglers at Little River and by boat anglers fishing close to shore. Small perch and rock bass were mostly caught with a couple keeper size perch taken. A few brown trout were caught over the weekend in the bay. One fish per boat was common by anglers fishing the Trout Bar east of Little River launch. No real pattern as to spoon colors or depth reported other than fishing the temperature break.
