Northern Door County Lakeside: There were no anglers actively fishing in boats on the lake this past week. There were a few anglers fishing from shore in Bailey’s Harbor with no luck. Those anglers tried floating spawn sacs as well as casting a variety of stickbaits. Salmon were seen jumping and surfacing inside the harbor at Bailey’s Harbor. There were no anglers fishing in the creeks this week, however Heins Creek did have salmon and/or trout swimming near the culvert pipe on highway 57. There were no reports of fish in any of the other creeks. Rowley’s Bay was producing some smallmouth bass from shore using minnows under a slip bobber.
Northern Door County Bayside: Murphy Park shore anglers were able to catch a few smallmouth bass using a worm. The average size of the fish caught there this past week was around 14 inches. Anglers fishing from shore in Egg Harbor were targeting either smallmouth bass or salmon/trout with little success. The anglers fishing for bass had better luck than the anglers fishing for salmon/trout. There were no anglers fishing in Fish Creek, Sister Bay, or Ephraim this week. One angler in Ellison Bay managed to catch 4 smallmouth bass in just over an hour of fishing. This angler was using live bait and a slip bobber.
Sturgeon Bay Canal: Anglers fishing in the canal were targeting several different species with mixed results. There were a few anglers fishing for musky and northern pike throughout the week with no success. While an angler bouncing bottom for yellow perch managed to catch 7 keeper perch and one northern pike that was 34 inches in length. That was the only perch angler that was talked to this week. Only one angler targeting smallmouth bass was interviewed this week and that angler managed to catch one smallmouth. The smallmouth bass was caught using a tube. Anglers fishing for salmon from shore in the canal have some success this week. The best method for catching the salmon this week was using spawn floating under a slip bobber. There were at least 8 fish caught this way between 4 anglers that were interviewed over two days. Majority of the anglers were fishing off of barge road. There were no anglers fishing on the pier heads this week due to the windy conditions. Anglers fishing in boats either trolling or jigging for salmon and trout in the canal had mixed results. Some boats managed to catch five fish trolling while other boats came in with no fish. There was no pattern to the fish that were caught in the boats.
Chaudoir’s Dock: Use at this site also was very low. No more than two trailers were observed with no return trips available for interview
Sawyer Harbor: Potawatomi State Park showed low traffic with few anglers launching throughout the week. A party interviewed had success targeting bass releasing 6 fish.
Little Sturgeon Bay: The Carmody launch also had low effort with ~3 parties utilizing this access, and the only other anglers observed to be commercial. Riley’s Bay access showed no use.
Kewaunee County
Kewaunee: There was moderate Fishing pressure this week, many anglers fishing off of the breakwall and upriver near Bruemmer Park. Many of the anglers had little to no success. The parties who had success, caught 1 chinook at most. All the fish reported this week were caught on spoons and in-line spinners. The water level has been high all week and continuing to rise, causing the clarity to drop for most of the river locations all the way to the piers.
Algoma: Poor weather conditions resulted in low fishing pressure this week. The majority of anglers interviewed were either fishing along the Ahnapee River and on the piers. One party had good luck fishing near Olson Park and caught 4 chinooks one morning, primarily using a fire tiger jointed shad rap. Later in the week anglers had success off of the county road J bridge in Forestville, catching a couple nice sized chinooks using fire tiger spoons. A few parties were interviewed off of Stoney Creek, with one party catching 2 chinooks with spoons during the end of the week. Water level has been continuing to rise with recent rainfall and has caused the clarity to drop dramatically.
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: September 30, 2019
Fox River
Fox River: Fishing has been slow during the week with it being rainy on Sunday not many people were out fishing. There was only one boat that launched out of the mouth of the Fox River. Then on the 23rd there was an average of 7 to 10 boats that launched. I got one interview at the mouth, the angler was targeting smallmouth bass. He ended up catching 6 smallmouth bass, but he releases all of them. Then on the 27th there was a total of 4 to 6 boats launching out but after the rain ended in the morning, so I didn’t get an interview from any of them.
Oconto County
Overall fishing was slow this week with light fishing pressure seen at the boat launches. A few walleye anglers were out off Oconto and Oconto Park II with the only success seen at Oconto Park II. Zero to 2 fish were reported from walleye anglers fishing Young’s Reef in water 20 to 40 feet deep. Trolling crawler harnesses worked for the walleyes along with catfish and sheepshead being caught as well. Shore anglers have been increasing at Oconto Park II with bluegills, bass, bowfin, and perch being caught. Not much was being kept as the perch fishing hasn’t turned on yet inside Oconto Park II. Water temps were still a bit warm with mid to low 60’s this week.
Geano Beach: It was a very slow week for this landing. On the 22nd there was only 2 boats that launched out of this site. The only interview I managed to collect was on the 23rd with the angler catching 4. The average size of them was between 18 and 21 inches. The angler was drifting and jigging a minnow. Then on the 27th pressure was light again with only 5 to 7 boats using this launch.
Brown County
Duck Creek, Longtail Point: On the 22nd there was nobody launched from either site due to the rain. Then on the 23rd there was an average of 3 to 4 boats. None of them ended up coming in while I was at the landings, so no interviews were collected. There was a couple of kayakers using these sites to launch out of. Then on the 27th there was nobody using these sites to launch their boats.
Suamico River: On the 22nd there was an average of 2 to 4 boats that launched out in the late afternoon. The 23rd there was an average of 10 to 12 boats that were using this site. I interviewed a few boats and 4 of them were targeting walleye while 1 was targeting musky. The boat that was targeting musky didn’t have any luck. They had one on, but they couldn’t get it in the boat. They did catch a northern pike but they released it. The boats that were targeting walleye had to really work for them with the average catch rate between 3 to 6 fish. The average size that were kept was between 17 to 22 inches. Most of the walleye boats were using night crawler harnesses. Then on the 27th there was light fishing pressure with an average of 5 to 10 boats. No boat came in so no interviews were collected.
Bayshore Park: There was low boater traffic, only anglers observed were 2-3 fishing guides utilizing this launch throughout the week. Light shore angling observed with no success.
Marinette County
Little River had the occasional salmon angler this week with a few fish being caught. Fish were seen upstream at Krause Road and Little River Road over the weekend. Salmon were caught casting spoons around the boat launch and still fishing spawn sacs and twister tails in the river. Anglers on the Menominee River were targeting walleyes, brown trout, and salmon this week. Fishing was reported as slow with only a couple salmon reported caught during the week. Fish were being seen surfacing but were not willing to hit lures. Water temps were in the mid to low 60’s this week.
