Fishing success this weekend was moderate with mostly a small handful of chinook salmon and rainbow trout being caught. In the Manitowoc Harbor there were reports of a handful of rainbow trout ranging from 8-10 lbs being caught using nightcrawlers. At Silver Creek there were reports of a handful of rainbow trout being caught throughout the creek. In the Branch River there was a report of a rainbow trout being caught using a spawn sacks. At the East Twin River there were reports of chinook salmon being caught using hair flies and a rapala fire tiger lure. Additionally, there was a report of a brown trout being caught using a spinner in the East Twin River. It was reported that starting mid-week the fishing success in the East Twin River rapidly declined. At the Shoto dam there were reports of a small handful of chinook salmon being caught using flies as well as shrimp.
Door County
Northern Door County Lakeside: Anglers were seen fishing out of Gills Rock on Friday with 5 trailers in the lot. There were no interviews conducted, however, majority of the anglers were targeting smallmouth bass when talking to anglers that were launching their boats. A few anglers were seen fishing at Heins Creek yet, however no interviews were conducted. The only stream that had an interview conducted on was Hibbards Creek. That angler fished for roughly 30 mins and was targeting Brown Trout with no luck. Shiver Sands Creek had a few salmon/trout swimming around in the creek near the mouth of the creek yet. No anglers were reported in Bailey’s Harbor at all.
Northern Door County Bayside: The vast majority of the fishing pressure that occurred on Friday and Saturday was at Ellison Bay, which had 8 trailers in the parking lot on Friday. The anglers that were interviewed reported catching 10 smallmouth bass in roughly four hours of fishing. One group of anglers had success using sucker minnows, while another group of anglers had success jigging tubes. On Saturday on angler reported catching 11 smallmouth in 5 hours of fishing in Sister Bay. Shore anglers fishing at the Stone Quarry did not have much success this week. One angler talked to fished for 30 mins with no luck. The anglers headed out in boats at the Stone Quarry had to deal with strong southernly winds and it made it tough to fish.
Sturgeon Bay Canal: Only one creel route covered the canal this week with that occurring on Saturday the 26. One group of anglers fishing for yellow perch managed to catch 20. Majority of the fish were caught on minnows. They did not tell where or the water depth they were targeting. There were no fishing pressure at the Pier Heads or off of Barge Road.
Kewaunee County
Kewaunee: Fishing pressure was low during the beginning of the week and moderate during the weekend. Only a few chinooks were reported from anglers using spoons and spawn sacks during the beginning of the week. Some rainbows and cohos are starting to be caught with spawn sacks up the Kewaunee River near Bruemmer Park. The water level has continued to drop and clarity has been improving from last week.
Algoma: Fishing pressure was moderate this week. The majority of anglers interviewed were fishing below the dam on County Road J. The chinook catches have decreased from the previous week but there are still some around. Anglers have primarily had luck with spoons and yarn flies. The water level has been decreasing and water clarity has been improving slightly.
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: October 28, 2019
Fox River
Fox River: These sites have been rather busy all week. During the weekends metro averaged 15 to 20 trailers, fairgrounds averaged 5 to 8 trailers, and foxpoint averaged 5 to 8 trailers. During the week the amount were a little lower with metro averaged 10 to 15 trailers, fairgrounds 3 to 5 trailers, and foxpoint 3 to 5 trailers. Most anglers were either targeting smallmouth, walleye, or musky. The anglers that targeted smallmouth were fishing the river and having success. The catch rate was between 3 to 4 fish, and all of them were catch and release. The musky anglers were both in the bay and the river. I interviewed 4 to 6 anglers that were targeting musky and the catch rate was around 1 only. About half of the musky anglers I interviewed did hook up with a musky. The walleye anglers were both targeting them in the bay and the river. The average catch rate was between 2 to 5 walleyes. With the keep rate between 1 to 3 walleyes. The average size was between 17 to 26 inches. Most anglers were trolling with shad raps.
Oconto County
Perch fishing improved this week with most of the popular shore spots producing fish. Oconto Park II, Oconto Breakwall, and the ditches along County Y all had angling effort throughout the week. Most perch were caught using minnows and were averaging 6 to 9 inches. Some larger perch were being caught but the smaller sizes were more common. The best area was Oconto Park II with the first few hours of the day being best. No boat anglers seen this week but high numbers of duck hunters using the Pensaukee ramp and the Oconto ramp. Water temps were in the upper 40’s throughout the week.
Geano Beach: All week this launch has been slow. The average for the weekends was between 3 to 6 trailers. During the week the average amount of trailers were between 1 to 3 trailers. I didn’t get any interviews from this site.
Brown County
Duck Creek, Longtail Point: During the week the two launches were slower with only about 2 or 3 trailers. I didn’t get any interviews during the week, but the few boats I observed launching were duck hunters. On the weekends the usage of these launches increased. The average amount of trailers for the weekend increased to 5 to 7 trailers. The few interviews I did get was on 10/26, but they were all duck hunters. I didn’t observe anybody shore fishing from this site.
Suamico River: All week has been steady with the amount of trailers at this site with on average 5 to 8 trailers only. It was an equal mixture of duck hunters and anglers. The few interviews I did get that were anglers they were either targeting walleye or musky. There were 3 anglers that were targeting musky two out of the three caught a musky. The walleye anglers it was a little tougher with the catch rate only averaging 2 to 4 walleyes. A lot of the walleyes were smaller, so they were getting released. There was no shore angling from this location during my shifts.
Marinette County
Most activity this week was in the Menominee River with the exception of a few boats in the bay over the weekend. Anglers in the bay only fished a short time but were finding northern pike and smallmouth bass. Pike were caught trolling the shoreline and in the “pocket” off Red Arrow by perch anglers. Fishing in the Menominee River was fairly slow however recent surveys showed the beginning of the whitefish run and numerous walleyes present. Best fishing for walleyes tends to be in low light conditions and at night using stick baits off the Hattie St. bridge. Brown trout were also seen in the river in fair numbers. A few were caught below the dam casting Little Cleo’s including a 25 pounder earlier in the week. Water temps were holding around 47 degrees by the end of the week.
