Fishing this weekend for salmon was slow, however a few anglers were able to find some success. At the Mishicot damn there were reports of a few salmon being caught with spawn and artificial lures. Unfortunately, due to high water there was no access to the island at the Mishicot dam. This led crowded areas to fish forcing many fishermen to leave. In Two Rivers there was a report of a chinook salmon being caught in the harbor during the week using spawn. It was reported earlier in the week that many boaters decided to stay off the water due to strong south winds. There were also reports from Shoto Dam of salmon being caught. Lastly, there was very little luck in Manitowoc with only one salmon being caught in the Manitowoc river.
Door County
Overall fishing was slow throughout the entire county this week due to wicked storms that rolled through the area Monday – Thursday. Those storms brought heavy rain, with areas receiving over 5 inches of rain, and strong winds.
Northern Door County Lakeside: There were no interviews conducted due to those said storms. A few anglers were spotted in Whitefish Bay Creek near the mouth of the creek. No interviews were conducted as they were walking up stream and I was unable to contact them. There were a few rainbow trout that could be seen swimming in the creek. There was one car parked along Shiver Sands Creek, however, no interview was conducted. No routes were ran at Bailey’s Harbor, Rowley’s Bay, or Gills Rock this week.
Northern Door County Bayside: Majority of the anglers fishing this week were out of the Stone Quarry or Egg Harbor. The anglers that were interviewed at the Stone Quarry resulted in only a few smallmouth bass caught while fishing. The anglers were forced to fishing in the canal due to the strong northwest winds that occurred on Sunday. Shore anglers fishing at the Stone Quarry managed to catch one smallmouth bass roughly 13 inches on Thursday Morning. That fish was caught using worm and a slip bobber. Anglers fishing at Egg Harbor from shore targeting yellow perch managed to a catch a few perch this week. Using minnows was key to catching the perch. The perch were caught off the corner of the marina where the channel goes out to the bay.
Sturgeon Bay Canal: Anglers fishing throughout the canal were targeting walleyes, smallmouth bass, and salmon. Anglers targeting smallmouth bass managed to catch a few using tubes along the bottom. While anglers targeting walleyes did not have any success. The salmon anglers that were trolling in the canal did not have any luck, although I only talked to a few of them. The anglers that managed to catch a salmon came off of spoons or crankbaits that were green in color. The anglers fishing from shore targeting salmon tried floating spawn with no luck. Salmon were seen jumping at steady rates in the canal.
Chaudoir’s Dock: This site had the most usage on the 8th. There was an average of 4 to 8 boats launching out of here. I managed to get 3 interviews that morning with two of the boats targeting walleyes. The average catch rate they had was between 1 to 3 walleyes. The average harvest rate was only 1 to 3 walleyes. The were trolling using flicker shads. They were trying all different depths; first they started shallow and then they slowly started to get deeper. The one boat did also manage to catch a small perch that they released. The last boat I interviewed was targeting muskies. They didn’t have any luck that morning. Then on the 11th nobody was out fishing in the poor weather. The 13th there was only 2 boats that used the launch during my shift, and they didn’t come in before I had to leave.
Sawyer Harbor: This site had the most usage on the 8th. There was an average of 4 to 8 boats launching out of here. I managed to get 3 interviews that morning with two of the boats targeting walleyes. The average catch rate they had was between 1 to 3 walleyes. The average harvest rate was only 1 to 3 walleyes. The were trolling using flicker shads. They were trying all different depths; first they started shallow and then they slowly started to get deeper. The one boat did also manage to catch a small perch that they released. The last boat I interviewed was targeting muskies. They didn’t have any luck that morning. Then on the 11th nobody was out fishing in the poor weather. The 13th there was only 2 boats that used the launch during my shift, and they didn’t come in before I had to leave.
Little Sturgeon Bay: On the 10th there was nobody using this ramp to launch their boats. The was no shore or pier fishing either from this site on this evening. On the 14th there was an average of 22 to 26 boats launching from this site. I got two interviews from boats that were fishing. The one boat was targeting smallmouth bass and the other was targeting walleye. The boat that was targeting walleye caught 2 and they kept both of them. The size of those two walleyes were 20 and 22 inches. The boat targeting smallmouth bass caught 2 but they released both. According to the anglers the one measured 16 inches and the other one measured 10 inches. I interviewed 3 other boats, but none of them were fishing just going for one last ride of the season before they put the boats away.
Kewaunee County
Kewaunee: There were some shore and pier anglers targeting chinook salmon this week. There were many salmon seen surfacing along the breakwall and piers but they are not biting. The water level upriver is very high causing some flooding at Bruemmer Park. Access at other locations along the river have not been affected yet.
Algoma: Strong winds and thunderstorms led to lower angling effort this week. Some anglers were catching pike off the pier using small spoons. The Ahnapee River rose with the recent rains and the clarity is low at most locations.
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: September 16, 2019
Fox River
Fox River: Traffic was very low with a couple of vessels observed launching from Metro. Shore angling effort was also low at all locations. Fairgrounds and Fox Point showed very little to low use in accordance with weather. There was also very little to no recreational traffic. Water levels are over the ramps of many docks and debris found at most access points.
Oconto County
Wind and rain had a big effect on fishing pressure this week resulting in low participation. Only a handful of boats out off of Oconto fishing walleyes with no luck. A couple perch and sheepshead were the only fish reported caught. More anglers were seen shore fishing at Oconto Park II for perch. Most anglers were catching bluegills, bullheads, and largemouth bass along with a couple perch. The bluegills were the most active with size running around 5 inches. Perch were averaging about 2 keepers per hour of fishing. All species were hitting crawlers under slip bobbers.
Geano Beach: Little to no traffic at this location. There was zero angler effort observed for this first time this season. When present, angler effort was very low (2-3 parties) with no return trips.
Brown County
Duck Creek, Longtail Point, Suamico River: Traffic was low to non-existent. At highest use a handful of trailers were present. No parties exited the water, however upon launch one party shared they would be pursuing Muskellunge.
Bayshore Park: This week has been very slow due to the poor and rainy weather we had. The 8th and 11th were the two days I had shifts on these routes that the weather kept basically all the anglers from fishing. On the 8th there was 2 boats that went out but didn’t come back in before I had to leave. The 11th nobody ventured out to try fishing. The last day I had at these sites for this week was on the 13th, but again nobody was out fishing when during my shift. There was no shore fishing either for any of the three days.
Marinette County
Wind and rain this week slowed angling effort throughout the area. Anglers on the Peshtigo River were targeting perch, pike, and smallmouth bass with a little luck. A few bass and pike were caught casting bright colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits. The pike were on the smaller size but a few bass in the 16 to 18 inch range were reported primarily towards the mouth of the river. Fishing on the bay was slow with a couple boats targeting walleyes by Chambers Island with no luck and one boat trying for salmon off Little River with no luck on salmon but catching 4 pike and a smallmouth bass. Both shore anglers and boat anglers were fishing sturgeon this week as the catch and release season opened on the lower Menominee River. Most anglers were fishing above the train bridges to the dam using crawlers and cut sucker pieces. Fishing was said to be slow with a few small fish being caught along with the occasional sucker, catfish, and rock bass.
