Manitowoc and Two Rivers Ramps: With treacherous weather this weekend ramps in the area saw little boat traffic. However, some anglers did try their luck with limited success, with some boats that were interviewed catching up to 4 fish. People who did find success were fishing in 50-100’ around sunrise for most of their bites. Strong winds Saturday brought surface temperatures back into the 40’s and low 50’s. With all the rain this week there is a lot of debris floating in the lake and harbors. This should clear up as the week goes on but keep an eye open for logs and floating clumps of cattails.
Manitowoc and Two Rivers Shore/Piers: I was unable to speak with anyone fishing the piers over the weekend, however with Saturday’s storm bringing cold water close to shore, fish may be hanging out closer to the pier heads. Shore anglers have been finding some success for perch and northern pike with minnows under bobbers. These anglers report catching a couple of pike a day with one or two perch mixed in.
Door County
Northern Door County Lakeside: With the start of the K/D Salmon Tournament occurring this past weekend the fishing pressure was high at all the ports in Northern Door County. Bailey’s Harbor had the highest fishing pressure amount all the ports with Rowley’s Bay coming in with the next highest amount of anglers. The anglers fishing out of Bailey’s had more success than the other ports. Saturday morning the success rate was low, due to the storms that rolled in. While on Sunday multiple anglers came in with over 6 fish per boat. On average Chinooks lead the way while a few Rainbows were caught as well. The majority of anglers were fishing in 80 to 120 feet of water and focusing on the top 40 feet of the water. The surface temps ranged from 55-60 degrees depending on where anglers were fishing. While 50 feet down the water temp was around 52 degrees. It seemed like anglers that fished around Cana Islands had better success than most. Spoons took a few more fish than flasher fly combos. There is no color pattern for the spoons or flasher fly. Some setups that produced fish were 7 colors of lead core as well as your usual dipsy and downriggers setups. Rowley’s Bay fisherman had limited success fishing for salmon. The few that caught fish were fishing around 110 feet of water using spoons. The water temps out of Rowley’s Bay were 66 degrees on the surface. Gills Rock anglers managed to catch a few salmon as well over the week. Majority of the anglers were fishing around 110 feet of water. Anglers fishing for smallmouth bass on the Pier in Gills Rock had some success using worms and a bobber. Although the fish were on the smaller side, but it was fairly steady action for the anglers.
Northern Door County Bayside: Smallmouth bass fishing is still going strong on the bay if you’re able to get out and fish water depths between 12 to 20 feet of water. Various methods were able to produce fish with the most common techniques using drop shots and plastic tubes. It seemed like Egg Harbor and Ephraim had the best success this week. Sister Bay anglers had some success as well but the number of fish caught and size was less than the other ports. The water temps ranged from 73 to 76 degrees on the bay depending on which port anglers were out of. Shore fisherman were hard to come by this weekend as the storms on Saturday prevented a lot of anglers from going out. On Sunday the few anglers that were interviewed had mixed results. The anglers fishing off from Andersons Dock were using worms to catch a few smallmouth bass and rock bass. Anglers fishing in Fish Creek were using minnows trying for perch with some success. The perch were on the smaller size for the anglers. While they were fishing for perch they managed to catch a handful of smallmouth bass as well. The Weborg fishing pier had a high amount of fishing pressure on Friday and Sunday with anglers catching mainly round gobies with an occasional smallmouth bass. It seemed like more bass were caught at night than during the morning and mid-day periods. Egg Harbor shore fisherman are still catching rock bass and smallmouth bass inside the marina using worms. Anglers fishing for perch this week had very little luck in Egg Harbor. There are reports of walleyes starting to show up around Egg Harbor with anglers using crawler harnesses to catch them. I did not see anyone come in with any walleyes this weekend though.
Chaudoirs Dock: The usage of this launch has been constantly busy with anglers targeting walleyes. On average there was 7 to 11 boats launching off of this site. The few interviews that I did get the walleye bite has been good with an average of 3 to 7 walleyes being caught. The average size of the walleyes being caught were 16 to 21 inches. Here flicker shad has been doing better than night crawler harnesses.
Sawyer Harbor: The usage of this ramp during the week has been slow with on average 5 to 8 boats launching out. On Saturday only one boat launched out of here before the storm hit. They managed to catch a few walleyes, but overall the walleye bite has been slow with only 0 to 2 walleyes being caught. Anglers that were targeting smallmouth bass didn’t have much luck either with the bite being slow as well. Anglers said they caught smallmouth on the drop-offs jigging plastics. During the week there were multiple people launching their kayaks off of this launch.
Little Sturgeon Bay: The weekend usage was very slow due to the storms that we had on Saturday. On average there was 5 to 10 boats launching. From the anglers I talked to the perch bite has slowed down. The walleye bite has been slow as well with only 1 or 2 walleyes being caught. The few walleyes that were being caught were on flicker shads. A few people were fishing from the pier when I was there. Most of the pier anglers that were fishing targeting perch and smallmouth bass.
Sturgeon Bay: Fishing pressure was moderate this week, some perch are still being caught on the city shoreline, however the bite has been hit or miss recently. Slip bobbers with minnows in 11-12 feet of water have still been producing the most fish. The smallmouth bite is still decent, many fish have been caught in 10-12 feet of water with night crawlers. Salmon fishing off the bank has been producing chinooks and rainbows with a mixture of spoons and flasher/flies, with parties catching up to 11 chinooks. On average, the weight of chinooks sampled this week was in the teens, with a few fish reaching 20 pounds.
Sugar Creek, Fish Haven: There was nobody utilizing these locations during shift times.
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: Fishing pressure was moderate this week. The poor weather conditions may have kept some anglers away for a few days. Top depths for kings right now are 100 to 200 feet of water, 30 to 90 feet down. Flasher and fly combos, glow spoons early, and some plugs and meat rigs are bringing in fish. A mix of rainbows, chinooks, and lakers are hitting throughout the day out in 250-350 feet of water. Towards the end of the week, colder water was pushed towards shore with surface temperatures around 40 degrees. Overall, water temperatures have been all over the board since the lake turned over. The K/D Salmon Tournament started last weekend. Ten chinooks over 30-pounds were registered in the first four days!
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: July 22, 2019
Fox River
Fox River: The Metro boat launch showed steady and heaviest use with anglers targeting Walleye bringing in on average three fish in the 16-18in length range. An angler caught and released five Walleye using a crawler harness; other parties favored crank baits. Freshwater Drum and bullheads were caught while targeting Walleye. Weekend traffic increased with pleasure boaters favoring afternoons and anglers often utilizing the access for morning trips. Fox Point showed decreased use, as did the Fairgrounds; both were utilized by smaller recreational vessels. Each had light shore angler effort with low success. Voyageur Park remains popular for shore anglers and those utilizing the fishing/observation walkway were targeting Walleye. Water levels are high at this location with the shoreline sidewalk submerged.
Oconto County
Walleye and perch fishing in the bay was slower than last week after 2 days of storms. Pensaukee, Oconto, and Oconto Park II launches were still busy over the weekend with anglers having a harder time finding fish than earlier in the week. Walleyes were being caught off Oconto Park II down south to Pensaukee in waters 10 to 25 feet deep. Most boats were trolling crawler harnesses with purple and gold colored blades being popular. Perch were caught throughout the area with many 3 to 6-inch perch being reported caught and released mainly on crawlers. A few larger keeper size perch were being caught but lots of sorting was taking place. Areas with weeds or rock were holding perch.
Geano Beach: Traffic was high at this launch and dominated by anglers finding success targeting Walleye. There were over 70 trailers counted, 50+ on average for the weekend. Anglers were bringing in an average of 3-8 Walleye in a range of 16 to 27 inches. A two person party interviewed left keeping the limit, another harvesting two fish both over 26 in. A party reported catching Freshwater Drum while unsuccessfully pursuing Walleye. One angler kept a pair of 9 and 12 inch Yellow Perch. A party reported increased amounts of submerged vegetation.
Brown County
Duck Creek, Longtail Point: There has been consistent light use of the ramps with a few smaller trailers and often kayakers utilizing the Duck Creek access. Trailers were being covered in a considerable amount of vegetation after launching. Shore angling effort has decreased from previous weeks with few to none seen angling throughout the week.
Bayshore Park: The usage of this launch has been constantly busy with anglers and pleasure boaters. Most of the anglers were targeting walleye, but there was one musky angler. The anglers that are targeting walleyes were having good luck. On average 5 to 10 walleyes were being caught. The average size on the walleyes are between 16 inches and 25 inches. Both night crawler harnesses and flicker shads are catching the walleyes. The anglers going for walleye are also catching sheepshead, white bass, and catfish. The only musky angler I got chance to talk to did manage to land two muskies.
Suamico: There was steady high use at this launch. The parking lot on weekends was often full and Sensiba overflow was being utilized with on average over 50+ trailers counted in total. This access became very congested many times with boaters launching and loading. Morning use was dominated by anglers targeting Walleye with success. An angler who began early in the morning was focused on Musky with low success. Afternoon traffic was more inclined towards recreational boating. Severe weather and heavy rains caused low water clarity by the end of the week with high water levels covering parts of the road.
Marinette County
Rain and storms kept angling pressure down this week. Only a few anglers were seen out. A few perch and rock bass were caught around the Little River launch from shore. Sheepshead were also reported caught in the Menominee River and in the bay.
