Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: August 16, 2010
Manitowoc Co.
Watch out for the orange flags and buoys that mark commercial fishing trap nets set in Lake Michigan. Steer clear and give these markers a wide berth to avoid getting tangled and capsizing. Learn where the nets are set on our Trap Net page.
Light southerly winds early in the week gave way to increasing strong west winds by late Sunday. Hot and humid conditions with light winds created heavy fog offshore along the lakeshore until late in the week when the humidity dropped and the winds picked up. Temperatures remained in the 80s all week with scattered rain and thunderstorms. Water temperatures remained scattered in the 66-70 degree range. Angler success remained relatively low with an average of 0-4 fish per boat with quiet shore fishing. The fishing action appears to be at its worst this summer, with several boats at the Two Rivers and Manitowoc ramps not landing a single fish. Success appears to be in the 50-60 foot range up and down the lakeshore with some boats having success in the 110 to 150 depths straight out of Two Rivers and southward off of Manitowoc. The chinook appear to be scattered off the lighthouse north of Two Rivers, with several reports coming in of success anywhere from 50-150 feet. Sunday?s strong west wind is forecasted for a few days and should bring in the cooler water along with the good fishing. Many of the fish caught in the 50-60 foot range came off of downriggers near the bottom. J-Plugs on the downriggers and glow spoons early on the dipsy have had the most success recently. With reports coming in with little to no success recently, experiment with your pump handles and spoons and flasher/fly combos on your downriggers. Fishing activity off the piers has slowed this last week with no reports of trout or salmon caught, but the strong west wind is bringing hope to area fishermen that the salmon will begin to come in. A few 8-10 inch perch have been caught in the Manitowoc Harbor near the marina and off of the south pier. Use small jig heads with night crawlers or fathead minnows either jigging or using bobbers.
Kewaunee Co.
This was another week of up and down weather that caused some havoc for anglers in Kewaunee County. The high heat and humidity in the early parts of the week raised water temperatures all the way up to 74 degrees at the surface in both Algoma and Kewaunee. The latter half of the week brought cooler temperatures and a strong western wind that actually dropped the surface temperatures in Algoma along the pier to 61 degrees and brought the surface temperature out deeper down considerably as well. Algoma: It was another slow week on the Algoma Pier, but one rainbow trout was caught earlier in the week. A few fishermen have been catching northern pike lately on fire tiger spoons, but the fish have been very elusive this week. The fishing out on the lake really started strong earlier in the week as quite a few boats came back with limits of king salmon, but as the week progressed the fishing cooled off a bit. The more successful fishermen were fishing in depths of 70-120 feet of water and about 50-70 feet down. This week flasher and fly combos outdid the spoons with the hot colors being white or chrome flashers with aqua-pearl flies. Also quite a few fish were caught on J-plugs and glow moonshine spoons. Kewaunee: This week was similar to last week on the Kewaunee pier with very little fish activity being reported. A couple of lucky anglers managed to land some smallmouth bass and some larger carp, but that comprised the majority of the fish that were netted. The boaters out in Kewaunee didn?t seem to hook into many fish this week with a few of the days averaging only 2 fish per boat. Anglers have been trying depths ranging from 70 feet out to about 240 feet of water with varying success. Here the hot colors for flies were the same as in Algoma, but spoons were a little more successful with wonder bread and bloody nose spoons catching the majority of fish.
Door Co. (Lake and Bay sides)
Boaters and anglers: Watch out for the orange flags and buoys that mark commercial fishing trap nets set in Lake Michigan. Steer clear and give these markers a wide berth to avoid getting tangled in the nets. Learn more on our Trap Net page.
Another hot and humid week was had around Door County, including possibly the hottest day of the year so far. Heat indexes mid week reached into the mid 90?s, however reduced considerably going into the weekend. A few days of high winds limited fishing on both the Bay and the Lake, however there were still some reports of fish being caught. Salmon fishing has slowed for most anglers along with most fishing spots county wide. Fishing pressure out of Ellison Bay, Gills Rock, and Rowley?s Bay has been at its lowest point in the last few months, producing minimal reports along with minimal fish being caught. Fishing out of Baileys Harbor has been somewhat consistent with average catches between 2 and 4 fish. Fishing out of Sturgeon Bay for salmon has been slow for most anglers, but some very nice catches are still being reported. A few boats were able to find their limit quite easily this week despite the general consensus that fishing was poor. Although they didn?t divulge their baits or strategy, they said a change in their presentation and baits from the summer norm was what brought the fish into the boat. A walleye tournament out of Oconto this weekend had fishermen scouting all over Green Bay. Most success was had off the West Shore of the southern part of Door County, along with fishing some of the reefs between Egg Harbor and Sister Bay near Chambers Island and North towards the Horseshoe Reefs. Perch fishing has remained decent but slow in terms of size. Many small fish are still being seen, which gives some fishermen optimism that the next few years will produce some good fishing. Working minnows near the bottom in 15-20 feet of water has been the popular choice for fishermen recently. Few reports were had this week for anglers pursuing smallmouth bass, however it is likely the fish can still be found in their usual places along the flats in Sturgeon Bay and other rocky areas in 8-15 feet of water. On a positive note, the Egg Harbor marina and boat launch that has been closed for construction since early April opened just over a week ago for public access and fishing opportunities.
