Wisconsin Statewide fishing report 10.29.10 Some severe weather with very strong winds and record-breaking low pressure moved across Wisconsin this week, downing many trees and power lines. Wind gusts from 60 to 70 miles per hour were reported in some areas. As of Thursday, state emergency management officials were still reporting as many 82,000 customers were still without electricity, mostly in northeastern and north central parts of the state, but also in areas of the south. The storm also brought the first significant snowfall to northwest Wisconsin, with the twin cities of Superior and Duluth, Minn., reporting up to 7 inches of snow, but just traces of snow were reported throughout the rest of the state.
The chinook salmon run is nearing an end on the northern Lake Michigan tributaries, but with the recent rain, flows increased on southeaster tributaries, and chinook and rainbow and brown trout have been drawn up the Sheboygan, Milwaukee and Root rivers. With the run coming toward an end, the condition of the fish has begun to deteriorate. While chinook numbers continue to drop, the numbers of coho salmon are beginning to rise. Anglers fishing the Little Manitowoc and Kewaunee rivers had success catching coho.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) - The change to wet and cooler weather has resulted in some erratic fishing success on lakes in the Northwoods in the last week. Water temperatures have dropped into the low 50s on most lakes and along with the wet and windy weather, fewer and fewer anglers have been venturing out. Musky, walleye and crappie have been the main species of interest and musky have once again been providing the most consistent action. Most of the musky anglers have been dragging large suckers around, though a few continue to cast artificial baits. The sucker anglers have been having fair success with a lot of 'hit and drops' being reported. A few musky have been caught and most have been in the 34 to 42-inch size. Action on artificials has been hit or miss, as the cooler water temperatures have made the fish more reluctant to hit fast-moving baits. The slower moving lures such as jerk baits and bulldawgs have been the most productive. There has been a recent surge in crappie action with quite a few reports of some decent catches. The crappie have been found along and near the mid-depth cover, such as deep weed lines and brush/cover in 8 to 15 feet of water. Walleye success continues to be generally slow with only a few reports of catches being made. With the colder water temperatures, bass fishing is all but over for the year.
Brown County - Fox River anglers seeking musky have been having trouble finding active fish. Most musky anglers have been tolling the lower bay with large deep diving crank baits. Shore anglers have been catching good numbers of perch at the Metro landing with some fish being of decent size. Walleye fishing on the river has been good as well with some very nice catches of fish being landed by the dam.: The perch fishing has picked up again in the last week at Bayshore Park. Most anglers have been targeting 20 to 30 feet of water between Bayshore and Red River parks. Anglers also have been catching some catfish, white perch, and a few whitefish as well. Walleye fishing has been hit or miss with some walleye being caught by anglers trolling crank baits in low light conditions. Suamico River anglers have been fishing from shore for perch and are having fair success. Most of the perch, however, have been small in size. A few pike and bass are also being caught as well.
Manitowoc County - Water temperatures dropped down as low as 46 degrees, currently holding steady around 48 to 49 degrees in the tributaries. With the steady rain over the weekend, water levels rose 2 inches by Sunday afternoon. Despite all the rain, water clarity remains very good. Strong west by northwest winds early in the week switched out of the southeast at 10-15 mph for the weekend. High temperatures ranged from the upper 40s to mid-50s throughout the week. The salmon run is nearing an end, but a few nice salmon were still caught. The Manitowoc marina continues to be the spot for some nice rainbows using chinook spawn on the bottom. More rainbows have been caught in the morning, but fishing the afternoon has also had some success. Anglers continue to have success using spawn near the Shoto and Mishicot dams. With the run coming toward an end, please glance over the condition of the fish due to the deterioration that occurs with salmon during this time of year. Please also remember that intentionally snagging and failing to release a foul hooked fish are both illegal in Wisconsin. Anglers fishing the Little Manitowoc River have had great success catching large quantities of coho salmon despite the small area that can be fished. Fishing spawn on bottom, using bobbers and floating spawn, or jigging the spawn has all had success. Using spoons and crank baits at a small location like the Little Manitowoc River will only result in snagging the fish. A few chinook salmon, rainbow, and brown trout have also been landed by anglers at this location. There continues to be limited angler pressure up the Manitowoc River. Please remember that hook and line fishing is prohibited from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise in the tributaries which began Sept. 15. If you observe any violations, please call 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367).
Door County - The third week of October brought classic fall conditions to Door County as most of the leaves have fallen, docks are out of the harbors, and most of the tourism traffic has subsided. Some decent days of wind and scattered showers made fishing conditions on a few days difficult; however, anglers were still able to fish some of the inner bays and protected areas around the county. Perch fishing has remained steady in Sturgeon Bay and a few other spots up the West shore of the county. Fishing along the shipping channel in Sturgeon Bay between the bridges, near the cans off of the state park and across onto the flats have all been productive areas to try. Minnows have been the consistent live bait choice to get near limit catches. Perch fishing has been good in the bay of Little Sturgeon. Most anglers have been targeting the remnant weeds to find fish. The anglers that have been producing the best catches have been very mobile. Mixed in most perch anglers? catch have been occasional smallmouth bass and northern pike. A group of anglers from Illinois was up for the weekend fishing smallmouth bass in many of the northern bays along the west side of the county with some success. Working plastics and deep diving crank baits in waters as deep as 50 feet brought in some fish; however, very few ?lunkers? have been seen. Walleye reports have been minimal both around the northern part of the county as well as out of Sturgeon Bay. An occasional walleye has been reported by anglers targeting northern pike but few trips strictly targeting the fish have been documented. Northern pike are being caught in Sturgeon Bay between the bridges along the shipping channel with most anglers pulling a variety of stick baits and spoons, as well as jigging minnows off the bottom. The salmon run is nearing its end as spawning at Strawberry Creek has all but ceased. Fish have still been seen in some of the marinas in Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Sister Bay but few are being landed or targeted. Many of the fish have heavy degradation as their spawn, and lives, is nearing an end. Please be aware that any foul hooked fish must be released and please report any witnessed violations to your local DNR station. Perch fishing has been fair over the last week at Chaudoir?s Dock, with some limits being reported. Most anglers have been fishing the standard 20-30 feet of water using small minnows on bottom rigs.
Strawberry Creek Egg Collection Facility ? Fisheries crews have completed the sixth and final chinook harvest at Strawberry Creek on Monday. They removed the last (or nearly so) 147 fish to give a total of 2,103 chinook for the year. The Wild Rose Hatchery estimated approximately 230,000 eggs were taken today. With this harvest crews have more than met the Wisconsin egg quota needed for the 2011 stocking and were also able to supply eggs to Illinois and Indiana for their stocking needs.
Kewaunee County - The waters temperatures this week in both the Algoma and Kewaunee areas dropped down to 47 degrees and 49 degrees in the Ahnapee and Kewaunee rivers. The water clarity remains good but the high winds early in the week made fishing difficult. The reports of chinook salmon continue to drop but the numbers of coho salmon are beginning to rise. Kewaunee pier fishing slowed down to a crawl this week with very few anglers and barely any fish being caught. This week the coho salmon began their run up the Kewaunee River. There were reports of a lot coho being caught on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Footbridge and Bruemmer Park areas. A few rainbow trout were caught in these areas as well. Unfortunately as the week progressed, the amount successful anglers began to decline. There were no reports of any fish being caught out on the lake from the Kewaunee launch ramp. This week very few anglers tried their luck on the Algoma piers. There was only one reported catch of a rainbow trout this week. Blahnik Park?s fishing pressure continues to drop each week, as there were no reports of any fish caught near the park this week. The only areas to pull out numerous fish this were the Forrestville and Silver Creek areas. Silver Creek produced a few chinook salmon but were caught quite a ways a way from the Brummerville Park. Forrestville is the most pressured area in the Algoma region and is still pulling out a few chinook salmon. There were no reports of any success at Stony Creek this week. Only a handful of boats launched this week out of Algoma and only two boats reported any success.
Lake Michigan fisheries team reportSheboygan County - In Sheboygan shore anglers in the marina have been catching chinook on skein and stick baits. On the Sheboygan River, stream flows have improved, and chinook have been taken in Esslingen Park and at the Kohler dam. Flies have produced the most.
Ozaukee County - In Port Washington, shore anglers have been catching a mix of chinook, and rainbow and brown trout on skein and spawn in the north slip and near the power plant. A few steelhead have also been taken on tube jigs fished off the pier. Some chinook and coho have been caught in Sauk Creek, and skein has taken the most fish. Water levels in Sauk Creek have improved with recent rains.
Milwaukee County - In Milwaukee shore fishing has been relatively slow along the lakefront. Salmon numbers have increased in the Milwaukee River, and many fish can be seen trying to jump the falls at Kletzsch Park. Egg sucking leeches and yarn have been effective for fly anglers. Flows have increased on the Menomonee River and Oak Creek, and fishing should improve as water levels begin to drop back down.
Racine County - On the Root River in Racine flows have been increasing the past several days. Most anglers have been concentrated below the Root River Steelhead Facility, with very little fishing pressure upstream from there. Weekend catches were mixed between coho and chinook, with the best fishing near sunrise and sunset. A couple of steelhead and few brown trout have also been caught. Fish were processed at the Root River Steelhead Facility on October 9 and 13. So far this season, a total of 254 chinook, 10 coho, seven browns, and five rainbows have been passed upstream. Coho will be spawned at the Root on Thursday, October 28.
Kenosha County - Shore anglers in Kenosha continue to catch occasional chinook and brown trout in the harbor near the hotel, and fresh skein, white tube jigs, and silver crank baits have taken the most fish. The majority of fishing pressure in Kenosha has been concentrated around the hotel, but a few anglers have been fishing near the mouth of the Pike River also. Water levels are up on the Pike, but fishing pressure there has been low.
Dodge County - Anglers continue to catch large strippers on Beaver Dam Lake. Most of these fish are close to dinner plate size.
Jefferson County - Anglers are picking up a few walleye below the dams in Watertown using jigs and minnows. Action has been fair
Minocqua Area Fishing Reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htmChippewa Flowage Fishing Reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/chippewaflowagefishingreport.htmLake Michigan Fishing Report and tipshttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htmCentral Wisconsin Fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htm
Information compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
