Wisconsin Statewide Fishing report 8.23.12Anglers across the state had mixed success in the last week, but the 27th Annual Eagle River National Musky Open Tournament netted some records, including the most fish caught and released and most husband and wife (72) teams competing. More than 1,100 registered participants competed and 198 musky were caught and released. The winning fish taken out of Kentuck Lake in Forest County and measured nearly 50 inches.
In the Park Falls area, fishing activity has continued to be pretty good. Musky were again the highlight of the week, with most anglers reporting quite a bit of action on nearly all area northern region musky waters.
Perch numbers were good in the waters off Brown County with some people getting their limits. Perch were caught on both night crawlers and minnows, but minnows were the most used. The average perch size was about 6-8 inches in about 24 feet of water.
Water temperatures on Lake Geneva are hovering in the 70s and fishing has been fair. Anglers are reporting decent catches of bluegills fishing with wax worms. Bass can be had by fishing many types of plastic baits close to the bottom. As always, there is no shortage of rock bass and perch being caught. Bass are being caught on Delavan Lake with the best bet along weed edges. Fishing has seemed to be the most productive during the early morning hours. Fishing pressure on Delavan has been heavy. Anglers are reporting decent catches of bluegills.
Anglers trolling the waters off Milwaukee County have been catching chinooks, along with a few rainbows and lake trout. Most have been working north of the harbor in 100 to 130 feet of water with baits about 70 to 90 feet deep. In pre-dawn hours, some fish also have been taken in shallower water. Fishing off McKinley pier has been slow. Anglers at Jones Island have reported a few browns taken on minnows fished under a bobber.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties)
With the seasonal summer weather of the past week, fishing activity has continued to be pretty good across the Northwoods. Musky were once again the highlight of the week, with most anglers reporting quite a bit of action on nearly all area musky waters
Bucktails and topwater baits continue to be the lures of choice and good numbers of musky have been found along the weed edges and in the less-dense weed beds. Most of the success has come from fish in the 30-38-inch range, but a few musky in the mid-40-inch range have also been caught. Largemouth bass fishing has been fair and the fish seem to be favoring the woody cover, bog edges and mid-depth weeds
Topwater action has been a bit slow, but soft plastics and jig/craw combinations have provided some pretty good success when fished in and around the cover. Smallmouth bass have continued their erratic trend of this summer, with some days producing good action and other days finding fish very tough to come by. The area rivers and mid-size flowages have provided the best success, with the smallies being found around structure that is near weeds and close to deeper water.
Small finesse plastics have been the most successful baits and a few nicer fish in the 18- to 19-inch range have been caught and released. Walleye fishing continues to be generally slow with just a few reports of success. The few catches that have been reported have come from mid-depth structure such as cribs and gravel humps, with leeches and crawlers being the favored baits. Panfish action has been fair, with a few nice bluegill and crappie found suspended over and near mid-depth structure. Rock bass however, continue to be especially active and have provided many anglers with at least some action.
Flambeau River State Forest
The North Fork of the Flambeau is still at a good level for paddlers. The South Fork appears to be low.
Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters Area
Fishing has been slow but showing improvement with the cooler weather. Water levels are normal for this time of year.
Green Bay
Brown County
Fishing pressure has been mixed up all week ? starting off busy at the beginning of the week, slow by mid-week and busy again by the weekend. Perch numbers have picked up at just about all places now and perch being the most targeted fish across Bayshore Park, Chaudoir's Dock, Sawyer Harbor, and Little Sturgeon Bay. Water temperatures have dropped considerably in Sawyer Harbor and in Little Sturgeon Bay to about 67 degrees. The water temperature has also dropped by Bayshore Park and Chaudoir's dock to about 73 degrees.
At Chaudoir's Dock, anglers were targeting perch and walleye. Only a few walleye were caught all week on crawler harnesses (pink and copper in color) in about 25-feet of water. Perch numbers were good with some people getting their limits. Perch were caught on both night crawlers and minnows, but minnows were the most used. The average perch size was about 6-8 inches in about 24-feet of water. Gobies, sheepshead, white perch, catfish, and bass are regularly coming in.
At Bayshore Park, anglers were mainly targeting perch with some looking for walleye. Walleye numbers were not very large this week, but the walleye caught were in about 25-feet of water with night crawlers and crawler harnesses (perch and pink color). Perch numbers were high this week with minnows being the main source of bait. The perch size averaged 6 to 8 inches with some between 8 and 10 inches in about 24 to 25 feet of water. Catfish, sheepshead, gobies, white perch and white bass are also coming in.
In Sawyer Harbor, anglers were looking for perch, walleye, smallmouth bass, and northern pike. No walleye or northern pike were caught, but perch and smallmouth bass were being caught. Perch numbers were good with them being caught on night crawlers and minnows (50/50) in about 20- feet of water. The average perch size was about 6-7 inches. Smallmouth bass numbers are okay for the week with spinners and tubes being the main source of bait (green and black in color) in about 12-feet of water. Gobies, a few sheepshead and rock bass came in as well.
On Little Sturgeon Bay, boat and pier anglers were looking for perch using minnows mostly and some night crawlers. Not too many people came in for interviews, data is limited for survey.
In the Fox River, shore anglers have been catching catfish, sheepshead, drum and carp. It?s been slow for boat fishermen in the river, some catching rough fish but its been very slow over all.
Lower Bay has been slow, but some anglers have caught some walleye on crank baits and crawler harnesses.
Suamico trollers have reported that its hard to find fish, but have been using crawler harnesses and crank baits for walleye and getting a few here and there. Shore fishermen were catching some perch using minnows and night crawlers.
At Geano's Beach, there were some anglers trawling for musky, they didn't' have much luck. Some were catching perch on minnows and night crawlers from boats as well.
Manitowoc County
Trolling from 70 -220 feet of water continued to produce salmon and an occasional rainbow this past week. Not many lake trout are being caught lately because of their even greater sensitivity to warm water. They have most likely moved off deep to find cold water. The shore and near shore fishing is slow although the 4-year-old kings will need to be moving near shore soon in greater numbers.
Those trolling in the Manitowoc area have had good success for salmon in water 70 to over 200 feet deep. Boats have been working water from 50 feet down to near the bottom out of Two Rivers in 70-160 feet of water. The thermocline is not as sharp as it was during the hot weather the last few months and fish seem to be willing to leave the cooler water in search of baitfish. There may be cold water pockets because of the west wind the last couple days. A boat out of Two Rivers reported having decent success using planer boards, so not all anglers are using the same techniques to connect with fish. Boats out of Manitowoc have been fishing similar water depths but are working mainly the 50-80 foot range in the water column. This has changed since early in the week when some boats were running their downriggers as deep as possible (they generally come with 200 feet of line). At that time cold water was found around 160 feet down. Also, flies and flashers or dodgers as well as spoons have taken fish at similar rates reportedly. Downsized spoons or flasher dodgers have been hot bait this week.
The pier fishing continues to be slow. An occasional brown is caught using spoons. There have been a couple rainbows and kings being caught using live bait and with bottom rigs, but these are few and far between. The perch fishing is very slow. Anglers are catching a few smallmouth and northern on live bait or in-line spinners.
Door County
Salmon and trout action on Lake Michigan continues to be spotty and at times slow. Some anglers are reporting nice bags and are finding fish out in deeper water. Fish are starting to be caught higher up in the water column at low light hours but then return to the depths once the sun rises. Spoons, especially glow spoons at the low light hours, and flasher\fly combos continually are producing fish. Smallmouth bass action has varied, and it appears that inconsistent wind and weather may have something to do with it. However, most fish are being caught along rocky shores in water ranging anywhere from five to 20 feet. Live bait, either on slip-bobbers or fished from the bottom, and soft plastics are catching the most fish. Walleye action has remained stagnant. The few fish that are being caught are coming from trolling crank baits around the edges of reefs. A few more northern pike have been reported this past week, and are being caught on crank baits or spinners running near deep vegetation. Perch are still biting on night crawlers and minnows. While anglers are still catching numbers of fish, the larger fish seem to be eluding them. However, there have been some reports of a few nice perch 9 inches and larger coming from just a handful of anglers. Most of the perch action is coming from weedy areas in Sturgeon Bay?s shipping canal.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County - Trollers have been catching mostly chinooks, along with a few rainbows, lake trout, coho, and browns. The majority of boats have been working 110 to 140 feet of water, but some have also taken fish in as shallow as 55-feet of water or as deep as 200 to 240 feet of water. Flies and blue and silver and green and silver spoons have been the most productive, but occasional chinooks have been taken on J-plugs as well. Fishing off the Sheboygan piers has been slow, with more effort off the south pier than north pier.
Ozaukee County - Port Washington trollers have been taking good numbers of chinooks, along with a few rainbows, coho, and lake trout. Fish have been found anywhere between 60 and 180 feet of water, with the most commonly fished area in 120 to 150 feet of water. Depths in the water column have varied with water temperature changes; some days the fish are as deep as 90 feet down. Blue and silver or green and silver spoons have taken the most fish for trollers, but some have also been taken on flies or occasional J-plugs. Shore fishing in Port Washington has been generally slow, but occasional brown trout have been taken off the pier with glow-in-the-dark spoons producing.
Milwaukee County - Trollers have been catching Chinooks, along with a few rainbows and lake trout. Most have been working north of the harbor in 100 to 130 feet of water with baits about 70 to 90 feet deep. In pre-dawn hours, some fish have also been taken in shallower water. Fishing off McKinley pier has been slow. Anglers at Jones Island have reported a few browns taken on minnows fished under a bobber.
Racine County - Trollers have been catching mainly chinooks, with occasional rainbows and lake trout mixed in. Fish have been taken 60 to 100 feet down in 150 to 175 feet of water. Those fishing from shore in Racine have had some spotty success for brown trout off of both the north and south piers.
Walworth County
Water temperatures on Lake Geneva are hovering in the 70s and fishing has been fair. Anglers are reporting decent catches of bluegills fishing with wax worms. Bass can be had on Geneva by fishing many types of plastic baits close to the bottom. As always, there is no shortage of rock bass and perch being caught.
Bass are being caught on Delavan with the best bet along weed edges. Fishing has seemed to be the most productive during the early morning hours. Fishing pressure on Delavan has been heavy. Anglers are reporting decent catches of bluegills, however, anglers are struggling to catch larger fish.
Minocqua area fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htm
Lake Michigan Fishing Report and tipshttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htmWausau Area fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htm
Information compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
