Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: July 12, 2010
Manitowoc Co.
Heavy fog early in the week created havoc for area fishermen, but by mid-week the fog lifted and created the best fishing conditions of the year thus far. Light and variable winds the rest of the week with temperatures in the low to mid-80s left boat ramps filled to capacity. Water temperatures fluctuated daily, ranging from the mid-50s one day to the low 60s the next. But by Sunday, the flat seas turned into white caps from strong southerly winds at 10-15 combined with scattered rain. Boaters along the lakeshore averaged 4-6 fish mixed with a few two or three person limits. Piers were also crowded with fishermen, as anglers are now consistently landing large kings and rainbows. Out of Two Rivers, fishing has been best in 35-60 feet of water between both the Two Rivers? water towers. A few boats have been fishing the gap of the Two Rivers? piers and off the lighthouse in 40-60 feet of water. Off Manitowoc, the best depths have been a little deeper than Two Rivers, 50-70 feet. Some boaters have also been fishing the gap of the piers in Manitowoc, catching 12-15 pound kings and a few rainbows but with less numbers than out deeper. Flasher/fly combos, spoons, and J-Plugs have all been working with green still the color of choice for all three. Green glow J-Plugs and flasher/flies on the down riggers have worked for the morning bite, but after that the action has been spread out. Down riggers set in the 20-30 foot range resulted in a steady catch all week. Both the Two Rivers and Manitowoc piers have been packed full this past week. The catch has been dominated by 12-15 pound kings mixed with 9-13 pound rainbows. Casting with green champs and jigging with gulp minnows have been reported for taking most of the kings and a few rainbows. Using alewife on bottom or on bobber four feet down has also been very successful with both species. If possible, be on the piers fishing early since most fish have been taken between 4-5 am.
Kewaunee Co.
The weather this was very unstable as a few different storm systems passed through the area. Two things in common throughout the week were temperatures in the upper 70?s and lower 80?s throughout the county and high humidity. The rainfall and changing wind directions has once again kept the water temperatures off Algoma and Kewaunee in the low 50?s for the majority of the week. Algoma: This week the pier fishing saw a decline in the amount of fishermen and fish being caught. This seems to be partly due to the cold water temperatures and the storms that came through the area. The fishing has been very much hit and miss all week with only a few small king salmon being caught. The fishing out on the lake seemed to be similar to a rollercoaster ride throughout the week. The week started off on the right foot with the average boat returning with 5-6 fish and quite a few limits being caught. The middle of the week saw the catch drop off to about 2-3 fish a boat and went back up to 5-6 fish during the weekend from the boats that weathered the storms. The fish on average seemed to be smaller than the last few weeks. Kewaunee: The pier fishing this week saw an increase in the amount anglers trying their luck but didn?t see a rise in the amount of fish being netted. The main fish being caught off the pier seem to King salmon with an occasional rainbow being caught. The fish seem to be biting on blue spoons and a few have been caught on live bait. The Kewaunee ramp saw a large amount of fish brought in compared to the last few weeks. The average catch per boat was about 7-8 fish but the average size has dropped down to about 10-11 pounds for the king salmon. The fish caught towards the beginning of the week were in waters about 120 feet but seemed to travel out deeper as the week grew on. The more successful anglers on Sunday were fishing in depths of 180 feet and about 100 feet down. The majority of fish seemed to have been caught on spoons but not one color seemed to stand out against the rest.
Door Co. (Lake and Bay sides)
The second week week of July continued with humid and warm temperatures with the only relief coming from sporadic showers and windy conditions. After a wet June it looks as if July will follow suit. The young month has already had a generous amount of rainfall, and bumper crops look to be had county wide. Anglers were still able to hit the water with mixed reports of fish being caught. With changing weather conditions happening daily, fishing around the Door was mediocre this week. Success picked up towards the end of the week with the best catch reports coming out of Ellison Bay and Gills Rock. Some very nice catches of rainbow trout were seen in Sturgeon Bay early in the week, likely due to some of the weather conditions and changing water temperatures. Near limit catches were reported out of Ellison Bay and Gills Rock towards the weekend with most success being had on flasher fly combos and a variety of spoons. Some fishermen reported having good success using j-plugs too. Baileys Harbor remains productive and followed the trend of other spots this week with fishing picking up more towards the weekend. Overall fish are being caught countywide all the way up to Washington Island. Perch fishermen were seen having some decent success this week, the only obstacle being catching fish of decent size. Crawlers suspended off the bottom brought in a very wide variety of fish, whereas minnows brought in mainly perch. Some smallmouth bass fishermen were seen on the water this week with good reports of fish being caught. Tube jigs and a variety of plastics were popular choices working rocky areas in 10-15 feet of water. Few reports came in from walleye fishermen, but some fish are still being found along the Green Bay shoreline. Trolling stick baits and crawler harnesses have produced the most fish.
