Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: June 20, 2011
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.
Southeast to northeast winds at 5-10 mph were consistent throughout the week. High temperatures were also steady at 55-60 degrees along the lakeshore. Heavy rain and thunderstorms were scattered throughout the later part of the week. Harbor temperatures remained in the mid-60s, with surface temperatures around 51-52 degrees offshore to 56 degrees around the pier heads by the weekend. The coho action remains steady out of both Two Rivers and Manitowoc. Over the weekend, many boaters also came in with many large rainbow trout ranging in the 10-15 pound range. Little luck has been reported with chinook salmon, but a few have been seen over 20 pounds. The many coho salmon caught have all consistently been around 5 pounds. Out of Two Rivers, anglers have had success fishing in the 90-120 foot range north of the trap nets with a few fish picked up as deep as 150 feet and as shallow as 60 feet. Green/green dodger/fly combos 60-80 feet down have been working for kings on the riggers, and many boats stated that any spoon they threw out there worked for cohos and rainbows. Out of Manitowoc, many boats also worked the 90-120 foot area. A few boats also had success in 200-225 feet for rainbows and cohos using small orange dodgers/mirage flies on lead core and orange spoons on high lines and on the dypsies. Boats out on Saturday were averaging 5+ fish landed, with fishing pressure slowing on Sunday due to heavy rain and storms. Cleveland Ramp: Fishing pressure from the Cleveland ramp has been light and fishing has not fared well at all. Most fishermen are fishing for Yellow Perch with very little success and minnows have been the main bait.
Kewaunee Co.
The weather finally stabilized for a short period of time during the week, and this lead to some better fishing in Kewaunee County and in the Sturgeon Bay area. The water temperatures rose this week with some fishermen reporting areas of water reaching 57 degrees. The weekend brought down the water temperatures and brought with it some heavy rains in the area. Algoma: Boats launching from the Algoma Ramp saw better success this week on both Kings and Rainbow Trout. The boats with the most success seem to be going out to about 300 feet of water for the rainbows. Boats that were fishing in the 80-120 feet of water also saw success with the King Salmon. The lures of choice remained the same with blue/green flies being the most used lures. Fish are starting to hit spoons more frequently though but no single color seems to be out performing the others. The pier fishing in Algoma remains very slow with only a few fishermen trying their luck but with very little success. Kewaunee: The amount of boats launching from the ramp continues to increase as word of the catch picking up seems to spread. The fishing still remains to be slow but is improving compared to earlier in the year. Most boats are having success in water depths ranging from 200-300 feet and have been using mostly flies. Just as in Algoma, spoons are starting to have an impact and have been bringing in some fish. The pier fishing remains very slow here as well with many anglers having no success.
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.
Overall a beautiful week. 70's and sunny dominated the early week. Mid-week rain was followed by a more pleasant weekend. Boating traffic started out moderately and diminished as the week progressed. Pleasure boaters are becoming more common in upper Door County. Smallmouth bass are prevalent throughout the bays in the area. Most fish are on beds as water temps remained in the low sixties. Avid boat anglers are reporting very good catches out of Stone Quarry and Ephraim ramps. Family trips/younger anglers are seeing small catches of smallies from both boats and piers. Tubes and crawlers still being used the most. Salmon anglers are starting to show up in Ellison bay and Gills Rock, reporting little to no success as water remains cold. Fishing remains slow in Sturgeon Bay but seems to be doing better than both Algoma and Kewaunee. The salmon fishing seems to be hit or miss, with some boats registering limits but others returning empty handed. The perch fishing continues to improve with many boats returning with limits, but the size remains small with the average catch being in the 7 inch area. The hot bait for the perch continues to be minnows and bits of crawlers. Perch fishermen using crab tails seem to be struggling the most.
